Yellow Jackets legend to be celebrated posthumously at ACC title game
THE FLATS – Legendary wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, a two-time National Football League All-Pro whose 2,135 receiving yards in three collegiate seasons rank sixth in Georgia Tech football history, represents Tech in the 2022 Atlantic Coast Conference Football Honors Class, the ACC announced on Wednesday. Thomas and representatives from the conference’s 13 other football institutions will be celebrated during festivities surrounding the Subway ACC Football Championship Game on Dec. 2-3 in Charlotte, N.C.
After redshirting as a true freshman out of Dexter, Ga. in 2006, Thomas played three seasons at Georgia Tech (2007-09). He officially recorded 113 receptions (10th in school history) for 2,135 yards (sixth) and 13 touchdowns (t-seventh) in his three campaigns as a Yellow Jacket, and his whopping 25.1 yards per reception as a junior in 2009 remains the second-highest single-season receiving average in Tech’s all-time annals. After helping lead Tech to consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference Coastal Division championships in 2008 and 2009 and earning All-America (third team) and all-ACC (first team) recognition in ‘09, he declared for the 2010 NFL Draft.
Thomas became only the 12th first-round draft pick in Georgia Tech history when the Denver Broncos selected him with the 22nd overall pick in the 2010 Draft. He went on to play 10 seasons in the NFL, highlighted by eight-and-a-half campaigns with the Broncos. He caught 724 passes for 9,763 yards and 63 touchdowns as a pro, including 665 receptions for 9,055 yards and 60 touchdowns in 125 games with the Broncos (figures that rank third, second and second in team history, respectively). He owns 16 Broncos franchise records, including single-season receiving yards (1,619 – 2014) and career 100-yard receiving games (33). He earned second-team All-Pro honors in 2013 and 2014 and was a four-time Pro Bowl selection (2012-14, 2016).
As a pro, he is perhaps best remembered for being one of the most prolific postseason performers in the Broncos’ illustrious history. Making his NFL playoff debut in the divisional round of the 2011 playoffs versus the Pittsburgh Steelers, he caught four passes for a Denver postseason-record 204 yards, including the game-winning 80-yard touchdown reception on the first play of overtime that lifted the Broncos to a legendary 29-23 win. Two seasons later (2013), he made his first of two Super Bowl appearances with the Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII and set a then-Super Bowl record with 13 receptions in Denver’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Two more seasons later (2015), he won Super Bowl 50 with the Broncos (a 24-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers). After his eight-and-a-half seasons with the Broncos, he closed his NFL career with the Houston Texans (2018) and New York Jets (2019). He officially announced his retirement in June 2021.
Affectionately nicknamed “Bay Bay,” Thomas was born on Christmas Day, 1987, and died on Dec. 9, 2021 at the age of 33. He was known at Georgia Tech and in the NFL for his work in the community, particularly with youth initiatives.
Earlier this year, the PeyBack Foundation, the charitable organization founded and led by Thomas’ NFL teammate and Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning and his wife, Ashley Manning, established the Demaryius A. Thomas Scholarship Endowment at Georgia Tech. The endowment provides academic scholarships to attend Georgia Tech for incoming freshmen from Laurens County, Ga., where Thomas was born and raised, or surrounding areas, who demonstrate significant financial need.
In addition to Thomas, the 2022 ACC Football Honors Class includes Boston College’s Luke Kuechly, Clemson’s Terry Allen, Duke’s DeVon Edwards, Florida State’s Terrell Buckley, Louisville’s Bilal Powell, Miami’s Chuck Foreman, North Carolina’s Natrone Means, NC State’s David Amerson, Pitt’s Darrelle Revis, Syracuse’s Donovan McNabb, Virginia’s Thomas Jones, Virginia Tech’s Michael Vick and Wake Forest’s Ricky Proehl.
