DUBLIN, Ga. – Demaryius Thomas’ parents see their son every day.
A painting of the former NFL star rests against a wall in Katina Smith’s home, and Bobby Thomas, her father, keeps the same image on his cell phone. It represents a cherished moment that now seems a premonition: the two radiant parents flank their son in the moments after his Denver Broncos won Super Bowl 50 while Demaryius looks down with an expression of pain and scratches the back of his head .
The receiver had been matched by Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly during the game and had such a strong headache that he missed most games after the win.
He said, ‘Hey, everyone, I have to leave and go alone because I don’t feel too well,’ Smith explained. “And so, you know, he left and he didn’t even finish celebrating. “Not even that.”
Demaryius Thomas died in December at the age of 33, a few months after retiring from a Pro-Bowl career in the NFL, in which his charisma, humility and first-team attitude on the field made him the favorite. of teammates and fans. His closest friends said his behavior became increasingly erratic in the last year of his life, which was marked by memory loss, paranoia and isolation that are the hallmarks of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, degenerative brain disease linked to repeated headaches.
On Tuesday, Boston University doctors announced that Thomas was posthumously diagnosed with CTE in phase 2, but his life and death were also complicated by seizures caused by a car accident in 2019. They attacked with little or no notice and they led Thomas to smash other cars and fall down steps. The Fulton County Forensic Bureau, Ga., Has not yet ruled on the cause of his death, but Boston doctors said he probably died after a seizure.
“I had two different conditions in parallel,” said Dr. Ann McKee, the neuropathologist who studied Thomas ’brain. He added that seizures were not generally associated with CTE
Due to the dual conditions, Thomas ’diagnosis of CTE does not provide the clarity that has marked the deaths of other NFL players. His family, friends and former teammates will not know to what extent football is responsible for Thomas ’struggles and only now face how much he suffered.
“It amazes me now when we talk about how a young man of this age can suffer so much pain but still smile,” said Carlos Jones, Thomas ’pastor who was with him when a convulsion caused Thomas to fall down the stairs of his house its at home. early 2021. “It was just a testament to how strong he was.”
Gathered in the Super Bowl
Football changed the trajectory of Thomas ’life, his successes on the field helped stabilize his family who fractured during his adolescence.
Thomas was born on Christmas Day 1987 in Montrose, Ga., A point of a town between Macon and Savannah. Katina was 15 when she gave birth to him, and she never married Bobby, who joined the army and was often out.
When Thomas was 11, federal agents broke into the family home with a search warrant and found money related to a drug network run by Smith’s mother, Minnie Pearl Thomas. Smith was arrested for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and after she refused to testify against her mother, she was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Minnie Pearl Thomas was sentenced to life in prison.
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Thomas bounced from house to house for a couple of years before settling with Bobby Thomas’ sister, Shirley, and her husband, James. Schoolmates bullied Thomas because his mother was in prison, but he found solace and affirmation on the court, football and basketball. In sports, overcoming pain was the key to his success.
“He had a lot of injuries he played for, and he always said,‘ You know how I grew up, you know how I trained, I’m not going to drop my team, ’” Paul Williams said. Thomas high school basketball coach and close friend. He said Thomas always had a prepared smile despite his many off-field challenges.
Denver selected Thomas 22nd overall in 2010, the first catcher caught that year, and his career skyrocketed when quarterback Peyton Manning arrived in 2012, the first of five consecutive years he had 1,000 or more yards. received. Thomas became the mentor of many teammates, including Bennie Fowler, a reception teammate, and was a favorite teammate for his affable and professional approach to the game.
Denver reached the Super Bowl the following season and was defeated by the Seattle Seahawks, but Thomas’ 13 catches set what was then a record reception in the title game.
Prior to Thomas ’upcoming appearance in the championship, his family history gained as much attention as his game. After 17 years of appeals and pressure from the family, President Barack Obama commuted Smith’s sentence as part of a Justice Department approach to clemency for nonviolent drug offenders. His story became the focus of preparation for Super Bowl 50, and the media widely reported that Smith was finally able to see his son play in person on the game’s biggest stage.
Thomas, who had met with lawyers and wrote a letter to Obama on behalf of his mother, was never happier.
“He loved her to death,” said Jamuel Jones, one of Thomas ’high school friends. “I saw a spark in him when he came out. They talked every day. That was his main goal, to get them out,” he said, referring to Thomas’ mother and grandmother.
(Obama commuted Minnie Pearl Thomas’ sentence in 2016.)
“It’s not easy to quit football.”
As high as football raised Thomas, it also contributed to some extent to its rapid decline. In the years following the watermark shown in the painting, Manning retired and Thomas’ injuries piled up. Smith said his son told him his peripheral vision was impaired.
In 2019, Thomas had been driving at 70 miles per hour in a 30 mph zone in Denver when he lost control and turned his car several times. His head broke the windshield and the Jaws of Life were needed to get him out of the vehicle. Jamuel Jones, who had also played college football, was going in the passenger seat and said doctors told the two football players that their ability to absorb blows could have saved their lives.
Thomas played a final, baffled season with the Jets, then went home to Georgia, his life at a crossroads. He was not under contract and was unsure of playing during the pandemic, but was determined to get 237 more yards to reach the 10,000 yards of his career. So he worked five days a week, but his comeback was halted by the convulsions that began in the fall of 2020.
As the seizures grew in number and intensity, neurologists told him they could be stress-related. The anticonvulsant drug Thomas took slowed him down, and a second prescription didn’t stop them, so he tried ozone therapy, a hyperbaric chamber, massages, and other treatments that had little lasting impact.
“He spent a lot of money on his body and look what happened, you know?” said Bobby Thomas, who fell into a depression when Demaryius died, who deepened as he learned of the seriousness of his son’s condition.
“I didn’t know I was so bad.”
In a video announcing his retirement last June, Demaryius Thomas acknowledged that he was trying to find his way. He said he was still deciding what to do next and that he was looking to build relationships with anyone who could help. “It’s not easy to quit football,” he said. “Because that’s my main thing, just trying to find myself and turn off love.”
Thomas made plans to set up a foundation to help single mothers. He had earned $ 75 million playing football and has invested some in several companies. He wanted to build an enclosure where his whole family could live.
But he also isolated himself and was taken advantage of by old friends.
Her parents said Demaryius stopped returning her text messages and calls, and Bobby recalled that his paranoia grew to the point that he never left home without a gun.
After Thomas’ death on December 9, family members discovered that he had been robbed of cash, weapons and football items from his home. Police arrested several men who had been hanged during the last year of his life.
Thomas ’death surprised his former teammates, who looked for ways to remember him publicly. Manning started two scholarships: one for students in the Denver area, another for Thomas alma mater, Georgia Tech. Von Miller, who played for the Los Angeles Rams last season, wore a T-shirt with the image of Thomas during the playoff warm-up and dedicated the team’s Super Bowl victory to him.
Fowler, Thomas ’former mentor, said he and many players believed they had some sort of CTE“ Go with the game, ”he said, acknowledging that everyone balances that risk with the life-changing benefits of football. Thomas was to attend Fowler’s wedding this year. Instead, Fowler ended up being one of Thomas’ bearers.
Thomas’ parents have just found catharsis when they talk about their son. Smith is helping Dublin City officials plan Thomas Demaryius Day on July 16, during which residents will launch 88 balloons – the number one uniform of Thomas Broncos. Hearing about many anonymous donations her son made around town: children’s shoes, turkeys on Thanksgiving Day.
Parents here are also asking for advice on whether to let their children play football. Thinking about that photo of her son after Super Bowl 50 and how he got to the top of his profession just to escape, she warns them to be careful.
“This is a dream come true once in a lifetime,” he said. But “now I’m more inflexible about how, uh, educating myself on that.”