Rest In Peace Demaryius Thomas, Gone Way Too Soon

Dustin Bradford. Getty Images.

Incredibly tragic news broke late Thursday night as we found out former NFL WR Demaryius Thomas had passed away at the very young age of 33 years old. Sickening to hear. DT had just announced his retirement from the game in June after a 10 year career in the league. A few of his seasons in Denver were absolutely dominant and put him right at the top with some of the best pass catchers at the time. His 80 yard touchdown grab from Tim Tebow that gave the Broncos an OT playoff win over the Steelers will be something we see in NFL highlight reels forever. 

Obviously Thomas was an exceptional athlete, but how he got there and what he had to overcome made it all the more impressive. As a kid he witnessed his mom and grandmother get arrested and sent to prison for drug distribution. With his dad in the military, Thomas became an orphan for all intents and purposes. His own mom didn't get to see him play football until 2016. He raised himself practically and rotated from various homes just to have somewhere with a roof over his head. I cannot imagine how hard it was day in and day out motivating himself to do anything, never mind turning his life into what it became. Despite having to overcome that much adversity, he stayed incredibly kind and humble as well. The flood of tweets admiring and honoring him really shows you the kind of man he was. 

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Shit will absolutely break your heart a million ways. No foul play has been suspected with his death and the early reports are a medical condition being the reason. Awful. Death will come for us all at some point and in ways you'd never expect. Not only does that affect our individual daily lives of course, but also everyone who loves and cares for us as well. The sudden heartbreak his mom is going through right now I truly cannot imagine. It's so shitty and sad to say, but you never know when the last time you'll ever talk to your mom will be. It makes you really wanna cherish every moment you've got and never leave an interaction on a bad note. If you haven't spoken to her in a few days give her a call, she'll love it. If you're in a disagreement about something, fix it please. You just never know. 

 Demaryius wrote a piece for the Player's Tribune when his mom was released from prison and this part about being so excited to see her again and call her whenever he wanted really hit me.

My mother finally got her freedom last week. She’s restricted from traveling for 60 days, so I still have to wait a little bit to see her in the stands. But that’s not what matters. What really matters is that I’m going to get to hug my mother again. I can call her any time I want now. I don’t have to wait for her call. It’s a small thing, but it means so much. She got her little cell phone for the first time. We’ve been talking a lot. She says she wants to race me. She still thinks she can beat me. 

The other day, we were talking about what she wants to do when she gets out, and it made me realize how much time we had lost. She said, “You know what I want? I want to get a Walkman.”

We got a lot of catching up to do, Mamma. I love you.

He also had this to say…

No amount of money, no amount of fame, no amount of anything in the world can replace your mother.

Beautifully said. Rest in Peace Demaryius Thomas. Gone way too soon.