The Morning Fix: Derrick Thomas Edition

Photo Credit: Joe Ledford

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell revealed Sunday that Brian Waters of the Kansas City Chiefs was this season’s winner of the Walter Payton Man of the Year award.

Goodell made the announcement shortly before kickoff of the Super Bowl, flanked by Payton’s children, Brittany Payton and former University of Miami running back Jarrett Payton.

The Man of the Year award has been issued by the NFL since 1970, then re-named in Payton’s honor in 1999.

Chiefs’ Waters honored before game-ESPN.com

“We never doubted we were going to win,” Fujita said. “We felt that back on Tuesday when we first walked into this stadium. There was just never a doubt because we were playing not just for ourselves, not just for each other, but for an entire city and region. All we wanted to do was give New Orleans a championship.

“I can’t wait to get back home. I wish we were leaving tonight, but this is going to be one great party, and let me tell you, this team knows how to party and we live in a city that knows how to party.”

Who Dat? World Champion Saints-BobGretz.com

I wish that there were enough words in the human language to express my sincere gratitude and heartfelt thanks for all of the well wishes, cards, letters, words of encouragement and prayers that I have received. I would also like to thank everyone who has made donations to my Third and Long Foundation, as well as anyone who has made a donation on my behalf to Spinal Cord Injury Research.

I wish that I could thank each and every one of you individually, but that would be nearly impossible.

I would also like everyone to know that I am going to be just fine. Please continue to keep me in your prayers, because an old friend of mine has told me, “When prayers go up, blessings are sure to come down.”

Sincerely,
Derrick Thomas

TEN YEARS LATER-KCChiefs.com

Thank you, Derrick Thomas. Thank you for touching our hearts. Thank you for touching our children’s lives. Thank you for the joy you brought us on NFL Sundays. Most of all, thank you for teaching us how to deal with adversity.

Derrick Thomas, the soul of the Chiefs for 11 years, left us Tuesday morning. Complications from his single-car accident on Jan. 23 caused his death.

Whitlock in 2000: We never got the chance to say thank you – KansasCity.com

Derrick Thomas was just one story. He grew up in Miami, an angry kid who never understood exactly why his father did not come home. He would wait for his father all his childhood. Every single day, he used to say, he had this faint feeling that Robert Thomas would just suddenly burst through the door. Even after Derrick had given up all real hope, even when he felt all this wildness running through him and he just had to let it out on the Miami streets, even when everything in his entire body told him that Robert Thomas would never come home, that faint feeling would never quite go away. Derrick Thomas stared at doors.

Posnanski in 2000: Father’s spirit was his guide throughout life – KansasCity.com

Though the team went 1-10 during his senior year, he finished his degree and was named Academic All-Pac 10 to boot. Drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fifth round, once again he defied all the odds and spent three seasons with the Chiefs.

After a short stint in Dallas, Fujita turned up in New Orleans with the new Sean Payton regime. Though he has never been one for the sexy stats, he continues to work hard day-in and day-out, and has fashioned himself an eight year career in the NFL.

Super Bowl XLIV: New Orleans’ Scott Fujita Continues To Lead A Disney Life