How Zach Thomas went from White Deer and Pampa legend to NFL Hall of Famer

In the entire history of the NFL, no football player has been inducted into the Hall of Fame from the Texas Panhandle or Texas Tech.

Until now.

This Saturday the NFL will induct its 2023 Hall of Fame class with former Miami Dolphins middle linebacker Zach Thomas the first to go in. His merits are more than worthy. He twice led the league in tackles, was an All-Pro selection seven times and was named to the NFL's All-Decade team for the 2000's.

Before that, he earned a spot in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015. A member of the Texas Tech Ring of Honor, Texas Tech Hall of Fame and a two-time All-American, he earned that spot as well.

Before any of that, though, Zach Thomas was a prospect from Pampa, estimated population of 16,474. He started his high school career in White Deer, Texas, estimated population of 904. Before he was a Hall of Famer, Zach Thomas was just a kid from the Panhandle.

'The only speed he knew was full speed'

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Zach initially joined his brother Bart at White Deer High School, which was a 2A program back then. Even as an eighth grader, he stood out to junior high coach Terry Cox and varsity head coach Windy Williams.

Still, there was a hesitancy to play Zach on varsity. The coaching staff didn't want to risk upsetting the veteran players on a team coming off a 7-3 season.

After a JV scrimmage in which Williams says Zach was in on "about 90% of the tackles," Williams approached Zach's father, Steve Thomas, and asked if he'd be okay with them moving Zach up to varsity.

"Steve just looked at me and said, 'I was wondering how long it was going to take you to do that,'" Williams said with a laugh.

In 16 years as a head coach, Williams says Zach was the only freshman he ever started. The risk was worth it as Zach led the team in tackles with the Bucks going 15-0 and winning the 2A state championship in 1988. Even with all of the accomplishments in his historic career, that state championship at White Deer is still Zach's most exciting football memory, according to Steve.

Drive into White Deer now and there's signs commemorating that state championship and the three first team All-Americans the town of less than 1,000 people has produced. Those three are Carl McAdams and Jim Weatherall of OU and Zach Thomas of Texas Tech. All three played in the NFL.

One is in the NFL Hall of Fame.

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'He's earned his spot'

Steve Thomas still remembers one of Zach's first practices after he transferred to Pampa for his junior year. The late Dennis Cavalier, the head coach for the Harvesters, was frustrated with the play of his offensive line during two-a-days.

"Cavalier looked at Zach and told him, 'Zach, come over here and show these kids how to block,'" Steve said. "He pulled out this standing dummy, stood behind it and told Zach to go ahead with it."

Zach charged the dummy as hard as he could and sent Cavalier flying. The head coach landed on his backside and Zach feared for his life. Before he could think of it any longer, Cavalier rose up and extended his index finger to Zach and shouted at him.

"Now THAT'S how you block!"

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Cox said Zach only ever knew one speed and that was full speed. It's what helped him develop into one of the greatest defenders of the 21st century. According to then-Pampa defensive coordinator Max Plunk, though, Zach developed his mental skills through a technique he learned during his time with the Harvesters.

"I called it, 'The Blur," Plunk said. "It was a new method on how to react to a play. Instead of reading what the backs are doing, read the down linemen. The backs will lie to you, but the linemen can’t afford to lie to you because they have to come to the point of attack and start blocking."

Plunk taught the method to Zach and the rest was history. Plunk said he and Cavalier knew early that Zach was special and he was proud to have helped teach him the method. However, he also doesn't take any credit for the success that Zach went on to have.

"You can’t coach Zach’s heart, desire, attitude or work study," Plunk said. "He just made the whole team better. They knew on defense that if I don’t get to the football and make the tackle then Zach will. That just gave everyone more confidence. Everyone played harder because of how hard Zach played.”

'He was just like the folks in the stands'

Ask most people and they'll tell you the narrative about Zach Thomas was that he was "too short" and "too slow" to play in college or the NFL. While Steve and Bart disagreed with that storyline, Zach stands at 5-foot-11 and played at 242 lbs., and that was evident to college recruiters.

“I remember OU came in and tried to recruit him," Plunk said. "We told them he was 5-foot-11 and they didn’t think he was even that tall. They passed on him after coming in to measure him and I said, ‘You can’t measure his heart.’”

Steve says it was Oklahoma State that almost got Zach to flip. The Cowboys coaching staff came for a visit while Zach was out in town. When he came back, Steve had one message for him.

"I told him if you go anywhere outside the state of Texas then you're a traitor," Steve said with a laugh. "He knows if he went anywhere but Tech he wouldn't have been nearly as popular."

So he did. He became a Red Raider, a Dolphin and even a Dallas Cowboy before it was all said and done.

Before that, though, he was just a kid from the Panhandle. A guy labeled an overachiever that wasn't "supposed" to make it as far as he did, yet he did anyway thanks to his brilliant mind and unequaled dedication.

“I’ve never seen anyone as dedicated as him," Bart said. "I’m not saying that because he’s my brother, I say it because he was obsessed with it and he stayed obsessed with it until he retired. He’d get up in the morning and work out, work out at night, we’d take vacations and he’d take dumbbells with us.”

Plunk says Zach would lead workouts before he was even a senior. Cox said he coached bigger and stronger athletes than Zach, but no one with the same level of desire. It was those tangibles that made Zach succeed when he shouldn't have.

These days he spends his time handling real estate investments and driving his kids to soccer practice in Miami. Steve jokes that he went from being one of the meanest linebackers in NFL history to "Mr. Mom" upon retirement.

It's that kind of nonchalant attitude and casual existence, though, that has always made Zach who he is. It's his ability to not stand out that ironically makes him stand out. Everyone who spoke of him talked about the inspiration he's been to the kids of White Deer, Pampa and the Panhandle. Not just because of everything that he accomplished, but how he accomplished it.

“He gives kids something to look up to," Bart said. "Zach was kind of your everyday, 9-5 looking guy that was an overachiever. He made everyone feel like they could do the same thing. I think he was so loved because he just looked like every guy that was up in the stands watching the game. That was really endearing about him. He was just an average guy that accomplished amazing things.”

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: White Deer, Pampa football legend Zach Thomas makes NFL Hall of Fame