Thurman Lee Thomas
Encyclopedia
Thurman Lee Thomas is a former American football
running back
who spent most of his NFL
career with the Buffalo Bills
. Thomas was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
in 2007 and into the College Football Hall of Fame
in 2008.
teams before attending college at Oklahoma State University where he was a teammate of Barry Sanders
. At Oklahoma State, Thomas had 897 rushes for 4,595 yards, 43 touchdowns, 5,146 total yards, 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
. In the 1987 Sun Bowl
, Thomas ran for 157 yards and four touchdowns in the 35-33 victory over West Virginia
, keeping Barry Sanders on the sidelines for the majority of the game. Thomas left OSU as the school's all-time leading rusher and his number 34 is one of only three jerseys retired at Oklahoma State. Sanders would replace Thomas as starter the next year in 1988, rushing for an NCAA record 2,638 yards and 39 touchdowns.
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. In the first three seasons of this career, Thomas had a total of 12 games with at least 100 yards rushing. The Bills won every one of those games. In 1989 and 1990, his combined total yards from scrimmage was 3,742. This was more than 200 yards better than any other player in the NFL. He was voted to the All-Pro team in 1990 and 1991, was selected to 5 straight Pro Bowl
s from 1989–1993, and was named NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1991, after becoming the 11th player in NFL history to finish a season with over 2,000 all-purpose yards. Currently, he is 12th on the NFL all-time list for most rushing yards in a career.
Thomas currently holds the all-time Buffalo Bills rushing record with 11,938 yards and the team record for yards from scrimmage with 16,279 over 12 years. He is also 4th overall in team scoring. Overall, Thomas finished his 13 seasons (his 13th season he played for Miami) with 12,074 rushing yards, 472 receptions for 4,458 yards, and 88 touchdowns (65 rushing and 23 receiving) with 16,532 total yards from scrimmage. He is one of six players (Jim Brown, Lenny Moore, Marcus Allen, Marshall Faulk, and Herschel Walker) to exceed 60 TDs rushing and 20 TDs 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 six running backs to have over 400 receptions and 10,000 yards rushing. Walter Payton
, Marshall Faulk
, Marcus Allen
, Tiki Barber
, and LaDainian Tomlinson
are the other five. Thomas is also one of five running backs to have rushed for over 1,000 yards in 8 consecutive seasons along with Curtis Martin
, Barry Sanders
, Emmitt Smith
and Tomlinson
.
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 end Kellen Winslow
's record for most receptions in a playoff game. He is also the first player ever to score a touchdown in 4 consecutive Super Bowl
s.
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. He was selected on February 3, 2007, to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
, 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 when kicker Scott Norwood
missed a 47 yard field goal attempt with 8 seconds remaining.
Some fans and sports writers, such as Sports Illustrated
writer Paul Zimmerman
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/dr_z/07/06/hall.of.fame/2.html, 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 than 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 other posteseason games that year were 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
. Thomas had a pre-game ritual where he placed his helmet at the 34-yard line. His helmet was moved in order for the stage to be set up for Harry Connick, Jr.
to perform the national anthem. This caused Thomas to miss Buffalo's first two offensive plays. He went on to gain just 13 rushing yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. He also caught 4 passes for 27 yards. On August 8, 2009, during teammate Bruce Smith's Hall of Fame induction speech, while he was acknowledging his relationship with Thomas, Bruce proclaimed "I hid your helmet!". Following the ceremony on NFL Total Access, Bruce indicated this was merely a joke.
. 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.
, wide receiver James Lofton
, defensive end Bruce Smith and head coach Marv Levy
, in the Hall. Thomas was enshrined into the Hall of Fame during the weekend of August 4–5, 2007.
In 2008, Thomas acquired a share of the Rochester Raiders
indoor football team, and will also be collaborating with the other Raiders owners to bring an af2
team to Buffalo in 2009. The ownership group is also said to be recruiting Jim Kelly
as a part-owner of the Buffalo franchise.
In 2010, Thomas started his own energy company, the Thurman Thomas Global Energy Group.
In 2010, Thomas made phone calls in support of New York State Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino
.
game Tecmo Super Bowl
. In many tournaments for the game, the Bills were highly sought after and often banned because Thurman's computerized counterpart was so good it gave the user of the Bills an unfair advantage. The same was true of the Los Angeles Raiders because of Bo Jackson
. Derek Schaul, the Illinois State Tecmo Champion in 1995 coined the phrase "Ain't no stoppin' me.... Ain't no stoppin' Thurman T!" as he ran in the winning touchdown in the tournament, (vs. Neill Power on ESPN
) which caught on with game fans and remained popular for years.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
running back
Running back
A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
who spent most of his NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
career with the Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. Thomas was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
in 2007 and into the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
in 2008.
Collegiate career
Thomas grew up playing football on the Missouri City Junior High School (now Missouri City Middle School) and Willowridge High SchoolWillowridge High School (Houston)
Willowridge High School is a secondary school in Houston, Texas, United States and part of the Fort Bend Independent School District. Willowridge serves grades 9 through 12....
teams before attending college at Oklahoma State University where he was a teammate of Barry Sanders
Barry Sanders
Barry Sanders is a former American football running back who spent all of his professional career with the Detroit Lions in the NFL. Sanders left the game just short of the all-time rushing record...
. At Oklahoma State, Thomas had 897 rushes for 4,595 yards, 43 touchdowns, 5,146 total yards, and 21 100-yard rushing games. He was also a Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
candidate in his senior year. He was a first team selection on the College Football All-America Team
College Football All-America Team
The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best American college football players at their respective positions. The original usage of the term All-America seems to have been to the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Casper Whitney and published in This...
in 1985
1985 College Football All-America Team
The 1985 College Football All-America team is composed of various organizations that choose College All-America teams that season. The organizations that chose the teams were Associated Press, United Press International, Newspaper Enterprise Association, Football Writers Association of America,...
and 1987
1987 College Football All-America Team
The 1987 College Football All-America team is composed of various organizations that choose College All-America teams that season. The organizations that chose the teams were Associated Press, United Press International, Newspaper Enterprise Association, Football Writers Association of America,...
. In the 1987 Sun Bowl
Sun Bowl
The Sun Bowl is an annual U.S. college football bowl game that is usually played at the end of December in El Paso, Texas. The Sun Bowl, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Orange Bowl are the second-oldest bowl games in the country, behind the Rose Bowl...
, Thomas ran for 157 yards and four touchdowns in the 35-33 victory over West Virginia
West Virginia Mountaineers
The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams of West Virginia University. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and the Big East Conference. On July 1, 2012 the Mountaineers will switch conferences, moving from the Big East to the Big 12, becoming...
, keeping Barry Sanders on the sidelines for the majority of the game. Thomas left OSU as the school's all-time leading rusher and his number 34 is one of only three jerseys retired at Oklahoma State. Sanders would replace Thomas as starter the next year in 1988, rushing for an NCAA record 2,638 yards and 39 touchdowns.
Professional career
A kneeKnee
The knee joint joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two articulations: one between the fibula and tibia, and one between the femur and patella. It is the largest joint in the human body and is very complicated. The knee is a mobile trocho-ginglymus , which permits flexion and extension as...
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
Jim Kelly
James Edward Kelly is a former American football quarterback in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills and the USFL's Houston Gamblers....
and Andre Reed
Andre Reed
Andre Darnell Reed is a former professional American football player. He played wide receiver in the National Football League for 16 seasons, 15 with the Buffalo Bills and one with the Washington Redskins .Reed ranks tenth in NFL history in total career receptions with 951.-Football career:Reed...
, which led the Bills to four straight Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
appearances.
Thomas was the AFC
American Football Conference
The American Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the National Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL....
rushing leader in 1990, 1991, and 1993. In the first three seasons of this career, Thomas had a total of 12 games with at least 100 yards rushing. The Bills won every one of those games. In 1989 and 1990, his combined total yards from scrimmage was 3,742. This was more than 200 yards better than any other player in the NFL. He was voted to the All-Pro team in 1990 and 1991, was selected to 5 straight Pro Bowl
Pro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
s from 1989–1993, and was named NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1991, after becoming the 11th player in NFL history to finish a season with over 2,000 all-purpose yards. Currently, he is 12th on the NFL all-time list for most rushing yards in a career.
Thomas currently holds the all-time Buffalo Bills rushing record with 11,938 yards and the team record for yards from scrimmage with 16,279 over 12 years. He is also 4th overall in team scoring. Overall, Thomas finished his 13 seasons (his 13th season he played for Miami) with 12,074 rushing yards, 472 receptions for 4,458 yards, and 88 touchdowns (65 rushing and 23 receiving) with 16,532 total yards from scrimmage. He is one of six players (Jim Brown, Lenny Moore, Marcus Allen, Marshall Faulk, and Herschel Walker) to exceed 60 TDs rushing and 20 TDs 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 six running backs to have over 400 receptions and 10,000 yards rushing. Walter Payton
Walter Payton
Walter Jerry Payton was an American football running back who played for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League for thirteen seasons. Walter Payton was known around the NFL as "Sweetness". He is remembered as one of the most prolific running backs in the history of American football...
, Marshall Faulk
Marshall Faulk
Marshall William Faulk is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League. He is currently an analyst for NFL Total Access, Thursday Night Football, and NFL GameDay Morning on the NFL Network...
, Marcus Allen
Marcus Allen
Marcus LeMarr Allen is a former American football player and, until recently, was affiliated with CBS as a game analyst. As a professional, Allen ran for 12,243 yards and caught 587 passes for 5,412 yards during his career for both the Los Angeles Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs from 1982 to 1997...
, Tiki Barber
Tiki Barber
Atiim Kiambu Hakeem-Ah "Tiki" Barber is an American football running back who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the New York Giants in the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft. He played college football at Virginia....
, and LaDainian Tomlinson
LaDainian Tomlinson
LaDainian Tramayne Tomlinson is an American football running back for the New York Jets of the National Football League. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers fifth overall in the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at Texas Christian.Tomlinson, often referred to by his initials, L...
are the other five. Thomas is also one of five running backs to have rushed for over 1,000 yards in 8 consecutive seasons along with Curtis Martin
Curtis Martin
Curtis James Martin, Jr. is a former American football running back. He is an alumnus of Taylor Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh...
, Barry Sanders
Barry Sanders
Barry Sanders is a former American football running back who spent all of his professional career with the Detroit Lions in the NFL. Sanders left the game just short of the all-time rushing record...
, Emmitt Smith
Emmitt Smith
Emmitt James Smith, III is a retired American football player who was a running back in the National Football League for fifteen seasons during the 1990s and 2000s. Smith played college football for the University of Florida, where he was an All-American; thereafter, he played professionally for...
and Tomlinson
LaDainian Tomlinson
LaDainian Tramayne Tomlinson is an American football running back for the New York Jets of the National Football League. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers fifth overall in the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at Texas Christian.Tomlinson, often referred to by his initials, L...
.
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
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, Thomas recorded 13 receptions for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns, which was a postseason record for receptions by a running back and tied tight end Kellen Winslow
Kellen Winslow
Kellen Boswell Winslow is a former American football tight end with the Missouri Tigers and the San Diego Chargers. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest tight ends in the history of the game. He is currently the athletic director at Central State University.Winslow did not play high...
's record for most receptions in a playoff game. He is also the first player ever to score a touchdown in 4 consecutive Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
s.
Thurman Thomas played for the Buffalo Bills for 12 seasons. When the Bills ran out of money under their salary cap
Salary cap
In professional sports, a salary cap is a cartel agreement between teams that places a limit on the amount of money that can be spent on player salaries. The limit exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both...
in 2000, Thomas signed with the arch-rival Miami Dolphins
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. He suffered a knee injury on November 12, 2000 against the San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
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
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
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. He was selected on February 3, 2007, to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Super Bowl XXV
Thomas had an outstanding performance in Super Bowl XXVSuper Bowl XXV
Super Bowl XXV was an American football game played on January 27, 1991 at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida to decide the National Football League champion following the 1990 regular season. The National Football Conference Champion New York Giants defeated the American Football Conference ...
, 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
Super Bowl MVP
The Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award, or Super Bowl MVP, is an award presented annually to the most valuable player of the Super Bowl, the National Football League's championship game. The winner is chosen by a fan vote during the game and by a panel of 16 American football writers and...
award, but his team lost the game 20-19 when kicker Scott Norwood
Scott Norwood
Scott Allan Norwood is a former American football placekicker in the NFL who played for the Buffalo Bills. Norwood was an integral part of its offense during the late 1980s and early 1990s, and kicked in Buffalo's first two Super Bowl appearances...
missed a 47 yard field goal attempt with 8 seconds remaining.
Some fans and sports writers, such as Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
writer Paul Zimmerman
Paul Zimmerman
Paul Lionel Zimmerman is the son of Charles S. Zimmerman and Rose Zimmerman. Zimmerman, also known to readers as "Dr. Z", is an American football sportswriter who wrote for the weekly magazine Sports Illustrated, as well as the magazine's website, SI.com. He is sometimes confused with Paul D...
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/dr_z/07/06/hall.of.fame/2.html, 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 than New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
running back Ottis Anderson
Ottis Anderson
Ottis Jerome "O.J." Anderson is a former American football running back. He was named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1979, and the MVP of Super Bowl XXV in 1991 when playing with the New York Giants...
, 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
Chuck Howley
Charles Louis "Chuck" Howley is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League...
accomplished this feat in Super Bowl V
Super Bowl V
Super Bowl V was an American football game played on January 17, 1971, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, to decide the National Football League champion following the 1970 regular season...
.
His performance in the Bills other posteseason games that year were 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 XXVISuper Bowl XXVI
Super Bowl XXVI was an American football game played on January 26, 1992 at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota to decide the National Football League champion following the 1991 regular season...
. Thomas had a pre-game ritual where he placed his helmet at the 34-yard line. His helmet was moved in order for the stage to be set up for Harry Connick, Jr.
Harry Connick, Jr.
Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...
to perform the national anthem. This caused Thomas to miss Buffalo's first two offensive plays. He went on to gain just 13 rushing yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. He also caught 4 passes for 27 yards. On August 8, 2009, during teammate Bruce Smith's Hall of Fame induction speech, while he was acknowledging his relationship with Thomas, Bruce proclaimed "I hid your helmet!". Following the ceremony on NFL Total Access, Bruce indicated this was merely a joke.
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 CowboysDallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
. 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. He was a reliable target as a receiver out of the backfield, catching 7 passes for 52 yards but he lost 2 fumbles that led to 10 Dallas points. The second fumble came at the start of the second half, and it was returned for a game tying touchdown that swung the momentum for the Cowboys.Pro Football Hall of Fame
On February 3, 2007, Thomas was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Thomas joined his former quarterback Jim KellyJim Kelly
James Edward Kelly is a former American football quarterback in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills and the USFL's Houston Gamblers....
, wide receiver James Lofton
James Lofton
James David Lofton is a former American football player and coach. He is a former American football coach for the San Diego Chargers but is best known for his years in the National Football League as a wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers , Los Angeles Raiders , the Buffalo Bills...
, defensive end Bruce Smith and head coach Marv Levy
Marv Levy
Marvin Daniel Levy is a former American and Canadian football coach, front office executive and author.He is a former professional football coach, in the CFL as head coach of the Montreal Alouettes , and in the NFL as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills , coaching the Bills...
, in the Hall. Thomas was enshrined into the Hall of Fame during the weekend of August 4–5, 2007.
Personal
Thomas moved back to Buffalo in 2007 with his wife, Patti and three daughters, Olivia, Angel, and Annika, and one son, Thurman III. He is the President and CEO of Thurman Thomas Sports Training in Elma, New York. His oldest daughter, Olivia, attends school at the University of Florida in Gainesville. http://thurmanthomassports.com/home.htmlIn 2008, Thomas acquired a share of the Rochester Raiders
Rochester Raiders
The Rochester Raiders are a professional indoor football team based in the Rochester, New York area. They are currently a member of the Indoor Football League and play their home games at the Dome Arena in the suburb of Henrietta...
indoor football team, and will also be collaborating with the other Raiders owners to bring an af2
Af2
AF2 was the name of the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football rules and style of play. League seasons ran from April through July with the postseason and ArenaCup...
team to Buffalo in 2009. The ownership group is also said to be recruiting Jim Kelly
Jim Kelly
James Edward Kelly is a former American football quarterback in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills and the USFL's Houston Gamblers....
as a part-owner of the Buffalo franchise.
In 2010, Thomas started his own energy company, the Thurman Thomas Global Energy Group.
In 2010, Thomas made phone calls in support of New York State Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino
Carl Paladino
Carl Pasquale Paladino is an American businessman and political activist from Buffalo, New York. Paladino is the founder and chairman of Ellicott Development Company, a real estate development company he founded in 1973. He was the 2010 Republican nominee for the New York gubernatorial election,...
.
Popular culture
Thomas is also famous for being absolutely unstoppable in the NintendoNintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
game Tecmo Super Bowl
Tecmo Super Bowl
Tecmo Super Bowl , is an American football video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System that was released in 1991...
. In many tournaments for the game, the Bills were highly sought after and often banned because Thurman's computerized counterpart was so good it gave the user of the Bills an unfair advantage. The same was true of the Los Angeles Raiders because of Bo Jackson
Bo Jackson
Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson is a former American baseball and football player. He was the first athlete to be named an All-Star in two major American sports, and also won the Heisman Trophy in 1985....
. Derek Schaul, the Illinois State Tecmo Champion in 1995 coined the phrase "Ain't no stoppin' me.... Ain't no stoppin' Thurman T!" as he ran in the winning touchdown in the tournament, (vs. Neill Power on ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
) which caught on with game fans and remained popular for years.
1990 stats
Thomas led the NFL in total yards from scrimmage for the second consecutive season in 1990. His 1,297 rushing yards led the AFC and was second in the NFL to Barry Sanders. Thomas had at least 100 total yards in 10 of the Bills 16 games. After gaining 219 total yards versus the New York Jets, Thomas was named AFC offensive player of the week.| Game | Rushing Yards | Receiving Yards | Total |
| Indianapolis 1990 Indianapolis Colts season The 1990 Indianapolis Colts season was the 38th season for the team in the National Football League and 7th in Indianapolis. The Indianapolis Colts finished the National Football League's 1990 season with a record of 7 wins and 9 losses, and finished third in the AFC East division.-NFL... |
84 | 61 | 145 |
| Miami 1990 Miami Dolphins season -Offseason:-NFL Draft:-Staff:-Schedule:-Passing:-Receiving:-Defense:-AFC Wildcard Game:With 2:28 left in the game, the Dolphins capped an 85-yard drive with quarterback Dan Marino's winning 12-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Mark Clayton.... |
23 | 37 | 60 |
| New York Jets 1990 New York Jets season -Schedule:-External links:*... |
214 | 5 | 219 |
| Denver 1990 Denver Broncos season -Schedule:-External links:* *... |
36 | 25 | 61 |
| LA Raiders 1990 Los Angeles Raiders season The 1990 Los Angeles Raiders season was the club's 31st season in the National Football League . Led by Coach of the Year Art Shell, the club appeared in its first AFC Championship Game since the 1983 season, but lost a lopsided affair to the Buffalo Bills, 51–3.-NFL Draft:-Schedule:-Game details:*... |
67 | 47 | 114 |
| New York Jets 1990 New York Jets season -Schedule:-External links:*... |
5 | 0 | 5 |
| New England 1990 New England Patriots season The New England Patriots finished the National Football League's 1990 season with a record of one win and fifteen losses, and finished last in the AFC East division... |
136 | 9 | 145 |
| Cleveland 1990 Cleveland Browns season The 1990 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 41st season with the National Football League.-Staff:-Schedule:-References:... |
58 | 65 | 123 |
| Phoenix 1990 Phoenix Cardinals season The 1990 Phoenix Cardinals season was the team's 71st year with the National Football League and the 3rd season in Phoenix.-NFL Draft:-Schedule:-Roster: -References:**... |
112 | 0 | 112 |
| New England 1990 New England Patriots season The New England Patriots finished the National Football League's 1990 season with a record of one win and fifteen losses, and finished last in the AFC East division... |
165 | 5 | 170 |
| Houston 1990 Houston Oilers season -Schedule:-AFC Wild Card:-Awards and records:* Ray Childress, 1990 AFC Pro Bowl selection* Ernest Givins, Pro Bowl Selection* Drew Hill, Ranked second in AFC in receptions* Haywood Jeffires, Led AFC in Receptions... |
54 | 32 | 86 |
| Philadelphia 1990 Philadelphia Eagles season The 1990 Philadelphia Eagles season resulted in an appearance in the postseason after starting out at 2–4 and finishing at 10–6.-Off Season:The Eagles held training camp at West Chester State University in West Chester, PA about 20 miles from Veterans Stadium where they play their home... |
53 | 39 | 92 |
| Indianapolis 1990 Indianapolis Colts season The 1990 Indianapolis Colts season was the 38th season for the team in the National Football League and 7th in Indianapolis. The Indianapolis Colts finished the National Football League's 1990 season with a record of 7 wins and 9 losses, and finished third in the AFC East division.-NFL... |
76 | 91 | 167 |
| New York Giants 1990 New York Giants season The 1990 New York Giants season was one of the most successful seasons in the professional American football franchise's history. The Giants, who play in the National Football Conference of the National Football League , won their sixth championship—and second Super Bowl—in franchise history... |
60 | 65 | 125 |
| Miami 1990 Miami Dolphins season -Offseason:-NFL Draft:-Staff:-Schedule:-Passing:-Receiving:-Defense:-AFC Wildcard Game:With 2:28 left in the game, the Dolphins capped an 85-yard drive with quarterback Dan Marino's winning 12-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Mark Clayton.... |
154 | 29 | 183 |
| Washington 1990 Washington Redskins season The 1990 Washington Redskins began with the team trying to improve on their 10-6 record from 1989.-Schedule:-Playoffs:-References:... |
0 | 22 | 22 |