After the death of his father the Schaaf family went to Bremen. They lived near the Weser Stadion. And so Thomas Schaaf came to SV Werder. He spent all his active and manager time with SV Werder. In 1972 he came to Werder Bremen's youth academy. 1978 he turned professional. Till 1994 he played 281 matches for Werder Bremen. He was with Bremen two times German Champion (1988, 1993) and two times Cup winner (1991, 1994). He also won the UEFA Cup in 1992. As player he played two times for the German U21 national team.