Derrick Thomas’ Death Left a Void

The natural assumption for a generation of Chiefs fans growing up in the Derrick Thomas era was that their team would never have trouble sacking the quarterback.

Thomas made it look that easy. Seemingly without effort, he could glide past an opposing tackle and quickly make his way to the quarterback, who often had little chance to react.

That the Chiefs set an NFL record last year for pass-rush futility — 10 sacks — speaks loudly to one of the franchise’s single biggest failures since his death: the inability to adequately replace him.

“He was an impact player, and those people don’t come around that often,” said former Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson, a Hall of Fame member himself. “He’s somebody that could change the outcome of a game, and there’s just not that many of those guys. He had that kind of ability. If you didn’t control Derrick Thomas, he was going to control you.

“You just don’t find them that often. That’s the problem.”

After Thomas’ death in 2000, the Chiefs made some efforts to find a top-flight pass rusher. They signed Duane Clemons shortly after Thomas’ death and Vonnie Holliday three years later.

They even stumbled on a suitable successor in 2004 when they spent a fourth-round draft pick on small-college star Jared Allen of Idaho State. Allen developed into one of the league’s best pass rushers and led the NFL in sacks with 15½ in 2007.

Eventually, Allen became disgruntled with Chiefs management over his contract and forced a trade to Minnesota.

“I don’t know if that trade is something we regret,” Chiefs president Denny Thum said. “Without question, Jared Allen is a fine football player. … He was a different type of player than what Derrick Thomas was, but he was a good football player who’s done well with the Minnesota Vikings.

“You can look through our drafts. We tried to help ourselves on the defensive side of the ball. Without question, you win football games by playing defense first. That sets the tone for the football team. During the time after Derrick’s passing, we tried to go ahead and help ourselves on the defensive side of the ball. It’s impossible to say you can replace someone as great as Derrick Thomas was on our football team with someone you can draft.”

The fortunes of a proud franchise sagged after Thomas’ death. The presence of one of the game’s all-time great pass rushers had made his teammates better players.

But the Chiefs haven’t been dominant defensively since. Not counting Thomas, the Chiefs had at least one other Pro Bowl defensive player for the first nine seasons of Thomas’ career.

Only Allen in 2007 and safety Jerome Woods in 2003 played in the Pro Bowl after Thomas’ death. While many factors figured into that decline, Thomas’ death was certainly one of them.

“It was a tremendous blow,” Dawson said. “You have to consider how many years he’d already been playing and how many years he had left to perform at that high level. But to take that weapon away like that and not being able to replace it, that can set back a franchise for years.”

What Thomas brought, day in and day out, was so important to the Chiefs, Thum said.

“As a player, there probably has been no other like him in that the opposing team had to scheme and know where Derrick Thomas was on the field each and every time, each and every snap,” Thum said.

“There’s no question he was a leader for our defense. We haven’t been able to replace those leadership qualities on the defensive side of the ball. That’s so important in our game today. We’ve tried.”

While the Chiefs played with a defensive purpose in the Thomas years, they’ve rarely had someone to rally them in the last several years. Allen took a brief turn, but mostly the Chiefs have tried to convert players into leaders, much as former coordinator Gunther Cunningham tried to do with former linebacker Kawika Mitchell.

Those efforts failed. This year, finally, the Chiefs imported veterans like Mike Vrabel and Zach Thomas to help them with the job.

“With Derrick Thomas, it was always more than just his ability,” Dawson said. “He had plenty of that, but he really had the tremendous desire. Once he tasted a sack, he wanted more and more. Only the great ones are that way.”

The Chiefs are still looking for another great one. Perhaps this year’s first-round draft pick, Tyson Jackson, will develop into that.

If not, the search will go on.

“I know (general manager Scott Pioli) would love to have the opportunity to find another Derrick Thomas,” Thum said. “That kind of player is few and far between.”

Taken from: KansasCity.Com