The Hall of Famer

To inspire it to motivate. Dedication is to give your all, even through all your pain. These are some characteristics of being a leader. These are ways to describe the late Derrick Thomas, a warrior. Number 58 for the Kansas City Chiefs will be inducted into the pro football Hall of Fame. He will not be present in body, but his spirit will be felt, hovering over Canton, Ohio on Saturday August 8, 2009. Derrick Thomas everything he could to his team and his community.
I can say how fortunate I was to see this warrior play. He was a nightmare to quarterbacks in the NFL. He recorded 7 sacks in a single game, a record that still stands to this day. Seven pro bowl appearances. a rookie of the year. and a humanitarian winning the Walter Payton award in 1994.
Derrick Thomas was born in Miami, he attend and played football for South Miami Senior High School. I know that area well, it's not the greatest area, but it's far from being the worst. But Miami is Miami and temptation was in every corner. After high school he received a scholarship to play at the University of Alabama and boy did he play. A man amongst boys he dominated the opposition. In 1989 the Kansas City Chiefs made him their first round selection, number four overall in the NFL Draft. Kansas City found out they had someone special the moment he stepped on the field. Derrick was a man that put others in front of him. Today we have the Derrick Thomas Academy. An Academy that is free of charge and has a curriculum based on high academics and social standards, located in Kansas City, MO. Derrick gave to his community the same commitment he gave his team.
But yet everyone has their faults, his was temptation and carelessness. A car accident on the way to Kansas City airport to catch a playoff game, led to his passing. He was the driver and he had two passengers with him when he was driving wildly down an icy road when he lost control, causing him and one passengers to go flying out the car killing the passenger instantly and paralyzing Derrick. The second passenger was able to walk away from the accident with no injuries, he was the only one with a seat belt. This led to his mother, with the help of professional football players, community leaders, and entertainers formed an organization to educate kids on the safety of wearing seat belts, children's health, and sports safety, for inner city its was named Mom2Mom58.
Derrick was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Fl. He was paralyzed from his chest down. Although confine to his wheel chair progress was being made. But then his condition changed for the worst, very unexpectedly on February 8, 2000 at 10:00AM (EST)
Derrick Thomas was pronounced dead. Doctors reported that the cause of death was a blood clot around his lower extremities.
He was survived by his seven children but he never made a will, another of life's lesson. Always be ready, you never know when your time will come that is why you must always have everything in order so that the ones you love are well taken care of. One day in perfect health the next day you are buried six feet.
People wonder why it took this long for Derrick to be inducted into the Hall. It might have been because of his personal life. His seven children were from five different women. Its kind of ironic you see, when Derrick was 5 he wished and dreamed that his father was coming home, but his father never did. Robert Thomas was killed in an Air Force bomber over Vietnam in 1972 when Derrick was 5. Growing up he was always searching for that father figure, he found five men to which he called dad one them was Chiefs GM Carl Peterson. The mothers of Derricks children spoke for the first time. They talked about a man that was at times careless, irresponsible, but not a deadbeat father. They talked about how Derrick would visit his kids every time he could. Taking them to Chucky Cheese and reading bedtime stories. Even though he couldn't be with them all the time he tried to share his time with them as best he could. When they were older he would take them to Disney World, and Hawaii but with one exemption, no mommies can come along and they could have whatever they wanted as long as they could carry it themselves.
Yes he was not perfect, and if he would have survived he could be facing manslaughter charges for reckless driving. But instead of running away from a bad situation. He faced it head on trying to be the best father he could, because he knew what it felt like to be without someone to call dad. The one sad thing is that Mr. Derrick Thomas will miss out on some wonderful children, he loved his kids, and Derrick the Hall of Fame welcomes you into their family. Congratulations and welcome to your new home.