SEC Football history: 50 best players of all time

14. Best SEC football players of all time: Derrick Thomas, Alabama football

Whether at the pro or college level, few players played with the kind of effort that former Alabama linebacker Derrick Thomas did. An elite player during his time at Alabama and in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs, Thomas was a guy who had a knack for getting after the quarterback, and he did so at a record-breaking pace with the Crimson Tide.

Thomas came to Alabama and joined a team that was loaded with talent on the defensive side of the ball, as the team boasted the likes of Keith McCants and Cornelius Bennett. While Thomas played well with those players, it was not until Bennett left Alabama for the pros that he really saw his star shine the brightest.

In one of the more iconic seasons in college football history, Thomas racked up 27 sacks for the Crimson Tide defense, setting an NCAA record that still stands to this day. In fact, his 52 sacks for his career are still an NCAA record today, and those are two marks that are likely going to stand for a very long time.

During his record-breaking season, Thomas was named a unanimous All-American, All-SEC, and took home the Butkus Award, given to the best linebacker in college football. A first-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs, Thomas became one of the best defensive players in NFL history, and it is a downright shame that he is not in the College Football Hall of Fame.