Emmitt Thomas

Emmitt Thomas
No. 18
Position:	Cornerback
Career information
College:	Bishop
Undrafted:	1966
Career history
	Kansas City Chiefs (1966-1978); As coach: Central Missouri State (1979-1980); St. Louis Cardinals (1981-1985); (Assistant coach); Washington Redskins (1986-1994); (WR and DB coach); Philadelphia Eagles (1995-1998); (Defensive coordinator); Green Bay Packers (1999); (Defensive coordinator); Minnesota Vikings (2000-2001); (Defensive coordinator); Atlanta Falcons (2002-2009); (Assistant Head Coach and DB Coach); Atlanta Falcons (2007); (Interim Head Coach); Kansas City Chiefs (2010-present); (Defensive Backs coach);
Career highlights and awards
	5× Pro Bowl selection (1968, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975); 2× First-team All-Pro selection (1974, 1975); 2× Second-team All-Pro selection (1969, 1971); 3× Super Bowl champion (IV, XXII, XXVI); Chiefs Hall of Fame; Kansas City Chiefs #18 retired; Kansas City Chiefs Career Interception Leader with 58;
	Pro Football Hall of Fame

Emmitt Earl Thomas ^[1] (born June 3, 1943) ^[2] is currently the secondary coach of the National Football League's Kansas City Chiefs. He is a former college and professional football player who played for the American Football League's Kansas City Chiefs from 1966 to 1969, and then for the Chiefs in the NFL from 1970 to 1978.^[3] He owns the Chiefs all-time interception record with 58, which places him ninth on pro football's all-time list.^[3] Thomas was elected to the NFL's Pro Football Hall of Fame after being nominated by the Seniors Committee.^[4] Thomas is the thirteenth Chief player elected to the Hall of Fame, joining (majority of career Hall of Famers) Len Dawson, Buck Buchanan, Bobby Bell, Willie Lanier, Jan Stenerud, Marcus Allen, coach Hank Stram, founder/owner Lamar Hunt (minor portion of career Hall of Famers), Joe Montana, Warren Moon, Mike Webster, and coach Marv Levy.

Playing career

Thomas made the Chiefs team as an undrafted free agent from Bishop College in Dallas.^[3] Thomas was an AFL All-Star in 1968 and made the NFL's AFC-NFC Pro Bowl 4 times (1971, 1972, 1973, 1975) after the Chiefs joined the NFL in the 1970 AFL-NFL Merger. He was also selected All-Pro 3 times. In the 1969 season, he led all pro football with 9 interceptions, which he returned for 146 yards and a touchdown, helping his team win the AFL Championship and the fourth and last AFL-NFL World Championship Game, which the Chiefs won 23-7 over the NFL champion Vikings. Thomas recorded an interception in the Kansas City victory. In 1974, Thomas led the NFL in interceptions (12), return yards (214), and return touchdowns (2).

Thomas retired from playing after thirteen seasons; he finished his pro football career with 58 interceptions, which he returned for 937 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also recovered 4 fumbles, gained 64 yards returning punts, and returned 29 kickoffs for 673 yards. He played in 181 career games, tying for the 5th-most in club annals, and his 58 interceptions are a franchise record.

Coaching career

Thomas has been an NFL assistant for six teams in the last 26 years. Before being named interim head coach of the Atlanta Falcons on December 12, 2007 after the resignation of Bobby Petrino, Thomas was the Falcons' Senior Defensive Assistant/Secondary Coach. After Petrino's sudden departure left the team in shambles, Thomas attempted to unite the Atlanta locker room, and was able to lead the Falcons to a season-ending victory over the Seattle Seahawks. On January 24, 2008, new Falcons head coach Mike Smith announced that Thomas would remain on staff as assistant head coach. Thomas was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame along with Darrell Green and Art Monk, two players he coached during Super Bowl runs with the Washington Redskins.

On January 13, 2010, longtime Atlanta Falcons assistant coach Emmitt Thomas' contract was not renewed by the team.

As of February 1st, 2010 he is the new secondary coach of the Kansas City Chiefs

Head coaching record

Team	Year	Regular Season					Post Season
Team	Year	Won	Lost	Ties	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
ATL	2007	1	2	0	.333	4th in NFC South	0	0	.000
Total^[5]		1	2	0	.333		0	0	.000

Personal life

Thomas and his wife, Jacqui, reside in Suwanee, Georgia. He has two grown children from a previous marriage . His son Derek is the former head basketball coach at Western Illinois University, while his daughter Dedra is a nurse and resides in Marshall, Texas.

References

^ "Thomas on Pro-Football-Reference". rbref.com. Retrieved 2007-12-15.
^ "Thomas on nfl.com". nfl.com. Retrieved 2007-12-15.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Thomas on Atlanta Falcons.com". atlantafalcons.com. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
^ Kansas City Star February 2, 2008
^ [1]

External links

http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=270
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/472597.html Kansas City Star, February 2, 2008

Sporting positions
Preceded by Bud Carson	Philadelphia Eagles Defensive coordinator 1995-98	Succeeded by Jim Johnson
Preceded by Fritz Shurmur	Green Bay Packers Defensive coordinator 1999	Succeeded by Ed Donatell
Preceded by Foge Fazio	Minnesota Vikings Defensive Coordinator 2000–2001	Succeeded by Willie Shaw
Preceded by Bobby Petrino	Atlanta Falcons Head Coach (interim) 2007	Succeeded by Mike Smith
Preceded by Clancy Pendergast	Kansas City Chiefs Defensive Backs Coach 2010-present	Succeeded by Imcumbent

[ProFootballReference.com-1] "Thomas on Pro-Football-Reference". rbref.com. Retrieved 2007-12-15.

[nfl.com/players-2] "Thomas on nfl.com". nfl.com. Retrieved 2007-12-15.

[AtlantaFalcons.com-3] "Thomas on Atlanta Falcons.com". atlantafalcons.com. Retrieved 2007-12-17.

[4] Kansas City Star February 2, 2008

[5] [1]

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v t e Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl IV champions
3 Jan Stenerud 6 Warren McVea 10 Mike Livingston 12 Tom Flores 14 Ed Podolak 15 Jacky Lee 16 Len Dawson (MVP) 18 Emmitt Thomas 20 Goldie Sellers 21 Mike Garrett 22 Willie Mitchell 23 Paul Lowe 24 Caesar Belser 25 Frank Pitts 30 Gloster Richardson 32 Curtis McClinton 38 Wendell Hayes 40 Jim Marsalis 42 Johnny Robinson 44 Jerrel Wilson 45 Robert Holmes 46 Jim Kearney 51 Jim Lynch 55 E. J. Holub 60 George Daney 61 Curley Culp 63 Willie Lanier 65 Remi Prudhomme 66 Bob Stein 71 Ed Budde 73 Dave Hill 74 Gene Trosch 75 Jerry Mays 76 Mo Moorman 77 Jim Tyrer 78 Bobby Bell 82 Ed Lothamer 84 Fred Arbanas 85 Chuck Hurston 86 Buck Buchanan 87 Aaron Brown 88 Morris Stroud 89 Otis Taylor
Head coach: Hank Stram
Coaches: Tom Bettis John Beake Darrel Brewster Tommy O'Boyle Tom Pratt Bill Walsh

v t e Washington Redskins Super Bowl XXII champions
6 Ali Haji-Sheikh 10 Jay Schroeder 11 Mark Rypien 12 Steve Cox 17 Doug Williams (MVP) 23 Todd Bowles 24 Kelvin Bryant 26 Craig McEwen 28 Darrell Green 29 Reggie Branch 30 Anthony Allen 31 Clarence Vaughn 32 Vernon Dean 34 Brian Davis 35 Keith Griffin 36 Timmy Smith 38 George Rogers 40 Alvin Walton 41 Tim Morrison 45 Barry Wilburn 46 Dennis Woodberry 50 Ravin Caldwell 51 Monte Coleman 52 Neal Olkewicz 53 Jeff Bostic 54 Kurt Gouveia 55 Mel Kaufman 57 Rich Milot 58 David Jones 61 Rick Kehr 63 Raleigh McKenzie 64 Steve Hamilton 65 Dave Butz 66 Joe Jacoby 68 Russ Grimm 69 R. C. Thielemann 71 Charles Mann 72 Dexter Manley 73 Mark May 74 Markus Koch 76 Ed Simmons 77 Darryl Grant 78 Dean Hamel 80 Eric Yarber 81 Art Monk 82 Anthony Jones 83 Ricky Sanders 84 Gary Clark 85 Don Warren 86 Clint Didier 87 Terry Orr 88 Joe Caravello 89 Clarence Verdin
Head coach: Joe Gibbs
Coaches: Chuck Banker Don Breaux Joe Bugel Joe Diange Dan Henning Bill Hickman Paul Lanham Larry Peccatiello Richie Petitbon Jerry Rhome Dan Riley Rennie Simmons Charley Taylor Emmitt Thomas LaVern Torgeson

v t e Washington Redskins Super Bowl XXVI champions
2 Kelly Goodburn 6 Cary Conklin (IR) 8 Chip Lohmiller 10 Jeff Rutledge 11 Mark Rypien (MVP) 16 Stan Humphries 20 Alvoid Mays 21 Earnest Byner 26 Danny Copeland 27 Brad Edwards 28 Darrell Green 29 David Gulledge 30 Brian Mitchell 31 Clarence Vaughn 32 Ricky Ervins 34 Terry Hoage 35 Martin Mayhew 37 Gerald Riggs 40 Alvin Walton 44 John Settle 45 Sidney Johnson 47 A. J. Johnson 48 Travis Curtis 50 Ravin Caldwell 51 Monte Coleman 53 Jeff Bostic 54 Kurt Gouveia 55 Andre Collins 57 Matt Millen 58 Wilber Marshall 60 Fred Stokes 61 Mark Adickes 62 Ralph Tamm 63 Raleigh McKenzie 65 Mohammed Elewonibi (IR) 66 Joe Jacoby 67 Ray Brown 68 Russ Grimm 69 Mark Schlereth 71 Charles Mann 74 Markus Koch 75 Eric Williams 76 Ed Simmons 78 Tim Johnson 79 Jim Lachey 80 Keenan McCardell (IR) 80 Joe Johnson 81 Art Monk 82 John Brandes 83 Ricky Sanders 84 Gary Clark 85 Don Warren 86 Stephen Hobbs 87 Ron Middleton 88 James Jenkins 88 Jimmie Johnson 89 Terry Orr 94 Bobby Wilson 97 Jumpy Geathers 99 Jason Buck
Head coach: Joe Gibbs
Coaches: Don Breaux Jack Burns Bobby DePaul Rod Dowhower Jim Hanifan Larry Peccatiello Richie Petitbon Dan Riley Wayne Sevier Rennie Simmons Charley Taylor Emmitt Thomas LaVern Torgeson Steve Wetzel