Saturday Morning Cup O’Super Bowl

From Tampa, Florida

By the time this post hits the site, the doors will be closed and the discussion, deliberations and voting will have begun on the Class of 2009 for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

There will be 44 voters in that room, along with about a half-dozen folks from the Hall of Fame in Canton.

I will be there with them, making it 14 years that I’ve taken part in this process. I consider it one of the greatest honors of my career. The voters are members of the sports media who have covered pro football for a number of years. There is one voter for each franchise in the league and then a group of at-large voters. Some have been on the committee for decades; this year we will have more new faces than any year I can remember with five.

Part of the duties as a representative of a team city is that when a player is a finalist, the voter from that city presents his credentials. It’s not one of those rousing nominating speeches you might here at a political convention. It’s simply a presentation of the man’s career and his accomplishments.

I will make the presentation for Derrick Thomas. I’ve learned over time that when a player keeps coming up for induction, it really becomes just a matter of time. That’s the case with D.T. He is going to get into the Hall of Fame at some point. In my opinion, it should have happened five years ago, but that’s obviously not the opinion of the necessary 80 percent of my fellow voters.

Just for your eyes only, here’s a preview of my presentation. It may change on the fly, but this is ultimately what I’ll say to the room:

I think the time is right for Derrick Thomas. He was the impact defensive player of his generation. The numbers and testimony is there to back up that claim and as we try to address the imbalance between offense and defense in our inductees, it’s time for Derrick Thomas.

He had an impact on the Chiefs franchise, the players he played with and those he played against. He was a defensive player that changed the games he played in each week.

I’ve quoted before and will again if anybody would like to hear, the comments from coaches like Marv Levy, Dan Reeves, Mike Shanahan, Tom Flores, Art Shell, Jim Fassel and Bill Cowher, along with quarterbacks like John Elway, Jim Kelly, Warren Moon and Steve Young about the effect Thomas had on game preparation and during the game itself.

Just yesterday I spoke again with Cowher, who coached Thomas for three years and then spent eight years as an opponent. He might have put it best: Thomas wasn’t just a game changer, he was a game plan changer. Opponents had to alter what they did to account for him.

He had the respect of his peers, as evidenced by his nine Pro Bowls.

He had the respect of the people in this room, who elected him to the NFL team of the 1990s and voted him first or second team All-Pro seven times.

There were his 126.5 sacks in 169 games. If he had not died so young, who knows how many more he would have had and what the final total would have been. In the 1990s, nobody had more than his 116.5 sacks

But it wasn’t just the sacks, it was what came from those plays.

We hear constantly from coaches at all levels of the game about turnovers. Takeaways win games, giveaways will lose them. And by covering the sport and watching the games we know it to be true. The most important stat in football after the points scored is the turnover ratio. They are game changing plays.

And few players changed as many games as Derrick Thomas.

He forced 45 fumbles and recovered 19 fumbles.

Those 45 forced fumbles ranks him at the top of pass rushers in the league over the last 20 years.

The only other pass rusher who matched the mayhem Thomas created with his 45 fumbles caused was Bruce Smith. I think we all have a pretty good idea of where Smith stands as he comes into this room for the first and last time today.

Smith forced 45 fumbles as well. But Bruce Smith did that in 110 more games than Thomas. He played 19 seasons; Thomas played 11.

In his 11 seasons, the Chiefs were a combined plus-120 on the turnover ratio. The second place team in that time was the New York Giants at plus 69.

Few pass rushers put points on the scoreboard like Thomas. He scored four touchdowns on fumble returns. Only two NFL players had more, with five each.

He scored three safeties; only two NFL players had more, with four each.

Plus, there were six other scores that came off the fumbles he caused, five touchdowns and safety.

So Derrick Thomas changed the momentum of games, changed the field position battle, changed possession of the football and on top of all that he put points on the scoreboard for his team, while limiting the points of his opponent.

He was most definitely an impact player. He did it with his overall play. He did it with his sacks. He did it by causing turnovers. He did it by putting points on the scoreboard and he did all of those things as well as player in the game’s recent history.

The time is right for Derrick Thomas.

COUNTDOWN TO SUPER BOWL – 1 DAY AWAY

A lengthy look at Mike Tomlin and how he rolled into Pittsburgh, replaced a legend in Bill Cowher and has thrived.

In Washington, the new president and vice-president know who they are rooting for on Sunday.

In Tampa this week, a couple of NFL greats visited a VA hospital and if there’s not a lump in your throat at some point in reading this story, have someone check to make sure you are still alive.

COACHING/FRONT OFFICE UPDATE

EAGLES – Moved Rory Segrest from special teams coach to defensive line coach. Named Ted Daisher special teams coach. Moved James Urban from offensive quality control to quarterbacks coach.

RAMS – Named Kevin Demoff as the executive vice-president of football operations. Demoff had been the assistant to the GM in Tampa. St. Louis hired former Mississippi State head coach Sylvester Croom as running backs coach.

FROM THE PAGES OF SUPER BOWL HISTORY

On January 31, 1999, the Denver Broncos beat the Atlanta Falcons 34-19 in Super Bowl XXXIII at Pro Player Stadium in Miami. A crowd of 74,803 watched the Broncos win their second straight Super Bowl title, led by quarterback John Elway. Appearing in his final game, the leader of the Broncos earned MVP honors by throwing for 336 yards and running for a touchdown. Thanks to a one-yard touchdown run by FB Howard Griffith and an 80-yard scoring throw from Elway to WR Rod Smith, Denver held a 17-6 lead at half-time. In the second half, Griffith scored again from the one and Elway had his three-yard TD scamper. Atlanta had troubles on offense getting just a late touchdown pass from QB Chris Chandler to WR Terance Mathis. The Falcons also got a 94-yard kickoff return for a TD from Tim Dwight. But Atlanta’s offense was stymied in the second half by a pair of interceptions by CB Darrien Gordon. Overall, the Falcons had seven trips inside the Broncos 30-yard line, and scored just one touchdown and two field goals. Elway was 18 of 29 for 336 yards. RB Terrell Davis ran 25 times for 102 yards and Smith had five catches for 152 yards.

SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO …

One of the first players to sign with the franchise, wide receiver Chris Burford
(left), who was born on January 31, 1938 in Oakland, California. Burford was the first college player to sign with the Dallas Texans in 1960 and he ended up playing eight seasons with the Texans and Chiefs. He appeared in 103 games and finished his career with 391 receptions for 5,505 yards and 55 touchdown catches. Burford led the team in receiving in four of his eight seasons (1961-63 and 1965.) He caught 12 touchdown passes in the 1962 season, which still remains a team record. The Stanford graduate was inducted into the Chiefs Hall of Fame in 1975.

Born on January 31, 1982 in Pontiac, Michigan was current wide receiver Jeff Webb. He was a sixth-round pick of the team in 2006 and in the last three seasons, he’s caught 36 passes for 382 yards and one touchdown.

Former Chiefs punter and draft choice Jim Arnold was born on January 31, 1961 in Dalton, Georgia. He spent 12 seasons in the NFL, the first three of those with the Chiefs (1983-85) after being the team’s fifth-round choice in ’83 out of Vanderbilt. He averaged 44.9 yards in ’84 to lead the league in gross punting average.

And born on January 31, 1913 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas was Hall of Fame wide receiver Donald Roy Hutson (right). He spent 11 seasons in the NFL, playing for the Green Bay Packers. Don Hutson finished his career with 488 catches for 7,991 yards and 99 touchdown catches. He was the NFL’s receiving champion in eight seasons and was the league’s MVP in 1941 and 1942. He also was a place kicker and safety for the Packers and when he retired, he held 18 major NFL records. Don Hutson passed away in June of 1997.