Hall of Fame denies Zach Thomas again, but ex-Miami Dolphins great feels only gratitude | Opinion
By the night of the big announcement Zach Thomas had already moved on with real life, with the wonderful, glorious routine of what folks do, what parents do if they’re lucky, when the fame has subsided and the cameras are no longer watching, and when the Pro Football Hall of Fame has said no yet again.
Zach, now 48, one of the greatest and most popular players in Miami Dolphins history, was in the stands Thursday night at a soccer practice watching one of his and wife Maritza’s three kids play. They are 12, 10 and 6 now, two girls and a boy.
The little one has already gotten a red card or two for physical play.
“Sticks up for herself,” Dad says, his smile coming through the phone.
Thomas had already been given the news ahead of Thursday night’s live announcement on the NFL Honors awards show leading up to Sunday’s Bengals-Rams Super Bowl in Los Angeles. They don’t want you flying in for a coronation that once again isn’t coming to you.
He has gotten used to the call that doesn’t come, the one where they congratulate you for being inducted, for heading to Canton. This was the ninth year in a row Thomas was eligible to be called but was not -- the third straight year as one of 15 finalists.
Was he disappointed? Is he human? Of course he was.
But what flowed from him was gratefulness..
The official prepared statement, likely written by a Dolphins publicist, did not come close to conveying what I would hear.
The statement read: “It was an honor to once again be among the finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I want to congratulate this year’s class. They are all great players and are each deserving of the gold jacket. I also want to thank the Miami Dolphins fans who continue to be so supportive. You guys are the best!”
You hear more, closer to the heart, with the soccer coach’s whistle in the background.
“Man, I don’t ever want anybody to feel sorry for me,” he begins. “I got the best out of myself and the game gave me so much. I can put time in with my kids because of football. Why would I ever complain on a game that’s the best honor in the world? That’s just not me. The game’s been so good to me.”
He paused a beat. That smile came through again.
“Not being in L.A., I’m going to miss the halftime show the most. This is the best one ever!”
Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre -- those were some of the soundtrack of Dolphins lockerrooms when Zach played in Miami from 1996-2007.
In 13 NFL seasons (the last with Dallas), he would record more combined tacklers and assists than any other linebacker now in the Hall of Fame except Ray Lewis.
He would make more Pro Bowls (7-6) and more first-team All-Pro teams (5-3) than long-time Fins teammate Jason Taylor, a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Thomas also was All-Pro more times and had 22 percent more career tackles than first-ballot Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher.
It makes Thomas’ continuing exclusion mystifying, even dumbfounding -- but that’s from me, not Zach.
Eight men did make the Hall Thursday night: LeRoy Butler, Bryant Young, Sam Mills, Cliff Branch, Richard Seymour, Art McNally, Tony Boselli and Dick Vermeil.
Three former Miami Hurricanes among finalists -- Devin Hester, Andre Johnson and Reggie Wayne -- did not.
Zach Thomas and others who missed might still get in someday, although that notion also is weird. Zach hasn’t made a tackle in 13 years. His resume’ isn’t changing. But sometimes it takes many tries to get in.
Thomas seemed to enjoy when I rattled off some of the names of Hall of Fame players who took longer than three times as a finalist to finally get in. John Lynch, Jerry Kramer, Andre Reed, Richard Dent, Art Monk, Carl Eller, John Stallworth -- and two fellow former Dolphins, Dwight Stephenson and Larry Little. Among many others.
But here’s the thing. Make it or not, nobody is better suited to the long climb, the tough fight.
“My whole life, doubt motivated me,” he says.
He was high-school all-state three times, yet only two colleges recruited him.
He was All-America twice at Texas Tech, yet only drafted 154th (fifth round) into the NFL, a 5-10 fireplug middle linebacker with a Texas drawl that never left.
As a Dolphins rookie he attended the team’s preseason fans luncheon in ‘96, tables of 10, one player at each.
“I remember seeing the disappointment on the table’s faces when the fans saw me sitting at their table,” he remembers, a quarter century later. “They didn’t think I was a player.”
He was a player. A great one. Among the best to ever wear a Dolphins uniform.
One who should be in Canton one day.
Either way, he has his family and his health, in a sport that doesn’t always allow the luxury of the latter in retirement.
“Knock on wood I really feel good,” he says. “I got assessed with the neuro and everything to play it safe and I passed with flying colors.”
If he makes the Hall of Fame someday, it will be the earned and fitting culmination of a long climb past and through the doubts that have driven him.
If he doesn’t, well, make this his career’s epitaph because it conveys the gratitude and contentment at his core:
“I got the best out of myself and the game gave me so much. Why would I ever complain?”
This story was originally published February 10, 2022 at 10:10 PM.
