Demaryius Thomas, a four-time All-Professional receiver with the Denver Broncos, died of problems from seizures, the health worker in Fulton County, Ga., mentioned Sunday.
Thomas died Dec. 9 at his residence in Roswell, Ga., lower than six months after he retired from the N.F.L. He was 33.
In July, medical doctors at Boston College who examined Thomas’s mind discovered that he had C.T.E., or continual traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative mind illness related to repeated head hits. The illness, which may solely be posthumously identified, doesn’t trigger dying. Medical doctors mentioned they believed Thomas’s seizures have been introduced on by a 2019 automotive crash through which his head cracked the windshield and a hydraulic rescue instrument was wanted to take away him from the car.
Dr. Ann McKee, the neuropathologist who examined Thomas’s mind, mentioned it will have been extremely unlikely for C.T.E. to trigger his seizures, and Thomas probably died of suffocation after a seizure.
Whereas the reason for Thomas’s dying was formally decided, Bertram Ennett, an investigator within the Fulton County health worker’s workplace, mentioned the way through which he died was nonetheless undetermined.
Thomas’s driver discovered him mendacity within the bathe in his residence, based on Bobby Thomas, Demaryius’s father.
Bobby Thomas and different members of the family and mates mentioned Demaryius Thomas’s seizures had change into extra quite a few and pronounced within the last yr of his life. They attacked with little or no warning and led Thomas to wreck different vehicles and fall down steps.
On the identical time, he suffered from a few of the circumstances related to C.T.E., together with reminiscence loss, paranoia and isolation. His habits turned more and more erratic, these closest to him mentioned, and he went lengthy stretches with out leaving his residence or responding to calls and textual content messages.
Thomas handled complications throughout his N.F.L. profession, which started in 2010 when he was drafted within the first spherical out of Georgia Tech. In Tremendous Bowl 50, which concluded the 2015 season, Thomas was leveled by Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly in the course of the sport and had a headache so dangerous that he missed a lot of the events after the Broncos’ victory.
In 2019, Thomas had been driving 70 miles per hour in a 30 m.p.h. zone in Denver when he misplaced management and flipped his automotive a number of instances.
Thomas returned to play the 2019 season, his last one, with the Jets, showing in 11 video games. He continued figuring out in 2020, however stopped coaching halfway by means of the yr as a result of the frequency of his seizures elevated. He sat out that season and formally retired in June 2021.
Thomas performed 10 seasons within the N.F.L., with the Broncos, the Houston Texans and the Jets, catching 724 passes for 9,763 yards and 63 touchdowns.
In a video asserting his retirement, Thomas mentioned he was nonetheless deciding what to do subsequent and seemed to construct relationships with anybody who may assist.
“It ain’t straightforward leaving soccer,” he mentioned. “As a result of that’s my essential factor, simply looking for self and put out love.”
