Derrick Thomas Biography

Derrick Vincent Thomas was born on January 1, 1967, and played as a professional football linebacker in the NFL for the Kansas City Chiefs. He spent 11 seasons with the Chiefs, earning the nickname D. T. before his passing in 2000. Thomas played college football at Alabama and won the Butkus Award in 1988. He recorded a single-game sack record during the 1990 season. After the 1999 season, Thomas suffered a car crash that left him paraplegic and died two weeks later from a pulmonary embolism. In 2000, he was honored as a Sun Bowl Legend. He was posthumously inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2014.