Broderick Thomas Season 1985

Honors & Awards

• Drafted in 1st  Round by Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6th Overall)
• 1989 Japan Bowl
• 1989 Hula Bowl
• 1988 Lombardi Award Finalist
• 1988 Butkus Award Finalist
• 1988 First-Team All- American (AP, UPI, Football News, Football Writers, Kodak/AFCA, Sporting News, Walter Camp)
• 1988 Big 8 Defensive Player-of-the-Year (AP, UPI, Big Eight Coaches)
• 1988 First-Team All-Big 8
• 1988 Big 8 Player-of-the-Week (Utah State)
• 1988 Co-Captain
• 1987 First-Team All-American (Walter Camp)
• 1987 Second-Team All-American (AP, UPI, Sporting News)
• 1987 Unanimous First-Team All-Big 8
• 1986 Unanimous First-Team All-Big 8
• 1986 Honorable Mention All-American (AP, UPI)
• 1986 Sophomore All-American (Football News)

1988 (Senior)
Thomas entered the year as a candidate for the Lombardi and Butkus Trophies. Thomas repeated as a first-team All-American, tabbed by the Associated Press, United Press International, Football News, Football Writers, Kodak/AFCA, Sporting News and Walter Camp. Thomas was also named Big 8 defensive player-of-the-year by the Associated Press, United Press International and the Big 8 Coaches. For the third straight year Thomas was named to the All-Big 8 first-team and was a team co-captain as a senior.

On the season Thomas either led or tied for the team lead in seven defensive categories. Thomas carried the defense with 98 total tackles, leading the team for a second straight year in unassisted stops with 53. Thomas also increased his tackles for loss to 11 for a total of 111 yards lost. Thomas led the team in sacks with 10 for 74 yards. His 35 quarterback hurries were 25 more then Jeff Mills, who was second on the team with 10.In the first game of the season Thomas set a career-high for tackles with 14 against Texas A&M in the Kickoff Classic. Thomas followed up in the following game against UtahState with seven tackles (5 solo), two of which were sacks for 21-yards lost, and his performance earned him Big 8 defensive player-of-the-week. In the four of the final five games Thomas recorded at least one sack and at least one sack in eight of the 12 games overall. In the season finale against Oklahoma, Thomas and the Blackshirts held the powerful wishbone offense to 98 yards rushing, 137 total-offense yards and eight first downs as the Huskers claimed an outright Big Eight title and an Orange Bowl berth for the first time in five years. 

1987 (Junior)
A first-team All-American on the Walter Camp Foundation team in 1987, Thomas recorded 73 total tackles last year, including a team-leading 41 unassisted stops. Thomas had nine tackles for losses, totaling 58 yards, and was fifth in the Big 8 in sacks with six and a half for 43 yards. Thomas caused two fumbles, recovered another, broke up three passes and had on interception (vs. Kansas). A unanimous All-Big Eight pick for the second-straight year, he was a second-team All-American according to the Associated Press, United Press International and the Sporting News. Led or shared team lead in tackles three times in 1987 (eight at Arizona State, nine vs. Kansas, nine at Oklahoma State), but his season and career tackle high was 10 against Oklahoma. Also had nine tackles at Colorado, and then contributed six stops, including a 7-yard sack in the Fiesta Bowl vs. Florida State.

1986 (Sophomore)
Thomas earned the first of his two All-Big 8 awards as a sophomore when he was the third-leading tackler on a Husker team that ranked second nationally in total defense, giving up 235.6 yards per game. His 58 tackles in 1986 placed him behind only senior linebackers Marc Munford (90) and Kevin Parsons (72). He had 41 unassisted tackles as a sophomore, 11 for losses totaling 48 yards, and four of those were sacks for 17 yards in losses. He also set a Nebraska record by recovering six opponents’ fumbles, including a single-game record of three at Colorado. Thomas scored a touchdown against Oregon in 1986 when teammate Jeff Tomjack fumbled at the Duck’s 4-yard-line after intercepting a pass, and Thomas picked it up and ran it in.

1985 (Freshman)
A highly-recruited prospect at Houston Madison High School in 1985, Thomas moved up to the Husker varsity squad early that season and lettered as a reserve. He played in eight varsity games as a freshman, recording 13 tackles, including eight unassisted stops and two quarterback sacks. He came off the bench at Kansas State to lead the Huskers in tackles with nine, including a 12-yard sack.

Before Nebraska (Houston Madison)
As a senior for Coach Bill Matischak, Thomas was named defensive player-of-the-year by the Houston Post.

Personal
The son of William and Linda Thomas, he was born Feb. 20, 1967, at Houston. He has a younger brother, William. The Thomas brothers are nephews of former Chicago Bears linebacker Mike Singletary. Broderick majored in human development and family. He was active in the national “Say no to Drugs” program, and has worked with process intervention at Lincoln General Hospital.

Year	UT	AT	TT	TFL	Sacks	R	BK	PBU	PI
1985	8	5	13	2-19	2-19	0	0	0	0
1986	41	17	58	11-48	4-17	6	0	2	0
1987	41	32	73	9-58	6.5-43	1	0	3	1
1988	53	45	98	17-111	10-70	0	1	6	0
Totals	143	99	242	39-216	22.5-149	7	1	11	1

Bowl Game Statistics
1987 - Sugar Bowl vs. Louisiana State: Tackles, 2 UT, 1 AT, 3 TT, TFL - 1 for 15 yards, Sacks - 1 for 15 yards
1988 Fiesta Bowl vs. Florida State: Tackles, 4 UT, 2 AT, 6 TT, TFL - 2 for 8 yards, Sacks - 1 for 7 yards
1989 Orange Bowl vs. Miami: Tackles, 3 UT, 2 AT, 5 TT