Finally! Dolphins’ Zach Thomas in Hall of Fame crowns a career spent beating doubts, winning respect

Zach Thomas not only wasn’t the first to hear the great news, he wasn’t even the first in his immediate family to know he’d finally made it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The world found out Thursday night that Thomas, the beloved Miami Dolphins all-time great, would at last be fitted for that iconic gold jacket and for football immortality on his 10th year of eligibility and fourth straight as one of 15 finalists. Found out when his name was among the 2023 inductees announced during the NFL Honors awards show in Arizona, where the Super Bowl will be played Sunday.

Zach’s wife Maritza knew before he did, though. So did his mother. And his sister. And a certain former coach of his who found out and tipped off his wife. They all devised a plan to surprise Zach before he would receive the official call from the Hall itself. For a full week they all managed to keep their XXL-sized secret to themselves.

It was a conspiracy of love.

It worked.

“My mom took me out to lunch last week,” Zach begins the story, on a phone call from Arizona.

When they got back a familiar man stood at the top of the stairs in Thomas’ South Florida home.

It was Jimmy Johnson, the then-Dolphins head coach who took a chance on Zach out of Texas Tech, in the fifth round of the 1996 NFL Draft.

“Here was Jimmy at my house. Jimmy doesn’t get out [his] house for nuthin’,” said Thomas, 49. “I broke down. I couldn’t hold it. I’m a crier.”

But, Zach, how did you immediately know it was connected to the Hall of Fame and not a random visit?

“He had on his gold jacket.”

Johnson looked down from the summit in the jacket he’d been fitted for just last year, a big grin on his face but fighting tears of his own.

“A big surprise. I cried. It was a little overwhelming,” Thomas said of the well-orchestrated surprise. “I didn’t see it coming. I didn’t think they’d even voted yet. I still see myself, always, as that 8-year-old kid who had a big dream. Small-town kid from west Texas. It might have took its time [to be voted in] but, man, I’m so grateful. Pretty cool. Pretty humbling.”

As Johnson descended the stairs and embraced Thomas, Zach’s two girls and a boy, ages 13, 11 and 7, joined in the unexpected celebration.

One year earlier, to the day, I had spoken to Zach about the disappointment of the latest Hall snub. Except his disappointment sounded a lot like gratitude.

“Man, I don’t ever want anybody to feel sorry for me,” he said then. “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.”

One year later, he was thanking his teammates, saying, “You’re only as good as what’s around you. I had a lot of badasses around me, especially on that defensive line.”

Had he ever given up hope of someday being inducted?

“I knew I came close last year. I don’t think I ever gave up hope,” he said. “Hope has been good to me, man.”

His fitting for the gold jacket will be Friday. His class of ‘23 induction ceremony at the Hall in Canton, Ohio is next August. He will invite Jimmy Johnson to induct him.

For Thomas, the honor was overdue.

In 13 NFL seasons (the last with Dallas), he had more combined tackles and assists than any other linebacker now in the Hall of Fame except Ray Lewis. Miami’s No. 54 would make more Pro Bowls (7-6) and more first-team All-Pro teams (5-3) than long-time Fins running mate 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.

But having to wait was no surprise because overcoming doubts has been his life’s hallmark, especially in football.

He was high school all-state three times, but only two colleges recruited him.

He was All-America twice at Texas Tech, yet only 154th overall into the into the NFL, a squat 5-10 (if that) 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, all these years later. “They didn’t think I was a player.”

Thomas was surprised to be told he was started the first preseason game in ‘96.

“’Don’t let me down,’ Jimmy told me, I’ll never forget,” Thomas says. “I tried every day not to let him down.”

He was forever motivated to prove others wrong. It had him in the weight room longer, arriving early, watching more film.

“I was doubted the whole way. Every level, I got doubted,” he said. “I was obsessed with football. I wanted people to see my love for the game. My whole motivation wasn’t trying to get the gold jacket. That was so far out of my sight. I just wanted to get get the respect of my teammates. It was never the awards or the money. I just enjoyed competing for that respect.”

He never needed the Pro Football Hall of Fame to validate that he’d earned every bit of that respect, but Thursday night gilded it in gold for all time..