Demaryius Antwon Thomas (December 25, 1987 – December 9, 2021) was an American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons, primarily with the Denver Broncos. He played college football for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and was selected by the Broncos in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft. With Denver, Thomas made four Pro Bowls and won Super Bowl 50 against the Carolina Panthers. He also played for the Houston Texans, New England Patriots, and New York Jets.
Early life
Thomas was born in Montrose, Georgia on December 25, 1987. When he was a child, police raided the house where his mother and grandmother lived. His mother was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and his grandmother to life in prison, for crack cocaine distribution. By all accounts a shy and introverted child, Thomas grew up with his aunt and uncle after his mother was sent to prison. As a child, he was given the nickname "Bay Bay" by his uncle in reference to the bad kids from the movie Bébé's Kids. On July 13, 2015, President Barack Obama commuted his mother's sentence. She was released at midnight on November 11, 2015 and saw her son play football for the first time on January 17, 2016. On August 2, 2016, Obama commuted the sentence of Thomas' grandmother.
High school career
Thomas attended West Laurens High School in Dexter, Georgia, where he was a three-sport star in basketball, football, and track. He played wide receiver for the Raiders football team under the direction of then head coach John Kenny. As a junior in 2004, he recorded 32 receptions for 330 yards and three touchdowns. Thomas was named an all-region and all-Heart of Georgia player. As a senior, he recorded 82 receptions for 1,234 yards and ten touchdowns. After the game, he participated in the North-South All-Star game. Thomas was again selected as an all-region and all-Heart of Georgia, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution named him to its Class AA all-state first team and PrepStar to its All-Region team. Scout.com assessed him as the 22nd-ranked college prospect in the state of Georgia, and Rivals.com rated him the 34th-ranked such prospect. He received scholarship offers from Duke, Georgia, and Georgia Tech.
In addition to playing football, Thomas competed in track & field at West Laurens. He earned a fourth-place finish in the triple jump event at the 2006 Georgia Olympics after clearing a personal-best mark of 13.92 meters (45–4). As a sprinter, he posted a personal-best time of 10.99 seconds in the 100-meter dash and was a member of the 4 × 100 m relay squad.
College career
2006 and 2007 seasons
Thomas chose to attend the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) where he majored in management. Under Yellow Jackets head coach Chan Gailey, Thomas sat out the 2006 season as a redshirt freshman.
Thomas made his collegiate debut in the 33–3 victory over Notre Dame, recording a single reception for nine yards. He scored his first collegiate touchdown on a 56-yard pass from Taylor Bennett in the Yellow Jackets' fourth game against Virginia. In the following game, against Maryland, Thomas recorded his best statistical game of the season with nine receptions for 139 receiving yards and a touchdown in the 28–26 loss. In the 2007 Humanitarian Bowl, he made four receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown in the 40–28 loss to Fresno State. The Sporting News named Thomas to its freshman All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) first team and a freshman All-America honorable mention. In 2007, he saw action in all 13 games including 10 starts, and recorded 35 receptions for 558 yards, which ranked second on the team behind Greg Smith's 588 yards. In addition, he led the team with four receiving touchdowns.
2008 season
In 2008, Paul Johnson was hired as the head coach and implemented the run-heavy triple option offense. Thomas considered transferring but decided against doing so. During the season, he recorded 39 receptions for 627 yards and three touchdowns as the leading receiver. Despite playing in a heavily run-oriented system, as one of the team's few experienced players, Thomas recorded relatively high numbers for the Yellow Jackets. Still, compared with other receivers in the Atlantic Coast Conference Thomas's statistics were much smaller. He said, "Sometimes I think about [not getting many passes], but most of the time I just want to win." Thomas's mark was the best of any wide receiver from the school since Calvin Johnson had 1,202 yards in 2006. In the 27–0 victory over Duke on October 4, he caught nine receptions for 230 yards, the second-most in a single game in school history.