Friday, December 10, 2021

Demaryius Thomas

This morning, I rummaged through the stack of t-shirts that had been airing out on my landing. The orange colour under the pile of black, white, grey and red stood out.

There really was no other choice. It had to be the orange Denver Broncos t-shirt. Something I wore on a near weekly basis during Peyton Manning's time with the team.

Only minutes earlier, I had read the news that one of the Broncos' key players during that era - wide receiver, Demaryius Thomas - has passed away.

He was only 33.

There are so many Manning-to-Thomas memories that I have from watching those Broncos games back then. 

With that said, the play that first comes to mind is one which came the season before Manning arrived in the Mile-High City.

The Broncos and Steelers had entered overtime in a playoff game (I'm being lazy this morning, but - without looking - I'll say it was in the wild card round). The quarterback at the time - Tim Tebow - threw a pass to Thomas in the first play of OT. Thomas took it eighty yards for the game winning touchdown.

After scoring, he didn't stop. He came close to almost running out of the stadium. 

Within the following four years from that playoff performance, with Manning as his QB, Thomas went to two Super Bowls winning one and losing the other. In the latter, he broke a then-Super Bowl record for 13 receptions and was the only touchdown scorer for Denver in their 8-43 loss.

Thomas went on to play for Houston and the New York Jets in the latter part of his career. He called time in June by officially retiring as a Denver Bronco.

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