NFL Hall of Famer reflects on all the great things that happened for him during his time on the campus and on the field.

Surveying the past, everything looks like it all came so easily for Zach Thomas, but first glances rarely reveal the whole picture.

Nothing was easy. Few believed Thomas could handle the competition of NCAA Division I football. Fewer still thought he would ever make the significant leap to the National Football League. The pros would chew him up and spit him out before he even realized what had happened.

And a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame? C’mon, man. No one other than Thomas and the truest of believers saw that coming.

Detractors pointed to what could be seen – size, speed and mechanics – rather than what could not be seen – grit, determination and the relentless heart of a warrior.

Somehow, it seems only fitting Thomas, undersized and underappreciated, found his way to Texas Tech University, where swimming against the tide and doing more with less were part of a chip-on-the-shoulder narrative of success despite the odds. The more uneven the terrain, the firmer footing Thomas and his alma mater found. 

All either ever needed was a chance to prove everyone wrong.

“Lubbock was so good to me,” Thomas remembers, “and Texas Tech changed everything for me. I am so grateful to this university and for everything it gave me the opportunity to accomplish.”

Thomas had more than a little to do with it as well.

“He ate, slept and breathed football from the third grade on,” recalled his father, Steve Thomas. “He just didn’t want to think about anything but football.”

That Thomas has become one of Texas Tech’s all-time athletic success stories is beyond debate. He was an outstanding high school football player first at White Deer and then at Pampa. However, he received only two Division I scholarship offers – one from Oklahoma State and the other from the Red Raiders.

Imagine for a moment an alternate history where Thomas’ career takes place in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and the unforgettable highlight reel of his football life includes zero red and black. That means, among many other things, no last-second interception return for a touchdown against Texas A&M. 

OK, enough. Let’s get that out of our heads. There was one really important factor involved with how things ultimately played out.

“My dad went to Texas Tech,” Thomas said. “When I told him I was committing to Oklahoma State, he wouldn’t talk to me. So, I definitely changed my course, which is wild how things could have played out.”

The elder Thomas started his academic career in Canyon at what was then known as West Texas State University, but after two years, he decided on Texas Tech and an engineering degree from the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering.

“I’m glad I went there because it is a wonderful engineering school,” Steve Thomas said. “I have a lot of good memories and had a lot of fun, and so, all of my kids ended up going to Texas Tech. I was the biggest salesman Texas Tech had – for my kids anyway.”

As it turned out, Texas Tech was the perfect place for Zach Thomas, who was in the initial phases of an athletic career built on proving the doubters were out of their depth in their assessments of him. 

“I got doubted all the way,” says Thomas. “I definitely dreamed about making it to the NFL, but I was doubted when I transferred high school to Pampa. I made all-state and was doubted with only two scholarship offers.”

The offer that mattered came from former legendary Red Raider football coach Spike Dykes, who had a corner on the market when it came to recruiting West Texas and a knack for seeing potential where others might not. The coaching staff made an early decision that also benefited Thomas in the long run, moving him from offense to defense.

“I don’t know what the drive was or where it came from,” said longtime friend Andy Cavalier. “I think that’s just something that was innate in him. I mean, from the first day he showed up in Pampa, he was a driven person.”

He took to his job as a linebacker as though it was meant to be, which it was. Thomas arrived as a fullback, but the Red Raiders had a quality player in place at that position, so Thomas moved and became a two-time all-America selection his junior and senior seasons under the watchful eye of Texas Tech defensive coordinator John Goodner.

“You have to have somebody who believes in you. Coach Dykes and Coach Goodner believed in me from the beginning,” he said. “I went over to the defensive side and wound up starting my last three seasons. They believed in me, even though I didn’t fit the part. I wasn’t that big. I wasn’t that intimidating. They just gave me that opportunity.”

The Thomas family’s connection to Texas Tech gained additional points of contact with Zach’s brother Bart, who also played football for the Red Raiders, and sister Katina, choosing to attend Texas Tech as well.

And while Thomas excelled on the football field, he needed a little nudge when it came to the student part of being a student-athlete. He struggled with the demands of balancing classwork and football, but one couldn’t happen without the other, and Dykes was quick to remind Thomas about all his obligations.

“I am going to be honest here. My first semester, I remember Coach Dykes calling me into his office and reading off my grade-point average,” Thomas said with a laugh. “It wasn’t good, and it was a great message that put me in my place. It also changed my mindset because after that, I focused on studies and football.

“Really, that changed my path right there, and I’m grateful for that because it set me up for life. Otherwise, I might have failed out of school my second semester, and I wouldn’t be sitting here right now. How crazy is that?”

Plenty crazy, no doubt. Little choices made one day at a time can stack up in the form of something special. Thomas, now 30 years wiser, appreciates how all the tiny details of life have so nicely dovetailed together for him.

There were still additional chapters to write. 

Following a highly decorated Red Raider career filled with impressive statistics (390 career tackles) and punctuated by iconic plays, there were still those who suggested he would not be successful at the professional level.

“Even after making all-American, I was the 154th pick of the draft,” he said, reflecting on that day in 1996. “The (Miami) Dolphins took me, and looking back at that, I had a chip on my shoulder and was motivated to prove everybody wrong. I never felt like I got the respect at the time.”

Again, though, Thomas couldn’t have landed in a better situation. Dolphins head coach Jimmy Johnson saw something in Thomas. Johnson knew, based on everything Thomas accomplished at Texas Tech, that he would make the most of any opportunity.

“Thank God Jimmy Johnson had some coaching sense and could see talent,” Steve Thomas said. “It’s the heart of the player, and nobody wanted it worse than Zach.”

That is exactly what happened. By the end of training camp, Thomas overtook projected starting middle linebacker Jack Del Rio and became a fixture on the team’s defense for the next decade, enjoying a longer run on South Beach than the once-popular television series “Miami Vice.” Thomas was named to the all-rookie team and was a Pro Bowl alternate.

He was there to stay. By 1998, he was an All-Pro selection.

“Everything just depends on so many factors,” Thomas said. “There’s the system you are in, the coaches you have and the players around you who make you the player you are. That’s why I am so grateful because all of that turned out so great.”

Between 1996 and 2006, Thomas was the heart and soul of the Dolphins’ defense, routinely making big plays and regularly disrupting opponents. By the time his career ended in 2008, he had amassed 1,754 tackles, 17 interceptions and 16 forced fumbles, cementing his place as one of the game’s greats. 

Thomas was named to the NFL’s All-Decade team of the 2000s. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, the Texas Tech Athletics Hall of Fame, Texas Tech’s Ring of Honor, the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame and the Miami Dolphins Ring of Honor.

Then, in 2023, he received a call he’d waited for a long time, from the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the shrine last summer, the first Red Raider to be so recognized.

“Being in the Hall of Fame, for me, is like the chance to represent all of West Texas,” he said. “I am so proud to represent Lubbock and Texas Tech. Being the first Red Raider inductee is awesome, but I’m not going to be the last one with the way (Kansas City Chiefs quarterback) Patrick Mahomes is playing. I know Wes Welker has a shot.

“I am still that small-town kid who was too short, too slow or not smart enough. So, for me to have the opportunity to do what I have done here and in the NFL, it makes me so proud.”

Thomas savored the opportunity to share the moment with family, friends and his former NFL coach, Johnson.

“The game doesn’t owe me anything,” he said, thinking about the length of time he waited to be selected. “But that day, to be surprised by the guy that drafted me, the guy that gave me that shot and started me from day one and seeing him in that gold jacket was so special.

“It couldn’t have worked out any better. My whole family was there to celebrate with me, and it meant so much to me because I think it gives hope to some of these other small-town kids who have big dreams like I did.”

Thomas’ induction speech was right on brand as he shared credit for the opportunities and accolades that had come his way. He used an old-school approach, writing his thoughts out in a notebook and then having someone “translate it into English.”

He rehearsed it several times for his family and was ecstatic that so many former teammates from his college and professional days had traveled to Canton, Ohio, to share the once-in-a-lifetime mountaintop experience.

“To have all of them in one place at one time, it was like a big party,” he said. “I wanted to celebrate with them because I didn’t do it by myself. The only way I ever had a good game was because of my teammates and what they did.”

Despite the accomplishments and being part of one of the most exclusive clubs on the planet, Thomas remains humble and grounded in small-town values that continue to distinguish him from the crowd.

In early September, the school in his hometown of Pampa, located an hour northeast of Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle, paid Thomas the ultimate compliment, renaming the school’s football facility Zach Thomas Stadium. He never saw such recognition coming nor ever expected it to happen.

“The number one thing that comes to mind is humility,” Cavalier said. “Everywhere he has been a star, but through all of that he has stayed extremely humble and given the credit to his teammates and his family. He has remained the same person who moved from White Deer to Pampa back in 1990.”

And it’s not only friends who will tell you that Zach remains forever centered in who he is and knows what’s really important in life. It’s also family.

“Zach is just such a humble, soft-hearted and compassionate person,” agreed his sister, Katina Taylor. “And then on the football field, he was just an animal. But to see his dedication and passion for something he loves, the drive he had, it’s just super inspirational. Even to this day, it inspires me to go after what I would want to achieve.”

Thomas still looks like he could hold his own on an NFL field. He maintains a rigid workout schedule and is enjoying retirement. He has also been invited several times to connect with the current Red Raider football team, thanks to the outreach efforts of head coach Joey McGuire.

“He seriously had discipline like no other,” Katina said of her brother. “Even with all the doubters through his career, not one of our family members doubted that he ever not make it. It’s easy for him to be humble because he has a sister who is ready and willing to brag on him.”

He sees this unfolding chapter of life as a season of giving back, whether that’s to the football program, his old hometown, Texas Tech or someone in search of a little wisdom about navigating the challenges of life.

“You have to chase your dream,” he said. “It’s your dream and no one else’s. You find what you love to do and then put your head down and go to work. I feel like that’s what I did, and the outside chatter never mattered. Everybody talks about success, but finding your passion is what matters because you only get one life.

“Don’t waste your energy on doubters or haters or whatever you want to call them. Just love what you’re doing and don’t let anything or anyone slow you down.”