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SPORTS
THE BATTALION
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Chiefs’ LB Thomas paralyzed after car accident
s A&M's Bernai
^een named (
an of the WV
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Aggtes’ stirring IIBERTY, Mo. (AP) — NFL star Derrick
f No. 12 Oklahof’iioi ias was paralyzed from the waist down fol
ly on Saturday swing a car crash that broke his neck and killed a
ield.
scored 17 points.iMhonus liaMiscol Ills uppci
ir of free throwsn3d) and it was not cleai
1 16ft, to lead the®her he will regain use ol
victory affair-sis legs, the Kansas City Chiefs
». their first winajud
earn in almost
iditodax
■he
an with
nationalli
a>
nine-time Pro Bow
' .^ ies . nebacker will be transferred to ;
hospital in his hometown of
liami, said Dr. Jon Browne,
ie team physician.
• “It takes time to cheek th
vs 13 S SIC ro\ ne said
title gar‘P kl l,ursts -”
«. i ^ i b ul Teammates and Iriends gathered at the hospital
Chiefs president Carl Peterson and coach
THOMAS
things out,”
vement can conic slowly or in
i&M’
ESPN
in ow lu f lier Cunningham were joined by Steve Paler-
pg f gh. to, a former American League umpire who was
lot in 1991 and left partially paralyzed,
fry,. jDo not rule anything in,” said Palermo, a
iansas City resident and friend ofThomas. “And
o n* t rule anything out.”
‘[This type of injury, it’s impossible to know
how it’s going to turn out, but Derrick is a fighter,”
Palermo said.
flic 33-year-old Thomas and two companions
were heading to the Kansas City airport at the time
of the accident. They were planning to fly to St.
Louis for the NFC Championship game when their
car flipped on an icy road Sunday afternoon.
Thomas and the man who was killed were
thrown from the car. The third man was treated at a
hospital and released.
The dead man was identified as Michael Tellis,
49, of Kansas City, Kan. He is a close friend of
Thomas who helped the player set up such projects
as a charity golf tournament that had beedme an an
nual event in Kansas City.
“Forget about the football aspect of it,” Cun
ningham said. “He has given a lot to this city and
this organization. It’s a tough thing to deal with.”.
With one of the quickest first moves of any de
fender in the league, Thomas became known for his
“sack and strip” move. He would close fast on a
quarterback’s blind side and hack at his arm to
knock the ball out of his hand.
Coaches designed the Chiefs’ entire defense
around the quick-hitting, 6-foot-3,255-pounder. He
was a mainstay in a consistently tough defense that
helped Kansas City become one of just three NFL
teams to win 100 games in the ’90s.
“God willing, all the initial reports will be off,
“Right now, I'm not
concerned with Derrick
Thomas the football
player, I'm worried
about Derrick Thomas
the person ”
— Tim Grunhard
Chiefs center
and he’ll be OK,” Chiefs center Tim Grunhard said.
“Right now, I’m not concerned with Derrick
Thomas the football player, I’m worried about Der
rick Thomas the person.”
An All-American at Alabama; Thomas became
an immediate star as a pass-rushing specialist after
being taken in the first round of the 1989 draft. He
was an All-Pro in his first nine seasons. In 1990, he
set the NFL single-game record with seven sacks
against Seattle.
That game was the same week as Veteran’s Day.
Thomas dedicated his performance to his father, an
Air Force pilot killed in Vietnam.
Thomas made headlines in 1998 when he lost
his temper during a Monday night game against
Denver and committed three personal fouls during
the Broncos’ final touchdown drive. I le was fined
and suspended for one game and apologized to the
Broncos and his fans.
Cunningham, the Chiefs’ defensive coordinator
from 1995-98, has said Thomas was primarily re
sponsible for the team leading the league with a
plus-130 turnover ratio in the 1990s.
“1 take my hat oft’to No. 58.1 le is the most un
derrated football player right now on our football
team,” Cunningham said in December. “For one
reason or another, everybody looks at Derrick
Thomas and says, ‘Well, he didn’t show up in the
playoff game.’
“If Derrick is not out there at right end, the
Chiefs would not have been as successful as they’ve
been for the last 11 years. Derrick was the starting
point to getting there.”
Jets hire new
head coach
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) —A1
Groh, a Bill Parcells pal for more than
30 years, replaced his former boss yes
terday as coach of the New York Jets.
Three weeks after Parcells resigned
and Bill Belichick stunned the club by
quitting a day after he took over, the Jets
finally sorted out their coaching puzzle.
Groh, who grew up a few miles
from the Jets’ training camp at Hofs-
tra, was reportedly given a five-year
contract worth $6 million by new
owner Richard Johnson IV, who
bought the Jets this month from the
estate of Leon Hess for $635 million.
Parcells, who turned the Jets into
winners in his three seasons as coach,
will remain with the club as head of
football operations.
The 55-year-old Groh first worked
with Parcells when the two were assis-
tants at Army in 1968, and (iroh also was
an assistant under Parcells at Air Force.
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AN AGGIE TRADITION FOR SIXTEEN YEARS
SPRING SESSION 1
DANCE
LESSONS
CLASS
DAY
TIME
LOCATION
C&W I
SUN
6:15-7:45
GRW 266
JITTERBUG I
SUN
8:15-9:45
GRW 266
JITTERBUG 1
SUN
6-7:30
MSC 224
C&W 1
SUN
8-9:30
MSC 224
C&W II
WED
7-8:30
GRW 262
ADV. JITTERBUG
THUR
7-8:30
GRW 266
SIGN
UPS WILL
BE IN THE MSC FLAGROOM
TODAY 8 a.in.-3 p.m.
CLASSES WILL START THE WEEK OF FEB. 6
AND WILL RUN FOR 4 WEEKS
COST: $35 PER COUPLE
$40 FOR ADVANCED JITTERBUG
Fivti: www.tainu.edu/aggie_wranglers