American football player
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| Position: | Cornerback | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | (1950-02-07)February 7, 1950 Higginsville, Missouri, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died: | July 24, 2011(2011-07-24) (aged 61) Kansas City, Kansas, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 205 lb (93 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Kansas City (KS) Wyandotte | ||||||||
| College: | Southern California | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1972 / round: 7 / pick: 176 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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Alonzo "Skip" Thomas (February 7, 1950 – July 24, 2011), nicknamed "Dr. Death", was an American football cornerback who played in the National Football League (NFL).
College career
Thomas was awarded a scholarship to play football at Arizona Western Junior College. Then, Thomas played college football at the University of Southern California.
Professional career
Thomas played for the Oakland Raiders for the entire duration of his professional football career between 1972 and 1977. He had back-to-back six-interception seasons in 1974 and 1975. Although it is commonly believed that his fierce tackling got him the nickname "Doctor Death," the truth (per John Madden's book Hey, Wait a Minute (I Wrote A Book!)) is that Hall of Fame lineman Bob "Boomer" Brown, when he first met him, thought that he looked like the cartoon character "Dr. Death," and the moniker stuck. Thomas died of a heart attack on July 24, 2011. He was 61.
References
- See "Daily Madden" show featuring John Madden, Oakland Raiders' coach when Thomas played cornerback, for July 26, 2011 as follows: http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/?podcast_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.podtrac.com%2Fpts%2Fredirect.mp3%2Fnyc.podcast.play.it%2Fmedia%2Fd0%2Fd0%2Fd0%2FdY%2FdA%2FdM%2FdV%2FYAMV_3.MP3%3Fauthtok%3D5561519120994696059_otzlQq98Az8ayw4x2arQKoP3s8&podcast_name=Daily+Madden&podcast_artist=KCBS&station_id=97&tag=pages&dcid=CBS.SF Archived 2015-12-22 at the Wayback Machine
- Williamson, Bill (July 25, 2011). "Former Raider Skip Thomas dies". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 25, 2011.
| Oakland Raiders 1972 NFL draft selections | |
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| Oakland Raiders Super Bowl XI champions | |
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