Oklahoma State University Athletics
Thurman Thomas Elected To College Football Hall of Fame
May 01, 2008 | Cowboy Football
A two-time All-American for the Cowboys, Thomas still stands as the school's all-time leading rusher with 4,595 yards and was OSU's leader in each of his four seasons. He was the Big Eight Conference's leading rusher in both 1985 and 1987, earning the league's offensive player of the year on both occasions.
Thomas finished fourth in the country during the 1985 season with 1,553 yards on the ground and tallied 1,613 rushing yards in 1987 to finish third nationally. The Missouri City, Texas native rushed for 100 yards on 21 occasions as a Cowboy, giving him the second-highest total in school history.
As a freshman, Thomas earned MVP honors at the 1984 Gator Bowl after running for 155 yards and one touchdown to lead the Cowboys to a 21-14 victory over South Carolina. After guiding OSU to a berth in the 1985 Gator Bowl, Thomas closed out his career with another MVP performance at the 1987 Sun Bowl. In his final collegiate game, Thomas rushed for 157 yards and four touchdowns in a 35-33 win over West Virginia.
A second-round pick in the 1988 NFL Draft by Buffalo, Thomas went on to a 13-year career that saw him earn five consecutive Pro Bowl appearances and lead the Bills to an unprecedented four-straight Super Bowl berths.
The league's most valuable player in 1991, Thomas was named to the NFL's All-Decade Team of the 1990s and retired as the league's ninth-ranked rusher with 12,074 yards. He also finished his career with 4,458 receiving yards, 65 rushing and 23 receiving touchdowns.
He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2007.
Thomas becomes the fourth inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame with Oklahoma State ties, joining running backs Bob Fenimore (class of 1972) and Barry Sanders (class of 2003) as well as former coach Lynn “Pappy” Waldorf (class of 1966).
Thomas is one of 13 players and two coaches that comprise the class of 2008. He is joined by Troy Aikman (UCLA), Billy Cannon (LSU), Jim Dombrowski (Virginia), Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern), Wilber Marshall (Florida), Rueben Mayes (Washington State), Randall McDaniel (Arizona State), Don McPherson (Syracuse), Jay Novacek (Wyoming), Dave Parks (Texas Tech), Ron Simmons (Florida State), Arnold Tucker (Army) as well as former coaching standouts John Cooper and Lou Holtz.
Thomas and the rest of this year's class will be honored at the National Football Foundation's annual awards dinner in New York City on Tuesday, Dec. 9.
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