Best NFL Players of All Time: Thurman Thomas. Ranking the Top Players in History. Place a bet on an NFL football game now.

Best NFL Players of All Time: Thurman Thomas

On Draft Day in the NFL, taking this photo has become a ritual. The Green Room is the subject of the cameras every year as the draft progresses through its first round. Many of the top draft prospects are sitting there, expecting to be paraded out to see the commissioner and adorn the franchise that selected them with a hat.

Despite the fact that many of the players that are called at

At the very height of the drama, the last participants in the Green Room who are called experience excruciating embarrassment. As excitement gives way to regret, everyone knows that money is disappearing.

Thurman Thomas was the first athlete to go through this live in front of ESPN cameras in the Green Room back in 1988. The Buffalo Bills selected him with the 40th overall pick—well into the second round—when they ultimately selected him.

Thomas had excelled as a runner at Oklahoma State, and scouting evaluations generally said he had what it needed to be a prominent player in the NFL. However, he also suffered from an injured knee. According to the allegations, Thomas was playing with a knee that was “bone on bone,” meaning that if he sustained another injury, surgery would not be an option because there would be no more cartilage or ligament to heal. That would be the end of his career. Thus, until Buffalo Bills general manager Bill Polian and head coach Marv Levy took a chance on him, Thomas fell like a stone.

To suggest that Thomas entered the NFL with a grudge is akin to claiming that George W. Bush struggled with the economics.

Thomas performed with motivation. He wanted to prove to everyone in the league that they had made a grave error by ignoring him. That was the tenet of his entire career.

He achieved his objective. Thomas developed into one of the all-time great running backs and one of the finest of his era. As the 1991 NFL MVP, Thomas was one of just four running backs to carry for 1,000 yards or more in eight consecutive seasons. He also led the NFL in total yards from scrimmage four years in a row (1989– 1992). His 12,074 rushing yards as of this writing of the book places him 12th all-time in league annals.

Naturally, Thomas experienced four defeats while playing with the Bills on all four of their Super Bowl teams. But against the Giants in Super Bowl XXV, he ran for 135 yards and grabbed five receptions for 55 yards, setting the stage for an unforgettable performance. Scott Norwood’s field goal attempt went wide right, and the Bills lost that Super Bowl; but, his running put Giants head coach Bill Parcells and linebacker Lawrence Taylor under pressure. “We thought about him the entire game,” Taylor remarked. “He was the most challenging running back we have ever faced to contain and keep track of.”

Thomas is regarded as one of the most adaptable backs in NFL history, even though he did not play as well in his other Super Bowls and made a memorable error in Super Bowl XXVI against the Washington Redskins when he could not find his helmet on the sidelines and had to miss the opening kickoff. Thomas also earned entry into the Hall of Fame.

Thomas was an expert at finishing tasks quickly and with fluid movements. In a second, he could accelerate to full speed and use a head fake or even just a quick glance outside to utterly fool opponents out of position. Throughout the game, players were always on the defensive end of his fast cuts.

In 1991 and 1992, when he topped the league in total yards from scrimmage in both seasons, Thomas might have been at his finest. In 1991, Thomas caught 62 passes for 631 yards and ran 1,407 yards, averaging 4.9 yards per attempt. One year later, Thomas had 1,487 yards of rushing and 626 yards of receiving from 58 throws. Although Thomas was not the type of athlete to draw attention to himself in the locker room, his output allowed him to rise to the position of team leader for the Bills.

According to Bills quarterback Jim Kelly, “Thurman wasn’t the guy in the locker room who would stand up and say a lot, but when he got on the football field, that’s when his leadership came out.” Both in the huddle and to offensive linemen on the sidelines, he said certain things. He would make observations on the eld that would sustain us. Few individuals got the opportunity to witness the mentality he brought to the game behind the scenes once he was on the football field.

Thomas brought a businesslike mentality and professionalism on the field that pleased Levy. Levy remarked, “He was the most reliable player we had.” Because he was so driven, you could always rely on Thurman to put in a lot of effort and produce quality work. Beneath everything was the re that commenced, I think, at the time of his draft. Although it was a terrible day for him, the Buffalo Bills had a fantastic day. He became a Hall of Famer because he vented his resentment at his rivals.

Best NFL Players of All Time: Thurman Thomas Stats

Regular Season

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	1D	Succ%	Lng	Y/A	Y/G	A/G	Tgt	Rec	Yds	Y/R	TD	1D	Succ%	Lng	R/G	Y/G	Ctch%	Y/Tgt	Touch	Y/Tch	YScm	RRTD	Fmb	AV
1988	22	BUF	RB	34	15	15	207	881	2			37	4.3	58.7	13.8		18	208	11.6	0			34	1.2	13.9			225	4.8	1089	2	9	9
1989	23	BUF	RB	34	16	16	298	1244	6			38	4.2	77.8	18.6		60	669	11.2	6			74	3.8	41.8			358	5.3	1913	12	7	16
1990	24	BUF	RB	34	16	16	271	1297	11			80	4.8	81.1	16.9		49	532	10.9	2			63	3.1	33.3			320	5.7	1829	13	6	19
1991	25	BUF	RB	34	15	15	288	1407	7			33	4.9	93.8	19.2		62	631	10.2	5			50	4.1	42.1			350	5.8	2038	12	5	20
1992	26	BUF	RB	34	16	16	312	1487	9			44	4.8	92.9	19.5	87	58	626	10.8	3			43	3.6	39.1	66.70%	7.2	370	5.7	2113	12	6	19
1993	27	BUF	RB	34	16	16	355	1315	6			27	3.7	82.2	22.2	71	48	387	8.1	0			37	3	24.2	67.60%	5.5	403	4.2	1702	6	6	12
1994	28	BUF	RB	34	15	15	287	1093	7	64	47.4	29	3.8	72.9	19.1	71	50	349	7	2	16	43.7	28	3.3	23.3	70.40%	4.9	337	4.3	1442	9	1	12
1995	29	BUF	RB	34	14	14	267	1005	6	64	46.1	49	3.8	71.8	19.1	41	26	220	8.5	2	10	43.9	60	1.9	15.7	63.40%	5.4	293	4.2	1225	8	6	8
1996	30	BUF	RB	34	15	15	281	1033	8	69	46.3	36	3.7	68.9	18.7	42	26	254	9.8	0	9	38.1	69	1.7	16.9	61.90%	6	307	4.2	1287	8	1	7
1997	31	BUF	RB	34	16	16	154	643	1	33	41.6	24	4.2	40.2	9.6	43	30	208	6.9	0	8	44.2	30	1.9	13	69.80%	4.8	184	4.6	851	1	2	5
1998	32	BUF	RB	34	14	3	93	381	2	16	39.8	17	4.1	27.2	6.6	32	26	220	8.5	1	10	53.1	26	1.9	15.7	81.30%	6.9	119	5.1	601	3	0	6
1999	33	BUF	RB	34	5	3	36	152	0	10	52.8	31	4.2	30.4	7.2	5	3	37	12.3	1	2	40	23	0.6	7.4	60.00%	7.4	39	4.8	189	1	0	1
2000	34	MIA	RB	34	9	0	28	136	0	7	35.7	25	4.9	15.1	3.1	24	16	117	7.3	1	6	37.5	15	1.8	13	66.70%	4.9	44	5.8	253	1	1	2
Career					182	160	2877	12074	65	263	45.3	80	4.2	66.3	15.8	416	472	4458	9.4	23	61	43.4	74	2.6	24.5	68%	5.8	3349	4.9	16532	88	50	136
12 yrs		BUF			173	160	2849	11938	65	256	45.5	80	4.2	69	16.5	392	456	4341	9.5	22	55	44	74	2.6	25.1	68.10%	5.9	3305	4.9	16279	87	49	134
1 yr		MIA			9	0	28	136	0	7	35.7	25	4.9	15.1	3.1	24	16	117	7.3	1	6	37.5	15	1.8	13	66.70%	4.9	44	5.8	253	1	1	2

Playoffs

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	1D	Succ%	Lng	Y/A	Y/G	A/G	Tgt	Rec	Yds	Y/R	TD	1D	Succ%	Lng	R/G	Y/G	Ctch%	Y/Tgt	Touch	Y/Tch	YScm	RRTD	Fmb
1988	22	BUF	RB	2	2	11	81	1			40	7.4	40.5	5.5					0								11	7.4	81	1	0
1989*	23	BUF	RB	1	1	10	27	0			7	2.7	27	10		13	150	11.5	2			27	13	150			23	7.7	177	2
1990*+	24	BUF	RB	3	3	72	390	4			31	5.4	130	24		13	154	11.8	0			20	4.3	51.3		25.7	85	6.4	544	4	3
1991*+	25	BUF	RB	3	2	58	185	1			19	3.2	61.7	19.3		11	63	5.7	0			8	3.7	21		12.6	69	3.6	248	1	0
1992*	26	BUF	RB	4	4	61	195	1			24	3.2	48.8	15.3	16	14	102	7.3	1			19	3.5	25.5	87.50%	6.4	75	4	297	2	2
1993*	27	BUF	RB	3	3	63	267	5			33	4.2	89	21	15	15	122	8.1	0			24	5	40.7	100.00%	8.1	78	5	389	5	2
1995	29	BUF	RB	2	2	38	204	2	14	52.6	32	5.4	102	19	7	6	54	9	1	5	71.4	18	3	27	85.70%	7.7	44	5.9	258	3	2
1996	30	BUF	RB	1	1	14	50	1	3	42.9	14	3.6	50	14	7	3	24	8	1	2	42.9	10	3	24	42.90%	3.4	17	4.4	74	2	0
1998	32	BUF		1	0	7	33	1	3	57.1	12	4.7	33	7	1	1	3	3	0	0	100	3	1	3	100.00%	3	8	4.5	36	1	0
1999	33	BUF	RB	1	1	5	10	0			9	2	10	5					0								5	2	10	0	0
Career				21	19	339	1442	16	20	50.8	40	4.3	68.7	16.1	57	76	672	8.8	5	7	60	27	3.6	32	68%	5.8	415	5.1	2114	21

 

 

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