Why Demaryius Thomas presence remains tangible for Broncos two years after death

May 21, 2024

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The rain had just started falling as Garett Bolles walked over to Courtland Sutton and wrapped his longtime teammate in the kind of crunching bear hug that could only come from an offensive tackle.

Sutton, who was drafted by the Denver Broncos one year after Bolles in 2018, had just caught a game-winning touchdown pass from quarterback Russell Wilson in the final minute of a 21-20 victory against the Minnesota Vikings on Nov. 19. It was the latest in a series of clutch moments from Sutton during a breakthrough season that has seen him catch a career-best nine touchdowns, and Bolles couldn’t help but think about the person who’d be enjoying the wide receiver’s heroics with a giant smile on his face.

“He has somebody in his heart, that’s been his brother for a long time, that’s no longer with us,” Bolles said of Sutton afterward, “and I feel like he has that spirit in him.”

That person, whom Sutton indeed still calls a brother, is Demaryius Thomas. The former star Broncos wide receiver, a four-time Pro Bowler, died due to complications stemming from a seizure disorder two years ago — Dec. 9, 2021 — at the age of 33. But his presence for a group of his former teammates who are still in Denver’s locker room remains strong. Six players on the Broncos’ roster were teammates with Thomas during his final year with Denver in 2018. That includes Sutton, who was a rookie that season and was initially unsure of how he’d be greeted by a player who had accomplished so much in the league.

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“Court was drafted as a second-round pick, so he was drafted to take over for those guys (Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders); that’s the name of the game. But DT didn’t treat him that way,” said Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, Denver’s head coach when the receivers overlapped in 2018.

“(Sutton) was instantly a little brother, and DT said, ‘I’m going to help you become a better player.’ That was the person. I always say about players that sometimes the player and the person are separate. His person was so, so special, and it’s really rare where you have the player and the person who are both that special, and he was that guy.”

Thomas simply wouldn’t allow for any lingering doubt about how he would treat newcomers among the receivers or anywhere else on the roster. He sought meaningful connections with young teammates. Justin Simmons, who played three seasons with Thomas, often recites a story from his rookie season. As Simmons was eating lunch in the team cafeteria, the veteran receiver plopped down in the open chair next to him. Thomas asked Simmons how he was doing, and the rookie quickly rattled off answers relating to how he was digesting the playbook and strengthening his grasp of the defensive scheme.

“No,” Thomas responded. “How are you doing?”

It was a brief conversation, but it still sticks with Simmons. On Wednesday as Simmons reflected on the players whose off-field example he sought to follow coming into the league, he called Thomas’ impact in that regard “obvious.”

Demaryius Thomas’ impact is still felt by those in Denver who played with the star receiver. (Joe Amon / The Denver Post via Getty Images)

Punter Riley Dixon, who joined the Broncos as a rookie in 2016 and played with Thomas for two seasons, said the receiver’s “attitude, humility and affection toward everybody” made him a player toward whom young players gravitated. Like Simmons, Dixon remembers being at breakfast in the cafeteria and looking up to see Thomas pulling up a chair next to him. For a first-year player still trying to figure out the pro football world, the small gesture went a long way.

“He asks you how you’re doing, and it’s one of those rare times where you feel like they really mean it,” Dixon said. “He had such a loving and caring heart. He’s obviously tenacious and so athletic and gifted, but the way he worked every day and the way he treated people is something I’ll always remember.”

The nine touchdown catches for Sutton this season are the most by a Broncos wide receiver since Thomas caught 11 in 2014. With five games to go, Sutton has an outside shot at matching Thomas’ team record of 14 touchdown catches in a season (2013), a mark shared with Anthony Miller (1995). Sutton is also on pace for 71 catches and 903 yards, which would be his best season in those categories since he made the Pro Bowl as a second-year player in 2019. He has become a trusted, go-to target for Wilson in big moments, much as Thomas was for Hall of Fame passer Peyton Manning during the four seasons they played together in Denver.

But it is the way Sutton has operated as the veteran among the Broncos’ receivers that perhaps most illustrates Thomas’ lasting impact. On Thursday, well after the majority of the players and coaches had made their way into the locker room, Sutton led a group of young receivers through a series of extra reps in front of a Jugs machine as they prepared for Sunday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers. They toe-tapped the sideline after a series of grabs as Sutton passed down some of the nuanced tricks that have led to some of his biggest highlights this season. The scenes have taken place daily this season, but it’s not all just about the work.

“He’s been huge from a leadership role, knowing he’s always going to be out there being about it, but at the same time, he’s there joking around with us, still being a young guy,” rookie Marvin Mims Jr. said. “Just having that mutual respect has been huge. To have him in my ear all year has been a big thing. Court will talk about different looks from different teams, players he’s seen. He makes it obvious what he’s seen from a player and how my skill set could do something different than he can to help me win against a corner and stuff like that. He makes it clear what he thinks, and that’s been huge for our room.”

Sutton has often been the receivers’ biggest hype man. He caught a 45-yard touchdown pass in Sunday’s loss to the Houston Texans, but he saved his biggest celebration for teammate Jerry Jeudy’s 41-yard catch in the fourth quarter. Behind the scenes, Sutton has often delivered donuts to members of the equipment and training staff on Saturdays, ESPN reported last year, because Thomas had done the same thing during his career in Denver.

“Obviously, DT taught us a lot of football things, but it was the things away from the game that he was willing to mentor us on,” Sutton said after Thomas’ death. “He didn’t have to mentor us. He didn’t have to look at us as young guys that have potential. He could have just looked at us as guys coming in to try and take his job, and he could have not talked to us, and everyone knows that’s not the person he was. He took us under his wing, and from on the field to off the field, personal life, whatever it may be, he took time out to make sure that we were good and that we understood what was going on. Those are things that you’ll never forget.”

There is still pain for Thomas’ former teammates and coaches when remembering No. 88. In the months after his death, they learned more about the struggles he endured during the final year of his life. He experienced seizures stemming from a 2019 car crash and was posthumously diagnosed with Stage 2 chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the degenerate brain disease tied to repeated hits to the head, by the doctors who studied his brain at Boston University. But there is solace in knowing they can pull from a deep reservoir of happier moments, particularly this time of year. Thomas was born on Christmas Day in 1987, and he relished making the holiday brighter for kids in the Denver community. He would show up to holiday parties for the local Boys and Girls Club dressed as Santa Claus, a memory that made Dixon smile Friday as he recalled the 6-foot-4 receiver donning the festive outfit.

Demaryius Thomas enjoyed dressing up as Santa Claus for holiday visits to a local Boys and Girls Club. (John Leyba / The Denver Post via Getty Images)

“He was a great teammate, and everyone loved him. Not because of his football prowess but because of who he was as a person,” Joseph said. “He was the most giving, the most forgiving and the best teammate I’ve ever been around as far as players go. He was always team first. He was always about his teammates first, so everyone loved him. Defensive linemen, defensive backs, everyone always talked about DT and the person he was.”

Thomas is never far from the minds of those who shared the field with him in Denver. He’s in their hearts, as Bolles said, today as much as ever.

(Top photo of Courtland Sutton kneeling next to Demaryius Thomas’ No. 88: Cooper Neill / Getty Images)

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