Remember When: Sports Moments From Yesteryear

by Stephen Brandt

Today we talk about one of the great players of the 90’s, former Buffalo Bills Thurman Thomas. Thurman played with the Bills from 1988-1999 before playing with the Miami Dolphins briefly. He retired with the Bills in the off-season of 1999. Thurman met his wife Patti at Oklahoma State in 1987. 15 years later they are the proud parents of Oliva, Angelica, Annika and Thurman III. The Thomas family currently resides in Orlando, Florida.Thomas epitomized the heart and soul of the Buffalo Bills during their glory years in the early 90's and was a vital cog to the Bills unprecedented run of playing in four straight Super Bowls.

The future Hall of Famer set the all-time Bills rushing record with 11,938 yards, second all-time leading receiver in Bills history with 4,341 yards and fourth overall in team scoring. Along with Jim Kelly and wide-receiver Andre Reed, Thomas was a part of one of the most potent offenses ever to play in the NFL. Thurman was born on May 16, 1966 in Houston, Texas. He played college football at Oklahoma State, where he quickly became one of the best running backs in college football. Thurman carried the ball a total of 897 times for 4,595 yards, 43 touchdowns and twenty-one 100 yard rushing games and was a Heisman Trophy candidate his senior year.

Thomas was drafted in 1988 by the Buffalo Bills. He had an immediate impact during his rookie year gaining 881 yards on 207 rushes and helped the Bills get to the AFC Championship game, something that would become an occurrence for the team over the next four years. In just his second year he was selected to the Pro Bowl. In 1991, he had an even better year by becoming only the 11th player in league history to gain over 2,000 combined yards from scrimmage in a season. He was voted the Most Valuable Player of the NFL and selected to the Pro Bowl and All-Madden team. After, twelve glorious years with the Bills, including four Super Bowl appearances, six AFC titles, five Pro-Bowls, a Most Valuable Player award and several Bills records, Thurman, Bruce Smith and Andre Reed were cut from the Bills for salary cap reasons. Some Bills fans still hate those moves. He would play one more year with rival Miami Dolphins before suffering a career ending knee injury.

Thurman put together a career that is surely comparable with most Hall of Fame players. Thomas finished ninth all-time with 12,074 career rushing yards and sixth in career all purpose years. Thurman, 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 three running backs (Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith) to rush for over 1,000 yards in 8 consecutive seasons and one of only three running backs (Walter Payton and Marcus Allen two Hall of Famers) to have over 400 receptions and 10,000 yards rushing.

He was the 1991 NFL Most Valuable Player, selected to five straight Pro-Bowls and set NFL playoff records for career points (126), touchdowns (21) and consecutive games with a TD (9).

ESPN commentator, Chris Berman, has called him "The Thurmanator." Fans simply call him "The Man." In 2006, Thomas should join his coach and Quarterback, Jim Kelly, in Pro Football's Hall of Fame. Thomas epitomized the heart and soul of the Buffalo Bills during their glory years and was a vital component to the Bills unprecedented run of four straight Super Bowls. The future Hall of Famer set the all-time Bills rushing record with 11,938 yards, second all-time leading receiver in Bills history with 4,341 yards and fourth overall in team scoring. Along with Jim Kelly and wide-receiver Andre Reed, Thurman was part of an amazing offense.