Broncos Wide Receiver Demaryius Thomas (espn.go.com)
Demaryius Thomas, wide receiver for the Denver Broncos, remembers the day that his mom was taken away.
When Demaryius was 11, his mother was arrested on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine. Police kicked down the front door of their Georgia home one morning and handcuffed his mom. She got to walk him and his sisters to the school bus one last time before she was taken to a minimum security prison, where she is still serving time today.
Demaryius was left angry and hurt, and he didn’t know what to do with his emotions. “I feel like she could have been around for us to help us grow up,” he says.
With his father away on military duty quite often, Demaryius went to live with his aunt and his uncle, who was a Baptist minister.
“That’s when I feel like my life changed,” Demaryius says.
His uncle involved him in the church; Demaryius served as an usher and attended Bible studies.
“Once I moved in with him, I told him I wanted to do something to stay off the streets and stay out of trouble, so I tried football,” Demaryius remembers. “And it worked out for me.”
Demaryius found an outlet for his emotions through athletics and knew he wanted to go pro.
His uncle says, “I truly believe his Christian upbringing and sports, playing basketball and football, contributed to him releasing a lot of the anger and anxiety that he had in him. He left it on the basketball court, on the football field so it didn’t get bottled up in him.”
Now, at age 26, Demaryius has set a number of NFL records. Even though the Broncos lost to the Seahawks in the Super Bowl last night, Demaryius still managed to set a new record with 12 receptions during the Big Game.
Although his mother couldn’t be there in person to see him play, she cheered him on from inside the prison – watching on TV and donning a masking-tape “88” on her shirt.
In 2006, Demaryius’ mother apologized to him for the decisions she made that affected him negatively. Since then, their relationship has been renewed through a sincere sense of forgiveness, and Demaryius continues to thank God each morning for another day on this amazing journey, freed from his anger and bitterness.
Demaryius calls his mom before and after each game, and is excited for her release from prison, expected in 2016.
