LIBERTY, Mo. -- Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Derrick Thomas was injured Sunday in a one-car accident that killed a passenger in his car.
Thomas' condition was not immediately known, although there were local media reports that he had broken his back.A third person sustained minor injuries when his car rolled over several times on a snow- and ice-covered highway about 1:30 p.m. CST.
Both Thomas and the man who died, Michael Tellis, 49, of Kansas City, Kan., were thrown from the vehicle, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.
A Liberty Hospital spokeswoman would confirm only that Thomas, 33, had been admitted.
The accident occurred on Interstate 435 in the northern part of Kansas City, Mo., a patrol dispatcher said. An icy snow began falling in the Kansas City metropolitan area around noon.
Chiefs spokesman Bob Moore said he did not know the extent of Thomas' injuries.
Moore said that Chiefs president Carl Peterson was on his way back to Kansas City from St. Louis, where he had been watching the NFC title game between the Rams and Tampa Bay.
Thomas, who became an immediate star after being taken in the first round of the 1989 draft, has spent all 11 years of his NFL career with the Chiefs.