Editor’s note: In the Colorado Classics series, The Denver Post takes a weekly look at individuals who made their mark on the Colorado sports landscape and what they are doing now.
The terrain resembled the hillsides around the Air Force Academy where Scott Thomas had gone to school, become an All-America safety in football and laid the groundwork for becoming a pilot in the Air Force.
He could have been in the foothills of the Rampart Range, except there wasn’t the green grass that lavishly adorns the grounds at the home of the Falcons outside of Colorado Springs. And there were more rocks, some of them large enough to serve the purpose if a man wanted to stay out of sight.
“It was very rocky, with rolling hills and more like high desert country,” Thomas said. “It was more like what you’d find in parts of Utah and Arizona.”
Thomas wasn’t strolling the grounds of the Air Force Academy. He wasn’t on a camping trip in Utah or Arizona. He was on the ground in northern Iraq and not as an invited guest. It was Desert Storm, and members of the U.S. military probably would be shot on sight.
Thomas was thrust into this desperate situation when the engine in his F-16 fighter jet developed mechanical problems. He guided his stricken plane as far south as it would go, but eventually had to eject and parachute to the ground.
“It wasn’t scary, but it was my first parachute ride,” Thomas said. “I wasn’t shot down, but once the plane caught fire from the engine problem, there wasn’t any choice. The ejection part was very loud. I remember looking down and seeing my plane disappear into the clouds below me. It was a spectacular sight.”
But once on the ground, the thrill became a struggle between life and death. The rocks became the buffer.
“I did feel lonely, but I never was alone,” Thomas said. “My wingman stayed and patrolled the sky over me. I had been in stressful situations fielding punts in Falcon Stadium and that provided some training. Slogans on posters about commitment can’t do justice to what was going on. I knew they were sending some Army special forces people to pick me up. There was a big blanket of assurance around me.”
The helicopters arrived just in time, and Thomas remembered thinking as he was pulled aboard that all these people had come all that way and possibly into harm’s way to rescue one person. They took fire from Iraqi military units as they lifted off and pulled away.
Thomas was back at Falcon Stadium last week as an honorary captain for the coin toss before the game with TCU. It was a fitting time for him to be honored, because he’s a Texan who always wanted to play football for the University of Texas.
Instead, he played for Air Force from 1982 through 1985. The 1985 season has special meaning because the Falcons finished 12-1, capped by a 24-16 Bluebonnet Bowl win over Texas, the team that had spurned him coming out of high school. During his career, he became one of only a handful of college players to return an interception, a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns in a single season (1985).
After Desert Storm in 1991, Thomas remained in the Air Force until 2000, then entered commercial aviation. His destinations were Hawaii, Europe and the Caribbean. But the aftermath of 9/11 took its toll on the airline business and he became one of many pilots who were furloughed.
“I was out on the streets basically,” Thomas said. “I still was active in the reserves, but I needed something to engage my brain.”
Thomas gathered together a group of friends from the military and formed a leadership training company called Mach2.
“Ultimately, it has nothing to do with flying,” Thomas said. “We take what we learned in military aviation and show how it applies to the business world. We promote team building and show how the different parts of organizations can function as a team.”
He didn’t merely attend a football game last week. At 43, he made his second parachute jump, but this time under much less duress and in the hands of capable instructors.
He was feeling his oats.
“Every one of us who are around 40 and who played football here still act like we could suit up,” Thomas said. “But we all know the truth.”
Staff writer Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
