Post by MizzouTiger on Feb 3, 2008 11:33:02 GMT -5
www.kansascity.com/sports/story/473077.html
Chiefs master of the big play earns pro footballs biggest honor
By RANDY COVITZ
The Kansas City Star
PHOENIX | As soon as it was revealed Saturday that former Chiefs cornerback Emmitt Thomas was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Norma Hunt whispered to her son, Clark.
“Your dad would be so excited,” she said of her late husband, Lamar Hunt, the founder of the Chiefs.
Thomas, the Chiefs’ ball-hawking standout for 13 seasons, will join five teammates from the Chiefs’ glory years who appeared in two of the first four Super Bowls and beat Minnesota in Super Bowl IV.
Five other players were elected Saturday, but the late Derrick Thomas, the Chiefs’ star linebacker of the 1990s, was not selected in his fourth year of eligibility.
Emmitt Thomas, 64, will be enshrined Aug. 2 in Canton, Ohio, joining teammates Len Dawson, Buck Buchanan, Bobby Bell, Willie Lanier and Jan Stenerud, as well as coach Hank Stram and Hunt.
“It’s a reflection how great those teams were,” Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said. “There were so many outstanding players. Maybe at the time you don’t appreciate it as much. With hindsight, you can really see why that team was as successful as it was and why it won the AFL championships and the Super Bowl.”
Thomas was as big a contributor to those championships as anyone.
A converted wide receiver/quarterback out of tiny Bishop College in Texas, he played in 181 games, seventh most in Chiefs history, from 1966 to 1978. He intercepted 58 passes in his career, the most in Chiefs history, ninth in NFL history and fourth among all cornerbacks. He returned five of those interceptions for touchdowns.
“On offense, Otis Taylor made a lot of big plays, and on defense, Emmitt would come up with plays,” said Dawson. “Once he made the interception, he could run. He had the ability to get us in great field position or even score a touchdown.
“He was to the defense what Otis Taylor was to the offense.”
Thomas, a five-time Pro Bowl selection, started for both of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl teams. He led the NFL with 12 interceptions in 1974 and led the AFL with nine in 1969, the season the Chiefs won Super Bowl IV.
“To the Hunt family, I’m very happy and proud that I’m a Kansas City Chief,” said Thomas, who is now the assistant head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.
“The Chiefs signed me as a free agent, and from then on, Coach Stram and (assistant coach) Tom Bettis worked with me diligently.”
Thomas made some of his biggest plays on the biggest stage. In the 1969 playoffs, his interception of a Joe Namath pass set up a field goal in the Chiefs’ 13-6 win over the Jets. He intercepted two passes, returning them 69 yards in the 1969 AFL championship game against Oakland, and he iced the Super Bowl IV win over Minnesota with an interception.
“What’s now called a shutdown corner or cover corner, that’s what he was then,” said Lanier.
Of Thomas’ 63 career interceptions (regular season and postseason), nearly a quarter of them, 23.8 percent, came against quarterbacks he will join in the Hall of Fame. Thomas gave credit to linebackers Jim Lynch and Lanier for their roles in those interceptions.
“Every time we broke the huddle, Lynch would say, ‘I’m going to be outside,’ and Lanier would say, ‘I’ve got the inside,’ ” Thomas said. “We communicated very well. I had good ball skills, and I’ve got to give Lynch and Lanier a lot of credit for taking away some of those throwing lanes and giving me an opportunity to go for the football.”
Lynch said he may have contributed, but Thomas made the plays.
“Emmitt obviously had the talent, and he obviously had the numbers,” Lynch said. “But he was a very heady football player. He understood the game, he understood what was going to happen.
“He would absolutely at times cover a guy at one speed, and then the quarterback would think the receiver would be open, and Emmitt would kick it into another gear. He got a lot of his interceptions that way.”
In fact, Thomas had such a good feel for the game, Dawson would consult with him after practices and ask whether he thought what the Chiefs offense was working on would work against other defenses.
“Hank Stram was an offensive-minded guy, and he wanted to see the offense work,” Dawson recalled. “If the offense didn’t do very well against that great defense, the practices would go longer and longer so the defensive people would let us catch the ball. … They wouldn’t challenge us like they would in a game.
“So I would ask Emmitt, ‘Could you have been there on that play?’ He’d say, ‘Yes,’ or other times, he’d say, ‘No, it was a good move, the timing was right.’ He’d help me get accustomed to what it would be like in game conditions.”
The high point of Thomas’ career was winning Super Bowl IV. The Chiefs lost to the NFL’s Green Bay Packers 35-10 in the first Super Bowl in 1967.
“We went to the first Super Bowl, and I didn’t really realize the magnitude of the game,” Thomas said. “We came down the tunnel at the L.A. Coliseum, and I looked at Buck and Dawson and Jerry Mays and Bobby Bell and Ed Budde and Dave Hill, and they were all so emotional.
“I’m a rookie, and what are they crying about? But after we lost that game, and I saw how hurt Hank was, and we were carrying the banner for the AFL, and we told ourselves if we ever got a chance again, we’d go win this thing, and we were fortunate enough to go back before the merger and took care of business.”
After retiring as a player in 1978, Thomas spent two years as an assistant at Central Missouri State University before embarking on a 27-year coaching career in the NFL, molding some of the best defenses in the league.
Thomas was part of two Super Bowl championship teams as an assistant at Washington and helped Minnesota and Atlanta reach NFC title games.
Two players Thomas coached at Washington, cornerback Darrell Green and wide receiver Art Monk, also were elected to the Hall of Fame on Saturday — along with Denver offensive lineman Gary Zimmerman, New England linebacker Andre Tippett and San Francisco defensive end Fred Dean.
“I feel very special to go in with Darrell and Art Monk, because when I first came to the Redskins, I was on the offensive side, and Art Monk … took care of me over there, and then I went to the secondary for the next eight years and Darrell made me seem like a great coach,” Thomas said.
Chiefs master of the big play earns pro footballs biggest honor
By RANDY COVITZ
The Kansas City Star
PHOENIX | As soon as it was revealed Saturday that former Chiefs cornerback Emmitt Thomas was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Norma Hunt whispered to her son, Clark.
“Your dad would be so excited,” she said of her late husband, Lamar Hunt, the founder of the Chiefs.
Thomas, the Chiefs’ ball-hawking standout for 13 seasons, will join five teammates from the Chiefs’ glory years who appeared in two of the first four Super Bowls and beat Minnesota in Super Bowl IV.
Five other players were elected Saturday, but the late Derrick Thomas, the Chiefs’ star linebacker of the 1990s, was not selected in his fourth year of eligibility.
Emmitt Thomas, 64, will be enshrined Aug. 2 in Canton, Ohio, joining teammates Len Dawson, Buck Buchanan, Bobby Bell, Willie Lanier and Jan Stenerud, as well as coach Hank Stram and Hunt.
“It’s a reflection how great those teams were,” Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said. “There were so many outstanding players. Maybe at the time you don’t appreciate it as much. With hindsight, you can really see why that team was as successful as it was and why it won the AFL championships and the Super Bowl.”
Thomas was as big a contributor to those championships as anyone.
A converted wide receiver/quarterback out of tiny Bishop College in Texas, he played in 181 games, seventh most in Chiefs history, from 1966 to 1978. He intercepted 58 passes in his career, the most in Chiefs history, ninth in NFL history and fourth among all cornerbacks. He returned five of those interceptions for touchdowns.
“On offense, Otis Taylor made a lot of big plays, and on defense, Emmitt would come up with plays,” said Dawson. “Once he made the interception, he could run. He had the ability to get us in great field position or even score a touchdown.
“He was to the defense what Otis Taylor was to the offense.”
Thomas, a five-time Pro Bowl selection, started for both of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl teams. He led the NFL with 12 interceptions in 1974 and led the AFL with nine in 1969, the season the Chiefs won Super Bowl IV.
“To the Hunt family, I’m very happy and proud that I’m a Kansas City Chief,” said Thomas, who is now the assistant head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.
“The Chiefs signed me as a free agent, and from then on, Coach Stram and (assistant coach) Tom Bettis worked with me diligently.”
Thomas made some of his biggest plays on the biggest stage. In the 1969 playoffs, his interception of a Joe Namath pass set up a field goal in the Chiefs’ 13-6 win over the Jets. He intercepted two passes, returning them 69 yards in the 1969 AFL championship game against Oakland, and he iced the Super Bowl IV win over Minnesota with an interception.
“What’s now called a shutdown corner or cover corner, that’s what he was then,” said Lanier.
Of Thomas’ 63 career interceptions (regular season and postseason), nearly a quarter of them, 23.8 percent, came against quarterbacks he will join in the Hall of Fame. Thomas gave credit to linebackers Jim Lynch and Lanier for their roles in those interceptions.
“Every time we broke the huddle, Lynch would say, ‘I’m going to be outside,’ and Lanier would say, ‘I’ve got the inside,’ ” Thomas said. “We communicated very well. I had good ball skills, and I’ve got to give Lynch and Lanier a lot of credit for taking away some of those throwing lanes and giving me an opportunity to go for the football.”
Lynch said he may have contributed, but Thomas made the plays.
“Emmitt obviously had the talent, and he obviously had the numbers,” Lynch said. “But he was a very heady football player. He understood the game, he understood what was going to happen.
“He would absolutely at times cover a guy at one speed, and then the quarterback would think the receiver would be open, and Emmitt would kick it into another gear. He got a lot of his interceptions that way.”
In fact, Thomas had such a good feel for the game, Dawson would consult with him after practices and ask whether he thought what the Chiefs offense was working on would work against other defenses.
“Hank Stram was an offensive-minded guy, and he wanted to see the offense work,” Dawson recalled. “If the offense didn’t do very well against that great defense, the practices would go longer and longer so the defensive people would let us catch the ball. … They wouldn’t challenge us like they would in a game.
“So I would ask Emmitt, ‘Could you have been there on that play?’ He’d say, ‘Yes,’ or other times, he’d say, ‘No, it was a good move, the timing was right.’ He’d help me get accustomed to what it would be like in game conditions.”
The high point of Thomas’ career was winning Super Bowl IV. The Chiefs lost to the NFL’s Green Bay Packers 35-10 in the first Super Bowl in 1967.
“We went to the first Super Bowl, and I didn’t really realize the magnitude of the game,” Thomas said. “We came down the tunnel at the L.A. Coliseum, and I looked at Buck and Dawson and Jerry Mays and Bobby Bell and Ed Budde and Dave Hill, and they were all so emotional.
“I’m a rookie, and what are they crying about? But after we lost that game, and I saw how hurt Hank was, and we were carrying the banner for the AFL, and we told ourselves if we ever got a chance again, we’d go win this thing, and we were fortunate enough to go back before the merger and took care of business.”
After retiring as a player in 1978, Thomas spent two years as an assistant at Central Missouri State University before embarking on a 27-year coaching career in the NFL, molding some of the best defenses in the league.
Thomas was part of two Super Bowl championship teams as an assistant at Washington and helped Minnesota and Atlanta reach NFC title games.
Two players Thomas coached at Washington, cornerback Darrell Green and wide receiver Art Monk, also were elected to the Hall of Fame on Saturday — along with Denver offensive lineman Gary Zimmerman, New England linebacker Andre Tippett and San Francisco defensive end Fred Dean.
“I feel very special to go in with Darrell and Art Monk, because when I first came to the Redskins, I was on the offensive side, and Art Monk … took care of me over there, and then I went to the secondary for the next eight years and Darrell made me seem like a great coach,” Thomas said.