Pro Bowl receiver Thomas retiring as ‘a Bronco’

• Covered Broncos for nine years for Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News
• Previously covered Steelers, Bills and Titans
• Member of Pro Football Hall of Fame Board
  of Selectors since 1999

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Demaryius Thomas announced his retirement from the NFL Monday in a typically understated fashion for the four-time Pro Bowl selection.

Quiet off the field, driven to succeed on it, Thomas – known as “D.T.” to most everyone associated with the Denver Broncos — simply sat down for a short video and opened with:

“I’m Demaryius Thomas, I’m 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 will be honored by the Broncos during their home opener this season, on Sept. 26 against the New York Jets, the team he finished his career 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 spent nine seasons with the Broncos and finishes his career as the team’s second-leading receiver (9,055 yards), behind only Rod Smith. He is third in franchise history in catches (655) behind Smith and Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe.

He played in 10 seasons overall and finished with 724 catches for 9,763 yards to go with 63 touchdowns.

“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 battled a foot injury — he had been injured working out before the 2010 draft — in his first two seasons in the NFL, but flourished when healthy and with the arrival of Peyton Manning in 2012. Between 2012 and 2015 Thomas had at least 90 receptions and 1,300 yards in four consecutive seasons, joining Hall of Famers Marvin Harrison and Jerry Rice as the only players to reach those totals over four consecutive seasons.

In the Broncos’ record setting season in 2013 — Manning set NFL records for passing yards (5,477) and touchdowns (55) as the Broncos scored a league-record 606 points that year — Thomas finished with a career-best 14 touchdowns. The following season he finished with a career-best 1,619 yards receiving.

Thomas routinely said Manning revealed parts of the game that enabled Thomas to elevate his play. Manning had called Thomas one of the best receivers Manning had played with in his career. When Manning’s children would come to practices, Thomas was routinely the first player they would run to as the players had become close friends.

Thomas caught Manning’s 509th career touchdown pass, which gave Manning the league’s career record at the time. A picture of Manning and Thomas posing with a hand-written sign after the game has been on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

For many among the team’s faithful, Thomas’ signature play will be the catch-and-run 80-yard touchdown, on a short pass from Tebow, in the first play of overtime to give the Broncos a victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC wild-card game following 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’ teammates, coaches and friends have often referred to all he had overcome to reach, first Georgia Tech and then the NFL. His mother, Katina Smith, went to prison on drug charges when Thomas was 11 years old and with his father in the military, Thomas began working before school, picking corn, peas and butterbeans for farmers to help support himself.

His mother’s sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama in 2015 and Smith saw her son play football in person for the first time in the Broncos’ playoff win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in January of 2016.

Manning, who kneeled down on the game’s final play, gave Thomas the football from that play to give to Thomas’ mother.

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