Thurman Thomas Madden Career 1992-2000 - Peak 99 OVR

Thurman Thomas slid to the second round in 1988 because of a college knee injury, a fall Buffalo happily took advantage of, and he became the versatile engine of one of the most productive offenses of the early 1990s. He could run between the tackles and catch out of the backfield with equal skill, the rare back who was the best all-around player on a team that reached four straight Super Bowls.

The Madden card recognized that dominance early. He hit a 99 in Madden NFL 93 on the pre-1997 scale and reached the ceiling again in the 1997 release, one of the first players the game ever rated at the top, the reward for a stretch in which he led the NFL in yards from scrimmage four consecutive seasons, a feat no one else has matched. The number dipped as he aged and Buffalo's run wound down.

He won NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year in 1991, made five Pro Bowls, and finished with more than 12,000 rushing yards and nearly 4,500 receiving before a final year in Miami. He went into the Hall of Fame in 2007. The four Super Bowl losses unfairly shadow a brilliant career, because Thomas was the versatile heart of those teams, the player who made the no-huddle offense go. His early 99s are the fair record of a back who did everything and did it at the highest level.