Doubted and disrespected, Zach Thomas’ Hall induction is a victory for underdogs everywhere | Opinion

Zach Thomas told the story Saturday of being run over by a pickup truck on a Texas back road. He was 2 years old. “You know what saved me? The dirt,” he said. “If it was concrete or asphalt, I wouldn’t be here. I took a lot of dirt roads to get here.”

The dirt roads Thomas had to travel, to climb, is a fitting metaphor for how this man got to this day. He had been made to wait so long. Now he was in a gold jacket, standing beside a bronze bust, taking his place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

“A dream come true for a small town country boy to be standing here among all these legends,” he said.

Miami Dolphins fans in aqua and wearing his No. 54 jersey were among the large crowd. So were so many former teammates and mentors he thanked. Coach Jimmy Johnson, himself a Hall of Famer, fought tears as he listened to the man he had introduced Saturday, the then little-known player he had drafted in 1996.

It was 27 years earlier to the day, on Aug. 5 of that year, when Johnson had named Thomas the starting linebacker for the Dolphins as a rookie.

“All you need is one chance and Jimmy gave it to me,” Thomas said. “Thank you, Jimmy, for believing in me. I never wanted to let you down, coach. I always wanted to prove you right.”

Thomas was said to be too small at (barely) 5-10. The scouting reports called him not athletic enough. He was hardly recruited at all out of high school. Texas Tech signed him as a fullback before he was switched to defense. After his college career, the NFL was not impressed.

He would not be drafted until the fifth round, the 154th player taken overall and the 18th at his position.

He would go on to be the first Texas Tech Red Raider ever enshrined in Canton. He would go on to become the perfect starting place, the shining example, for anybody explaining Johnson’s reputation for seeing talent that others missed. Thomas is the 17th player recruited or coached by Johnson to make the Hall of Fame — and he called Zach “the hardest-working of any of them.”

There have been 371 former players inducted into the football Hall with the nine latest added Saturday. Joining Thomas were Ken Riley, DeMarcus Ware, Joe Klecko, Chuck Howley, Darrelle Revis, Don Coryell, Ronde Barber and Joe Thomas.

Of those 371, most came to the NFL as high draft picks, taking the highway to stardom while Thomas was climbing those dirt roads.

It is hard to imagine many greater examples than Thomas of the power of will and perseverance. The lesson of “all you need is one chance.” The example for anybody out there who feels like an underdog but refuses to let the doubts of others take control.

Thomas becomes the 34th player to have made the Hall of Fame and worn the uniform of either the Dolphins, Miami Heat, Miami Marlins or Florida Panthers. Of those he is one of only 11 to have played at least half of his career in South Florida. (Dwyane Wade will be the 35th and 12th when he is inducted to the basketball hall next Saturday.)

Locally as well, there is not a Hall of Famer who made his mark in Miami to climb more dirt roads in terms of being undersized, under regarded and doubted as he entered the pros.

Thomas is the 13th former Dolphin to enter Canton and the 10th to have played most of his career here.

Let Saturday soak in, though, take a mental snapshot, because it may be a long while before we see another Dolphin enshrined. Unless the Hall’s senior committee might show some love to, say, Mark Clayton or Bob Kuechenberg, barring that the next Dolphin enshrined could be a current player such as Tyreek Hill or maybe Jalen Ramsey — but that’s both iffy and way down the road.

Making the Hall of Fame is tough. Ask Thomas. He retired fifth in all-time tackles in NFL history. Made seven Pro Bowls and was five times a first-team All-Pro. Yet he was eligible for induction for 10 consecutive years and was denied every time until finally the door marked Immortality opened to let him in.

Thomas will turn 50 in a few weeks, on Sept. 1. Wife Maritza and their three young children sat in the front row Saturday. Thomas had read books instructing one how to avoid crying during a speech. He did pretty well at that Saturday, though the emotion showed most when he looked at his family.

He thanked his mother and father, brother and sister, all there. Then he looked at his wife and kids.

With a smile he thanked his wife “for not listening to her brothers for telling her not to date an NFL football player.”

Then the man just given his sport’s highest honor looked at his young daughters and son and said, “There is no greater honor than being your dad.”

Zach Thomas’ life was always full of love and not missing much. Only his football career had been.

Now, doubted but undeterred, the underdog finally got the ending he’d earned.