Super Bowl Monday_ From the Persian Gulf to the Shores of West Florida - Adam Lazarus [28]
Despite all his college accomplishments, which also included the Senior Bowl MVP, Thomas tumbled on draft day. The once-torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee reportedly scared off many teams. As six running backs were selected ahead of him, ESPN cameras filmed Thomas fall asleep on his couch back in Texas.
Spurred on by assistant coach Elijah Pitts—a backup in Vince Lombardi’s Hall of Fame backfield of Jim Taylor and Paul Hornung—Marv Levy and Bill Polian hoped Thomas would fall to them.
“This is the best back in the draft and he is a difference maker,” Polian told owner Ralph Wilson. “But it will be a gamble and it’s your money.”
“Ah hell,” said the sixty-nine-year-old. “Life’s a gamble, go ahead and do it.”
By Week One of his rookie season, Thomas paid out. In the season opener at Rich Stadium, Thomas scored a first-quarter touchdown to give Buffalo a 10-0 lead over Minnesota, a team that lost the previous season’s NFC championship by seven points. In the fourth quarter, the Vikings cut the lead to three points with less than four minutes to play. But a twenty-eight-yard burst from Thomas gave the Bills a first down, and eventually a 13-10 win. He finished the day with eighteen carries for eighty-six yards and a pair of receptions, earning NFL Rookie of the Week honors.
“Thurman is the ideal back you want to have in any offense: very bright, very intelligent,” Bills offensive coordinator Ted Marchibroda said years later. “When he came into preseason camp [as a rookie], he never missed an assignment: he knew all his assignments already. He was the complete back. He could run, he was an outstanding pass receiver, he had foot speed, everything.”
Despite the influx of young talent, Levy had been cautious about his team and the fans expecting too much too soon. Asked in preseason about the possibility of a division title in 1988, Levy responded:
“What would they be hanging their hats on, a 7-8 record [the previous season]? We’ve yet to prove we’re a good team. Last year we proved we’re not a lousy team. There is no one step. You get better little by little. It’s a sophisticated process.”
The process needed less time to take effect than he realized. Following the Thomas-aided win over Minnesota, Buffalo won ten of the next eleven games and clinched the AFC East title. They repeated as division champions the following season. By 1990, a third division title seemed not only a certainty but also a prelude to greater achievements.
“Hopefully . . . Jim [Kelly] can have an All-Pro year and help lead us to the Super Bowl,” Andre Reed said prior to Week One. “With our talent and him as our quarterback, anything else would be falling short of our potential.”
By mid-November, the Bills had only one blemish on their record, an early season loss to the Dolphins in the hot south Florida sun. A victory over the defending AFC Champion Denver Broncos followed a month later by a 42-0 slaughtering of Cleveland—in front of the “Dawg Pound”—solidified Buffalo as the class of the conference. And to show any disbelievers who thought they simply beat up on “second-rate” AFC teams, Buffalo defeated the Eagles 30-23 on the first Sunday of December.
That win, just a week after Philadelphia ended the New York Giants’ perfect 10-0 record, was Buffalo’s most impressive. The defense withstood a twenty-three-point barrage (highlighted by a miraculous ninety-five-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Randall Cunningham) to keep Philadelphia scoreless throughout the game’s final twenty-four minutes.
But offense separated Buffalo from the Eagles that afternoon . . . and separated the Bills from the rest of the NFL.
Coached by Buddy Ryan, architect of the fabled 1985 Chicago Bears defense, the Eagles featured one of the finest defensive lines ever assembled. Future Hall of Famer Reggie White, all-pro defensive tackle Jerome Brown, and pass-rushing specialist Clyde Simmons each relentlessly pressured quarterbacks. Complimented