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Former Bills defensive end Bruce Smith retired five years ago with 200 sacks and made two all-decade teams.

Thomas, who died nine years ago after an auto accident while still an active player, also was on the 1990s all-decade team and was the 1989 defensive rookie of the year. He is 11th in career sacks with 126½.

A rushing outside linebacker who also had responsibilities in pass coverage for Kansas City, Thomas set an NFL mark with seven sacks in one game against Seattle on Nov. 11, 1990, a year in which he paced the NFL with 20 sacks.

“Derrick Thomas was the cornerstone of the modern era of the Kansas City Chiefs and one of the most feared performers of his era,” Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said. “Every head coach and offensive coordinator who faced the Chiefs during the 1990s knew when they came to Arrowhead Stadium they had to account for Derrick Thomas.”

McDaniel was that rare guard as effective in pass protection as run blocking and could handle even the best defensive linemen singlehandedly. He missed only two games in his 14-season career and was yet another member of the 1990s all-decade team.

“Randall was a beast,” Smith said. “Once he locked on to you, you couldn’t go anywhere.”

Hayes was the most dangerous deep threat in pro football from 1965-75. Nicknamed “Bullet Bob,” he twice he led the NFL in touchdown catches and in average yards per reception. He also was a brilliant kick returner.

The long wait for Hayes to get into the hall — he was a senior committee choice — had much to do with problems he had off the field.

Hayes served 10 months in a Texas prison after pleading guilty in 1979 to delivering narcotics to an undercover officer. That “destroyed my life” Hayes wrote in his autobiography, “Run, Bullet, Run: The Rise, Fall, and Recovery of Bob Hayes.” The prison term ended at about the same time he first became eligible for the hall.

Tagliabue’s day still has not arrived. Critics cited his inability to place a team back in Los Angeles after the Rams and Raiders left in 1995, and said the labor agreement he pushed through in 2006 was cast aside by the owners last year.

More on Bruce Smith  |  Pro Football Hall of Fame 

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