Frank Thomas

Notable Sports Figures
Chronology
1966 Born May 16 in Houston, Texas
1970 Parents divorce
1982 Put into starting lineup at Willowridge High School
1984 Finishes high school with 3,918 yards and 48 touchdowns
1984 Chooses Oklahoma State as college where he’ll play football
1985 Gains 1650 yards, scoring 15 touchdowns and finishes 10th in
Heisman voting as a sophomore
1986 Tears ACL in left knee during pick-up basketball game. Is out
first few games of season
1989 Leads NFL in combined total yards, the first of four
consecutive seasons
1991 Leads Bills to Super Bowl XXV, first of four consecutive trips
(and four straight losses)
1991 Donates $30,000 to the United Negro College Fund and
Buffalo chapters of YMCA and Special Olympics
1992 Establishes the Thurman Thomas Foundation, providing innercity
youth with scholarships to a local community college
1995 Thomas has 155 yards rushing in a game against the Steelers,
proving to his critics that he’s not getting too old to perform
1996 Quarterback Jim Kelly announces retirement, making Thomas
think about his own NFL mortality
1997 Bills head coach Marv Levy retires at end of season, and
Thomas sees the end of his career approaching
1999 Plays in only five games for the Bills. Leaves team at end of
season
2000 Finishes career in Miami
2002 Heads up his business, Thurman Thomas Enterprises, based
in Niagara Falls, NY
phins—promised Thomas that he could run if he came
to play for Oklahoma State. Thomas did, and went on to
become one of the nation’s premier runners.
Size Doesn’t Matter
Thomas’ NFL draft day was one that he thought he’d
like to forget. At 5 feet 10 inches tall, Thomas was one
of the smaller running backs in the draft. That fact, combined
with a knee injury in his senior season, dropped
him lower on the list, and he didn’t go until the middle
of the second round. ESPN, anticipating Thomas would
go earlier, wanted to capture Thomas’ reaction and sent
a camera crew to his house. As Thomas watched the
draft, and as player after player went before him, ESPN
captured for a national audience Thurman Thomas’
growing disappointment. Thomas later took a copy of
that tape with him and watched it for motivation during
his first few seasons in the NFL, vowing never to forget
all of those teams that passed him up.
In spite of his physical hardship that rookie season,
Thomas rushed for 881 yards on 207 carries on the season,
even though he missed two games with a sore knee.
He had found a home with Buffalo and a friend in head
coach Marv Levy. Levy’s famed “no-huddle” offense and
the team’s ability to keep the game moving quickly suited
Thomas’ style, and he became a versatile player, used as
both a running back and a receiver. He would amass
1,913 yards in 1989, good enough to lead the league, and
then repeat as league leader for the next three seasons.
Awards and Accomplishments
Thomas
1984 Parade magazine All-American Player of the Year
1984 Houston Touchdown Club’s Texas Player of the Year
1984 Gator Bowl Most Valuable Player (as a freshman)
1985, 1987 College All-American
1989-93 NFL Pro Bowl Team
1991 Professional Football Writers Association Player of the Year
1991 NFL’s Most Valuable Player
1991 Sporting News NFL Player of the Year
1991 United Press International AFC Offensive Player of the Year
1991 Miller Lite Player of the Year
With Thomas on their team, the Bills had a strong arsenal
and began to compete for national championships.
In four years prior to Thomas’ arrival, the Buffalo Bills
had a combined record of 15-40. But things started to
click. They went 13-3 in 1990, making it into their first
of four straight Super Bowls. Thomas had come off of a
stellar season, rushing for 1297 yards, catching fortynine
passes for another 532 yards. Yet despite his combined
effort for 190 yards in the title game, the Bills lost
20-19 in the final four seconds on a missed field goal. It
would be an omen of bad things to come.
Thomas and the Bills compiled yet another winning
season in 1991, going 13-3 again, and making it into
Super Bowl XXVI. Thomas’ combined yards for the
season surpassed 2000, making him only the eleventh
player in NFL history to do so, earning him the NFL’s
Most Valuable Player. But the Bills would lose the
Super Bowl to the Washington Redskins.
For the next two seasons Thomas continued to excel
on offense. 1992 was his best season, and he led the
league in total yards gained, once more surpassing 2000
total yards, and once more making it into the playoffs
and to Super Bowl XXVII. But the Bills would lose in a
poor performance, getting hammered by the Dallas
Cowboys, 52-17.
Thomas finished 1995 with the lowest totals of his
career. The Bills would enter their fourth consecutive
Super Bowl and hope to walk away with a victory and
break whatever curse had been placed on them. But it
was not to be.
Thurman Thomas struggled in 1996, though he surpassed
10,000 career yards and gained just over 1000
yards, becoming only the second player to do so in eight
consecutive seasons. At the season’s end, quarterback
Jim Kelly announced his retirement, and Thomas started
to think about his own NFL mortality.
The Bills picked up running back Antoine Smith in
the 1997 draft, and that season, for the first time,
Thomas failed to gain 1000 yards rushing. In 1999 he
played in only five games for the Bills, and then in 2000
was traded to conference rival Miami, where he would
retire at the end of the season.
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