Greatest Husker to wear 89: Broderick Thomas, Defensive End / Outside Linebacker, 1985 – 1988
Broderick “The Sandman” Thomas was a player ahead of his time. Big, fast, and unapologetically brash, he was a three time All-Big 8 pick and two time All-American. Thomas was one of the first in Nebraska’s stretch of game changing pass rushers (including Mike Croel, Trev Alberts, Grant Wistrom and others).
Why “The Sandman”? As Thomas explained it, he picked up the nickname in high school, because he “put people to sleep” when he tackled them. He was a big fan of his nickname, telling reporters “As far as I’m concerned, it’ll always be Broderick ‘The Sandman’ Thomas. It’ll never be just Broderick Thomas again if I have to write it.”
Thomas also described himself as “the master of disaster,” which is a damn good nickname as well. But it is impossible to think of Broderick Thomas as anything other than The Sandman.
Coming out of high school in Houston, Broderick Thomas was the 30th best recruit in the country according to Athlon. Thomas had it all. He had the film. He had the high school production. Heck, he even had the bloodlines. His uncle Mike Singletary was an All-Pro linebacker with the Chicago Bears.
Thomas wanted two things from a college: 1) the ability to play right away, and 2) to be an outside linebacker – NOT a defensive end in a three point stance. In the mid-1980s, most true freshmen either redshirted or played on the freshman team. But for Thomas, many coaches were willing to accommodate that request. At Nebraska, Thomas played in eight games as a true freshman.
Oklahoma was an early favorite, but Barry Switzer wanted Thomas to be a hand-in-the-dirt defensive end. The Sandman chose Nebraska.
There were two deciding factors: 1) Even though he would technically be listed as a defensive end, in Nebraska’s base 5-2 defense, Thomas would be able to play standing up. It is worth noting that Thomas continued to insist upon being referred to as an outside linebacker. Before his senior season in 1988, Nebraska renamed his position to OLB. 2) Tom Osborne. Thomas’s mother grew up next door to the church that her father (Singletary’s dad) literally built himself. After meeting Osborne, she knew that’s who her son should play for.
Broderick Thomas’s career was special. In his sophomore season (1986), Nebraska was #2 in total defense, allowing a stingy 235.6 yards per game. Thomas had six fumble recoveries and returned one for a touchdown. He was All-Big Eight and an honorable mention All-American. In his junior season, Thomas repeated as an All-Big Eight pick and earned first team All-America honors. He was fifth in the Big Eight with 6.5 sacks and led the team with 41 solo tackles.
As a senior in 1988, Thomas went to another level. He led – or tied for the team lead – in seven defensive categories. He earned All-Big Eight for the third year, All-American again, Big Eight Defensive Player of the Year, and was a finalist for the Butkus and Lombardi awards. Thomas lost the Butkus to Alabama’s Derrick Thomas by two votes.
Thomas wanted to set the career sack record at Nebraska but finished seven shy of the mark, ending up with 22.5. Had Charlie McBride made the switch from the 5-2 to the 4-3 earlier, he probably would have done it.
For all of his success and accolades, Broderick Thomas seems to be remembered more for what he said than what he did. Think about today’s brash, trash talking players making bold proclamations before games. It’s hard to believe that The Sandman was doing those things 40 years ago.
Reporters sought him out because they quickly learned he would provide a great quote and headline. “I know they’ll talk to me because I’ll talk to anyone about anything.” He referred to the 1987 season as the “Hell Raisin’ Tour” and said he and his fellow Blackshirts would be “bringing the wood.” Reporters – and fans – ate it up.
In the 1988 Colorado game, Buffs coach Bill McCartney was out on the field protesting a call. Thomas strolled over and told McCartney to get off the field or put on a helmet and pads.
“Confidence in a football player is number 1,” he told Huskers Illustrated in 2024. “You only can be what you believe you are. I always believed I was a great player and one of the best outside linebackers to ever play the game.”
In 2024, Thomas summed up his time at NU. “Nebraska was the place to go if you wanted to be a rock star. The lights shined brightest in the Big Eight from 1985 to 1988. The national title had to go through us because we always had something to say about it. I came in and professed who I was, what I was and what I was going to do.”
Broderick Thomas once said, “I’m the master of disaster. The master of the physical game. And the master of the talking game.”
Nobody disputed any of that, especially the talking part. His confidence and bravado often made headlines in an era where being boisterous was still frowned upon by coaches and players. You know the expression “bulletin board material”? The Sandman played in an era where opposing coaches would clip actual articles from the newspaper and put them on a bulletin board in the locker room to fire up their team.
A lot of those clippings seemed to happen when Oklahoma and Nebraska were squaring off. At some point during his career, Thomas started referring to Memorial Stadium as “Our House.” He told opponents, “You come in here, then give your respects and then you leave with a loss.”
In Thomas’s junior season (1987), the game between No. 1 vs No. 2 showdown was being billed as “Game of the Century II.” Thomas made a not-so-subtle reference to Oklahoma’s “Sooner Magic”: “Houdini is not allowed in ‘our house,’ so there’s not going to be any fourth-quarter magic around here, unless we’re doing it.”
Some enterprising person made and sold – “The keys to our house” – oversized red and white plastic keys on a ring before the 1987 OU game. Fans waved them… for a while. Nebraska lost 17-7, in a game that was not as close as the score indicated.
After the game, Oklahoma’s Keith Jackson said “We didn’t need a key to get in their house. We busted the damn door down.” Quarterback Jamelle Holieway missed the game with an injury but showed up after the game using a four-foot-long wooden key as a cane. “Broderick gave me this,” he joked.
That’s the downside of being brash… sometimes it blows up in your face. But there are two things you should know about Thomas’s talk:
He owned it. After the 1987 OU game, Thomas said “If it was me, I apologize. I’m not going to make any excuses. We lost the football game.”
His team had his back. They knew that Thomas always talked up his teammates and gave them credit for the things he accomplished. Wingback Richard Bell later said, “Broderick’s words can have a big impact on the team.” Bell credited Thomas’s pregame speech for Nebraska avenging the 1987 loss in Norman the following season.
“They said when they beat us at our house two years in a row that they had the keys to our house,” Thomas said after Nebraska’s 7-3 win over Oklahoma in 1988. “Well, we came and got those keys and we’re taking them back home.”
I loved the passion and swagger Thomas brought to NU, and I can think of several teams since he left that could have used somebody with his personality (and talents).
