Demaryius Thomas declared his retirement from the NFL on Monday in a regularly understated fashion for the four-time Pro Bowl selection.
Calm off the field, headed to prevail on it, Thomas – known as “D.T.” to most everybody associated with the Denver Broncos – basically plunked down for a short video and opened with:
“I’m Demaryius Thomas. I finally came to a decision to hang it up … I’m going to retire and I’m going to retire a Denver Bronco … I’m done and I did well.”
Thomas, 33, will be honored by the Broncos during their home opener on Sept. 26 against the New York Jets, the group he completed his vocation with in 2019.
Thomas was the first of two first-round picks for the Broncos in the 2010 NFL draft – Tim Tebow was the other – and went through nine seasons with the Broncos and completions his career as the group’s second-driving beneficiary (9,055 yards), behind just Rod Smith. He is third in franchise history in gets (655) behind Smith and Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe.
He played in 10 seasons generally speaking and got done with 724 gets for 9,763 yards to go with 63 scores.
“D.T. was the complete package as a wide receiver, growing into one of the very best at his position,” Broncos president of football operations John Elway said in a statement announcing the news. “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.”
Thomas had a foot injury – he had been injured working out before the 2010 draft – in his initial two seasons in the NFL, however thrived when solid and with the appearance of Peyton Manning in 2012. Somewhere in the range of 2012 and 2015, Thomas had no less than 90 gatherings and 1,300 yards in four consecutive seasons, joining Hall of Famers Marvin Harrison and Jerry Rice and Rams legend Torry Holt as the solitary players to arrive at those aggregates more than four consecutive seasons.
In the Broncos’ record-setting season in 2013 – Manning set NFL records for passing yards (5,477) and scores (55) as the Broncos scored a group record 606 focuses that year – Thomas got done with a vocation best 14 scores. The accompanying season he got done with a vocation best 1,619 yards getting.
Thomas regularly said Manning revealed parts of the game that empowered Thomas to hoist his play. Monitoring had called Thomas perhaps the best recipient he had played with in his vocation. When Manning’s youngsters would come to rehearses, Thomas was regularly the main player they would race to as the players had become dear companions.
Thomas found Manning’s 509th career touchdown pass, which gave Manning the vocation record at that point. An image of Manning and Thomas presenting with a transcribed sign after the game has been in plain view at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
For some among the group’s unwavering, Thomas’ particular play is the trick and-run 80-yard score, on a short pass from Tebow, in the primary play of additional time to give the Broncos a triumph over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC trump card game after the 2011 season.
“For as humble and soft-spoken as Demaryius was during his nine years with our organization, you would have never known he was such a dominant player in our league,” Broncos CEO Joe Ellis is the statement. “D.T. was an integral part of one of the greatest offenses of all time, putting up record-setting numbers and giving Broncos fans so many unforgettable memories. I’ve never heard Empower Field at Mile High louder than his game-winning touchdown in overtime against the Steelers in the playoffs.”
Thomas’ partners, mentors and companions have frequently alluded to all he had defeated to arrive from the outset Georgia Tech and afterward the NFL. His mom, Katina Smith, went to jail on drug charges when Thomas was 11 years of age. With his dad in the military, Thomas started working before school, picking corn, peas and margarine beans for ranchers to assist with supporting himself.
His mom’s sentence was driven by President Barack Obama in 2015, and Smith saw her child play football in person for the first time in the Broncos’ playoff win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in January 2016.
Monitoring, who kneeled down on the game’s last play, gave Thomas the football from that play to provide for Thomas’ mom.
