K.C.'s Derrick Thomas paralyzed in car crash

LIBERTY, Mo. - NFL star Derrick Thomas was paralyzed from the waist down following a car crash that broke his neck and killed a friend.

The nine-time Pro Bowler has use of his upper body and it was not clear whether he will regain use of his legs, the Kansas City Chiefs said today.

Thomas, 33, and two companions were heading to the Kansas City airport at the time of the accident. They were planning to fly to St. Louis for the NFC Championship game when their car flipped on an icy road yesterday afternoon.

Thomas and the man who was killed were thrown from the car. The third man was treated at a hospital and released.

Reports from the Missouri Highway Patrol identified the man who was killed as Michael D. Tellis, 49, of Kansas City, Kan. John C. Hagebusch, 34, of Raymore, suffered minor injuries.

NOTES

-- Linebackers coach Al Groh, a Bill Parcells pal for more than 30 years, replaced his former boss today as coach of the New York Jets. Three weeks after Parcells resigned and Bill Belichick stunned the club by quitting a day after he took over, the Jets finally sorted out their coaching puzzle. Groh, 55, who grew up a few miles from the Jets' training camp at Hofstra, was reportedly given a five-year contract worth $6 million by new owner Richard Johnson IV, who bought the Jets this month from the estate of Leon Hess.

-- Atlanta fired quarterbacks coach Steve DeBerg, the team said today. DeBerg, 46, had joined Atlanta's coaching staff under head coach Dan Reeves in June after serving as the team's backup quarterback during the 1998 campaign.

-- Jim Bates, who quit Friday as defensive line coach for the Dallas Cowboys, was expected to be introduced as Miami defensive coordinator today.

-- Ray Sherman, Minnesota offensive coordinator, quit today rather than take a demotion, and tight ends coach Dave Atkins was fired. Minnesota hired Sherman Lewis, offensive coordinator for Green Bay for the past eight seasons, to replace Sherman. In other changes, Fontes was hired as outside linebackers coach and John Tice was made tight ends coach. Receivers coach Hubbard Alexander was reassigned to a front-office job.

-- Fred Taylor of the Jacksonville Jaguars lost about $3 million in a fraud scheme that ensnared more than a dozen NFL players. Taylor says he questioned agent William "Tank" Black about his investment but received only "lame excuses." Black was charged in October with unlicensed agent activity in Florida.

-- Romeo Crennel, defensive line coach for the Jets the past three seasons, is the new defensive coordinator for Cleveland, Coach Chris Palmer said.

Compiled from The Kansas City Star, The Associated Press, Westchester Journal News and The Miami Herald.