Thurman Lee Thomas
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Thurman Lee Thomas (born May 16, 1966 in Houston, Texas) was an American football running back who spent most of his NFL career with the Buffalo Bills.
Thomas grew up playing football on the Missouri City Junior High School (now Missouri City Middle School) and Willowridge High School teams before attending college at Oklahoma State University. At Oklahoma State, Thomas had 897 rushes for 4,595 yards, 43 touchdowns, and 21 100-yard rushing games. He was also a Heisman Trophy candidate in his senior year. He was a first team selection on the College Football All-America Team in 1985 and 1987.
A knee injury damaged Thomas's certain first round pick status and caused him to slip into second round (40th overall) of the 1988 NFL draft by the Buffalo Bills, their first choice in the draft. Thomas is well known as part of the offense that included Jim Kelly and Andre Reed, which led the Bills to four straight Super Bowl appearances.
Thomas was the AFC rushing leader in 1990, 1991, and 1993. He was voted to the All-Pro team in 1990 and 1991, was selected to 5 straight Pro Bowls from 1989-1993, and was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 1991.
Thomas currently holds the all-time Buffalo Bills rushing record with 11,938 yards and the team record for yards from scrimmage with 16,532. He is also 4th overall in team scoring. Overall, Thomas finished his 13 seasons with 12,740 rushing yards, 472 receptions for 4,458 yards, and 88 touchdowns(65 rushing and 23 receiving).
Thomas is the only player in NFL history to lead the league in total yards from scrimmage for four consecutive seasons. He is one of only four running backs to have over 400 receptions and 10,000 yards rushing. Walter Payton, Marshall Faulk and Marcus Allen are the other three. Thomas is also one of four running backs to have rushed for over 1,000 yards in 8 consecutive seasons along with Curtis Martin, Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith.
Thomas also set NFL playoff records with the most career points (126), touchdowns (21), and consecutive playoff games with a touchdown (9). Overall, he rushed for 1,442 yards and caught 76 passes for 672 yards in his 21 postseason games. In a 1989 playoff loss to the Cleveland Browns, Thomas recorded 13 receptions for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns, which was a postseason record for receptions by a running back and tied tight ned Kellen Winslow's record for most receptions in a playoff game. He is also the first player ever to score a touchdown in 4 different Super Bowls
Thurman Thomas played for the Buffalo Bills for 12 seasons. When the Bills ran out of money under their salary cap in 2000, Thomas signed with the arch-rival Miami Dolphins. He suffered a knee injury on November 12, 2000 against the San Diego Chargers which ended his NFL career. After deciding to retire, Thurman signed a one-day contract on February 27, 2001 with Buffalo so that he could retire as a Bill.
Thurman Thomas was first eligible for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006. In that year, he made it to the list of ten finalists, but was not one of the six players elected to the Hall that year.
Super Bowl XXV
Thomas had an outstanding performance in Super Bowl XXV, rushing for 135 yards and a touchdown, while also catching 5 passes for 55 yards. He would have almost certainly won the Super Bowl MVP award, but his team lost the game 20-19.
Some fans and sports writers, such as Sports Illustrated writer Paul Zimmerman[link], have argued that Thomas had the best performance of the game, so therefore he should have won the MVP award even though his team lost. He had far more yards and catches then New York Giants running back Ottis Anderson, who won the MVP, finishing the game with 102 rushing yards, 1 reception for 7 yards, and a touchdown. Also a player winning the Super Bowl MVP award on a losing team is not unprecedented; Chuck Howley accomplished this feat in Super Bowl V.
His performance in the Bills posteseason games that year was also superb. He rushed for a total of 255 yards, caught 8 passes for 99 yards, and scored 3 touchdowns in their 2 playoff games prior to the Super Bowl
Super Bowl XXVI
Thomas is noted for a mishap in Super Bowl XXVI. At the start of the game, Thomas was unable to find his helmet, causing him to miss Buffalo's first two offensive plays (both of which were running plays). He went on to gain just 13 rushing yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. He also caught 4 passes for 27 yards [link]Super Bowl XXVII
For the second year in a row, Thomas had a dismal performance in the Super Bowl. He scored the first points of the game for his team on a 2-yard touchdown run, but was limited to just 19 rushing yards on 11 carries and 4 receptions for 10 yards in Buffalo's 52-17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. He also committed a costly fumble that was converted into a Dallas touchdown.
However, it must be noted that Thomas was still recovering from a hip injury he suffered in the first game of the postseason. As a result, running back Kenneth Davis got the majority of carries in the game.
Super Bowl XXVIII
Thomas had yet another disappointing Super Bowl performance in this game, which the Bills lost to the Cowboys 30-13. He scored the only touchdown of the game for his team, but was limited to just 37 rushing yards on 16 carries. Thomas also committed 2 fumbles that lead to 10 Dallas points. However, he was a reliable target as a receiver out of the backfield, catching 7 passes for 52 yards.
Thomas's performance in the AFC title game prior to the Super Bowl was far better. In the Bills 30-13 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, he rushed for 186 yards, caught 2 passes for 22 yards, and scored 3 touchdowns.
External link
- [Pro-Football-Reference.com] - career statistics
References
- ["Super Bowl goats"] by Jared Hoffman, The Sporting News, January 18, 1999, retrieved January 13, 2006
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