Demaryius Thomas

Demaryius Antwon Thomas (born December 25, 1987) is an American football wide receiver for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Thomas led the team in receiving in all three of his seasons at Tech. He was selected by the Denver Broncos with the 22nd overall selection in the 2010 NFL Draft. Thomas is known for his physical style of play and run after catch ability. Thomas was 2nd in the NFL for catches over 20+ yards and 5th in yards after catch in 2012.

Early life
Thomas was born on December 25, 1987 to parents Bobby and Katina Thomas in Montrose, Georgia. By all accounts a shy and introverted child, Thomas grew up with his aunt and uncle after his mother was sent to prison. He was nicknamed "Bay-Bay" in reference to his father's nickname, "Boo-Boo."

Thomas attended West Laurens High School where he played basketball and football as a wide receiver. As a junior in 2004, he recorded 32 receptions for 330 yards and three touchdowns. Thomas was named an all-region and all-Heart of Georgia player. The following season, he recorded 82 receptions for 1,234 yards and ten touchdowns. After the season, he participated in the North-South All-Star game. Thomas was again selected as an all-region and all-Heart of Georgia, and the Atlanta Journal Constitution named him to its Class AA all-state first team and PrepStar to its All-Region team. Scout.com assessed him as the 22nd-ranked college prospect in the state of Georgia, and Rivals.com rated him the 34th-ranked such prospect. He received scholarship offers from Duke, Georgia, and Georgia Tech.

College career
He chose to attend the Georgia Institute of Technology where he majored in management. Thomas sat out the 2006 season as a redshirt. In 2007, he saw action in all 13 games including 10 starts, and recorded 35 receptions for 558 yards, which ranked second on the team. In the 2007 Humanitarian Bowl, he made four receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown. The Sporting News named Thomas to its freshman All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) first team and a freshman All-America honorable mention.

In 2008, Paul Johnson was hired as the head coach and implemented the run-heavy triple option offense. Thomas considered transferring but decided against it. During the season, he recorded 39 receptions for 627 yards and three touchdowns as the leading receiver. Despite being a heavily run-oriented system, as one of the team's few experienced players, Thomas recorded relatively high numbers. Still, compared with other receivers in the Atlantic Coast Conference, such as leader D. J. Boldin of Wake Forest, Thomas' statistics were much smaller. He said, "Sometimes I think about [not getting many passes], but most of the time I just want to win." Thomas' mark was the best of any wide receiver from the school since Calvin Johnson in 2006. Against Duke, he caught nine receptions for 230 yards, the second-most in a single game in school history.

In 2009, during his Junior (redshirt) year at GT, Thomas had a breakout season with 46 receptions for 1,154 yards and 8 touchdowns. This earned him 1st team All-ACC honors. He finished his career at Georgia Tech with 120 catches for 2,339 and 14 TDs.

Many draft experts had him gaining momentum with NFL scouts going into the last couple weeks leading up to the draft and most had him as the number one or two-rated wide receiver along with Dez Bryant in the 2010 NFL Draft, including Sporting News. On January 8, 2010, he declared his entrance to the 2010 NFL Draft.

Denver Broncos
Thomas was drafted by the Denver Broncos 22nd overall in the 2010 NFL Draft.

2010 season
Thomas had 8 receptions for 97 yards and scored one touchdown in his NFL debut in a September 19, 2010 game against the Seattle Seahawks. He became just the 9th player in the NFL (since 1970) to record at least 8 catches in his first game. This was also the 2nd most catches by a rookie in franchise history. The highlight of Thomas' season came when he beat all-pro cornerback Darrelle Revis for a touchdown when the Broncos hosted the New York Jets on 17 October 2010.

However Thomas was plagued by injuries during his rookie season. He first missed playing time due to a forearm injury and a concussion. An ankle injury also rendered him inactive for five more games late in the season.

Thomas ended his first season having played in 10 games, with 22 receptions for 283 yards and 2 touchdowns.

2011 season
Thomas' first NFL offseason was an unsuccessful one. On February 10, 2011 Thomas tore his achilles tendon while working out and was expected to miss a majority, if not the entirety, of the 2011 season. However, Thomas was surprisingly activated from the Physically Unable to Perform List on September 3, 2011 prior to the start of the season as Broncos GM Brian Xanders said Thomas had responded to rehab well and was "ready to go."

Unfortunately Thomas broke his left pinkie finger during his very first practice back. This would cause him to miss the first 5 games of the season.

Thomas made his season debut on October 23 2011 against the Miami Dolphins. He and quarterback Tim Tebow linked up for the Broncos' first score of the game and Denver went on to win the match in overtime. Despite this early promise, Thomas only had 4 receptions in the next 5 games as the Broncos moved towards a run-heavy option offense.

Thomas broke out in a match against the Minnesota Vikings on December 4, 2011, recording 144 yards and 2 touchdowns on just 4 receptions. He would end the season strongly, emerging as Tebow's favourite receiver and setting a franchise record by leading the Broncos in both receiving and targets over the final 7 games.

But it was during the first round of the playoffs that Thomas truly made his presence felt. On January 8, 2012 Thomas caught the game-winning, 80-yard touchdown pass from Tebow on the opening play of overtime to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Wild Card game, 29-23. This was the first non-sudden death playoff game in NFL history but Denver's score ended the game because the rules only allowed the other team a possession if the coin-toss winner proceeded to kick a field goal (or, of course, score zero points).

The entire play took 11 seconds, and is the fastest ending to an overtime in NFL history to date. It is also the longest playoff overtime touchdown in NFL history.

Thomas ended the game with 4 passes for 204 yards and 1 touchdown in his playoff debut. It marked the most receiving yards by a Bronco in playoff history and the 2nd-highest receiving average (51.0) in a single game in NFL annals.

Thomas caught 6 balls for 93 yards the following week against the New England Patriots. He ended the 2011 season with 32 receptions, 551 yards and 4 touchdowns (excluding playoffs).

2012 season
Thomas was coming off yet another surgery to remove pins in his left pinkie when quarterback Peyton Manning signed with the Broncos during the 2012 offseason. This meant that, unlike fellow receiver Eric Decker, he was unable to participate in workouts with Manning. However, Thomas made an effort to improve his route-running and quickly caught up. Manning noted during training camp that Thomas' "size and strength and speed just allow you to do certain things with him that other players just can't do."

Despite reports describing the connection between Thomas and Manning as "balky", Thomas found success again in the Broncos' very first game of the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Down 13 to 7, Thomas in a move reminiscent of his game-winning touchdown in the playoffs, burned the Steelers with a 71 yard catch-and-run. The touchdown was notable because it was the first touchdown Manning had thrown in the NFL for a team other than the Indianapolis Colts. The touchdown was also the 400th of Manning's career, making him the 3rd player in NFL history to reach that milestone.

Thomas set regular-season career highs in both catches (9) and yards (180) at New England on 7 October 2012. He went on to tie career high in catches in games against the Carolina Panthers and the Cleveland Browns.

Thomas would go on to have an absolute breakout year in 2012, recording 94 receptions for 1,434 yards and 10 touchdowns. He led the team in targets, receptions and yards. He ranked 8th in the league with 94 catches, 4th in yards and 7th in touchdowns.

Thomas was also selected to his first pro bowl in the 2012 season after Wes Welker withdrew due to injury.

Legal matters
In 2010, a woman contacted Denver police suspecting she was drugged and raped after a night out with Thomas and Bronco's teammate Perrish Cox. A DNA test later proved she was pregnant with Cox's child. Thomas was a prosecution witness and testified that Cox proposed that he (Thomas) have sex with the girl, claiming, "she's ready." However, Thomas decided it would be a bad idea because the woman was drunk, and did not pursue it.

Although Cox was eventually acquitted, the woman filed a civil suit against both Thomas and Cox, suing them, inter alia, for battery, conspiracy and negligence. The claims against Thomas have since been dismissed.