After surgery Sunday for a gunshot wound that fractured his skull, the prognosis is good for Bears offensive tackle Stan Thomas.
”He`s a very lucky young man,” Thomas` agent, Mike Merkow, said from San Diego. ”A matter of inches and we would not have been in surgery.
”The first thing he said to the doctor when he came out of surgery was,
`Let`s go to Disneyland.` He never lost his sense of humor.”
The Bears` No. 1 draft pick last spring was shot while driving away from a San Diego nightclub early Sunday morning. Thomas was listed in stable condition after 45 minutes of surgery at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, Calif., to remove bone chips from his skull.
Thomas suffered no damage to the brain and never lost consciousness. Hospital spokesman Mike Bardin said the injury was not career-threatening.
Dr. Dennis Ott, the head of the hospital`s neurosurgical unit and considered one of the best in the country, performed the procedure on the 6-foot-5-inch, 315-pound Thomas.
”The surgery was really relatively routine, if you can call a gunshot routine,” said Bardin. ”For Dr. Ott, this was something he could do in his sleep.”
One of Thomas` companions reportedly quarreled with another patron at the Emerald City bar in a trendy area of San Diego known as Pacific Beach. But the shooting did not take place until 15 to 20 minutes after Thomas and his friends left the bar, Merkow said.
San Diego police Sgt. Larry Weeden said a white Honda pulled up alongside Thomas` 1992 Mercedes 300 about 1:15 a.m. and shooting began.
”At least one shot struck the left side of Thomas` head,” said Weeden. Thomas` two friends were unhurt, Weeden said.
No suspects have been identified.
Thomas, 23, is a native of El Centro, Calif., but lives in San Diego during the off-season.
After a decent start last season going against some of the league`s premier pass rushers, Thomas was plagued by 11 penalties as a starter and was benched by coach Mike Ditka in favor of veteran backups Ron Mattes and John Wojciechowski.
– Coincidentally, Bears officials are in Indianapolis this weekend to survey college talent for the April 26-27 NFL draft. Player personnel director Bill Tobin identified the offensive line as an area needing fortification even before the Thomas shooting.
”We don`t intend to drop a level (in talent). We still subscribe to the best-athlete-available theory, with reason,” Tobin said late last week. ”But I see quality offensive linemen there. And there are other positions that are deep, too.”
