Denver Broncos former wide receiver Demaryius Thomas had been found dead by police on December 9th in his home in Roswell Georgia at the age of 33. The police on the scene had indicated that his death might have been related to a medical issue. His family believes that the cause of death was from a seizure and states that “he had been suffering from seizures for over a year, and we believe he had a seizure when he was showering,” after confirming that they had spoken with Thomas the day of his death. Thomas has been said to have a quiet demeanor with a burning desire to achieve greatness every day.
It had been a tragedy to his former team and teammates of his sudden death. His teammates were also aware of his seizures and released a statement early the next morning to mourn the loss of “an incredible player and a special person,” says the Bronco Team. Thomas had retired earlier in June concluding his career with a charismatic short video stating his loyalty of forever being a Denver Bronco. After his death, many former teammates and his former schools had been heartbroken and in mourning due to this sudden tragic event.
Thomas’s former teammate and Hall of Famer Peyton Manning released a statement early that Friday as well. “DT was a better person than he was a player, and he was a Hall of Fame player,” Manning said. “That tells you how good of a person he was. He treated my kids like they were his own. He was there for every teammate’s charity event. … Absolutely devastated.”
Multiple other teammates of Thomas’s expressed their condolences through social media as early as the night of the finding of his death. Thomas played a total of 10 seasons with the Broncos, Houston Texans, and the Jets creating success in his position on which every field he stepped on wearing whichever jersey. Broncos president of football operations John Elway said in June after Thomas retired, “The combination of his size, speed, strength and athleticism was unmatched. Demaryius’ remarkable consistency and production were instrumental in our offense setting historic records and our team winning a lot of games, including two AFC Championships and Super Bowl 50.” The Jets and Texans had expressed their condolences through Twitter. With success on the football field, Thomas’s teammates had recalled all that he had to overcome in his childhood in order to get to where he did before his death.
His mother had been sent to prison when he was 11 and his father was in the military. He fended for himself for the majority of his life and was still able to make it to the big leagues. When his mother had been released in 2015 she was able to see her son play for the very first time. Many of his teammates recalled this moment due to Manning kneeling down during the last play of the game to give Thomas the game football to give to his mother. The tragedy had affected many for a young life gone too soon.