Mom and dad accepted the honor on behalf of their late son, who finished as the Broncos’ all-time No. 2 receiver.
DENVER — When mom, dad and coach Kubiak pulled the drape that revealed the Broncos’ Ring of Fame pillar with Demaryius Thomas’ bronze face upon it, there was loud applause but there were also so many hands raised up to wipe off tears from cheekbones.
“It’s been such a wonderful weekend, the Broncos were amazing with how they treated us,’’ said Katina Smith, Demaryius’ mom, said in a brief quiet moment not far from her son’s pillar. “But I am sad. I wish he were to be with all his teammates and fans because he loved all of them.”
Thomas died unexpectedly from seizure complications at his Georgia home on Dec. 9, 2021, just 16 days before his 34th birthday. He was inducted into the Broncos’ Ring of Fame on the first ballot, five years after he last played. He stands as the No. 2 receiver in Broncos’ history with 9,055 yards and 60 touchdowns. Only Rod Smith had more. Thomas also had 665 catches with the Broncos, which trails only Smith and Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe.
The pillar ceremony in the Ring of Fame Plaza prior to the Broncos’ game against the New York Giants was among the final rewards Thomas received this weekend. Katina and Thomas’ dad, Bobby Thomas, accepted D.T.’s orange jacket and ROF ring during a banquet Saturday night at Empower Field at Mile High that also celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the Broncos’ Super Bowl 50 team. D.T.’s Ring of Fame banner with the No. 88 was also to be unveiled on the Ring of Fame façade below the upper deck at halftime.
Thomas set a Super Bowl record with 13 catches in XLVIII but the Broncos got drilled by Seattle, 43-8. Thomas said after that game he’d rather have zero catches and win the Super Bowl.
He darn near got his wish as two years later in Super Bowl 50, Thomas had but one catch for 8 yards but the Broncos whipped Carolina, 24-10.
“We all know D.T.’s a Hall of Fame football player,’’ former Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak said at D.T.’s ROF ceremony. “And he’s a Hall of Fame person. But I’m going to pay him the highest compliment I think you can pay a player. On the day he was on a world championship football team, he had one catch for (8) yards. And you would have thought D.T. had 15 catches for 200 yards in that game. He was a great teammate. A great person. And selfless guy when it came to football and his job.”
Unveiling D.T.’s pillar – right beside Peyton Manning’s pillar — was an emotional moment for the thousands of fans who gathered around the Ring of Fame Plaza and for the couple dozen of his former teammates who attended the ceremony.
“When I looked at Demaryius’ face on the enshrinement statue that they have out here, the first thing God put on my heart was to pray,’’ said former Broncos’ edge rusher and Hall of Famer DeMarcus Ware. “And the reason why is because God put an angel here for us to see how much peace Demaryius brought to the world and relationships to people that he encountered. .. So when they unveiled that I saw that peace that everyone wants to have in their lives.”