Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Derrick Thomas acknowledges the crowd in this file photo from Nov. 10, 1991. Thomas, who died in a car wreck in February 2000, will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday.

As Rod Woodson goes down the list of those joining him in this year’s Pro Football Hall of Fame class of inductees, the former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back stops to reflect when he reaches one name.

“Derrick Thomas and the tragedy that happened to him,” said Woodson, referring to the former Kansas City Chiefs’ pass-rushing linebacker whose career was cut short in February 2000, when he died following a car accident. “I wish he was still here to go in with.”

It would’ve been something to see. For as fiercely as Thomas played the game, registering the most sacks of any player in the 1990s, he also was known for his outgoing personality off the field, and for being one of the most charismatic athletes of his generation.

And his trademark grin — the one that could light up a place as big as Fawcett Stadium in Canton, Ohio — will be fondly remembered Saturday, when Thomas is inducted along with Woodson, defensive end Bruce Smith, offensive tackle Randall McDaniel, Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson and receiver Bob Hayes, who also will be enshrined posthumously after he died in 2002 at age 59.

It’s the type of setting Thomas would’ve truly enjoyed.

“You’re watching him and, all of a sudden, this big, broad smile breaks out,” former Chiefs coach Marty Schottenheimer said. “Derrick would have this grin come across his face. He looked like the cat that ate the canary.”

That consumed canary was usually an opposing quarterback.

Selected by Kansas City with the No. 4 overall pick in the 1989 draft out of Alabama, Thomas accomplished plenty during an 11-year career. In becoming a nine-time Pro Bowl selection, Thomas still holds the NFL record for most sacks in a game, seven, and his 1261?2 sacks rank fourth among linebackers.

“He was like a running back rushing the passer, but he also had enough power to overpower you,” said Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham, who coached Thomas in Kansas City. “That combination is hard to find.”

Thomas is part of a Hall of Fame class that’s brimming with defensive stalwarts who dominated their respective positions during the 1990s.

There’s Smith, who in 19 seasons with Buffalo and Washington, registered a league-record 200 sacks and played a pivotal role in helping the Bills make a still-unmatched four consecutive Super Bowl appearances in the early 1990s.

And then there’s Woodson, who like Smith, enters the Hall in his first year of eligibility.

Woodson was a triple-threat during a 17-year career, in which he excelled at cornerback, safety and returning kickoffs.

“The old saying in work and sports: The more you can do, the longer they will keep you around,” Woodson said. “I took the challenge, and most people who take the challenge can be versatile in their field.”

But this good?

The NFL’s defensive player of the year in 1993, Woodson was an 11-time Pro Bowl selection and, at the time of his retirement in 2003, held the career record for most interception return yards (1,483), most interceptions returned for touchdowns (12) and tied for first for most fumbles recovered in a game (three). He led the NFL in interceptions in 1999 and 2002 and kickoff return yards in 1989.

Woodson appeared in three Super Bowls with three different teams — Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Oakland — and won one with the Ravens in 2001.

“He was the modern-day evolution of Mel Blount,” former teammate Craig Wolfley said, comparing Woodson to Blount, another Hall-of-Fame Steelers defensive back. “He was like what Mel would have been like in a more modern era — big, physical, playing with a linebacker’s attitude, but he was playing corner.”