Demaryius Thomas's Family Believes He Died of a Seizure
Demaryius Thomas, a former All-Pro wide receiver for the Broncos, died Thursday. According to an Associated Press report by Paul Newberry, Thomas's family believes he suffered a seizure while showering, leading to his death.
Thomas last played in the NFL in 2019 and officially announced his retirement in June '21. He spent most of his career with Denver, earning a pair of All-Pro selections and four trips to the Pro Bowl.
In a Friday statement, Roswell, Ga., police said that "preliminary information is that his death stems from a medical issue, and our investigators currently have no reason to believe otherwise."
Thomas's cousin LaTonya Bonseigneur, with whom he was extremely close, shed light on recent health issues that he had been facing at the time of his death Thursday.
“He had been suffering from seizures for over a year, and we believe he had a seizure when he was showering,” Bonseigneur said Friday, per AP. “We’re not sure when he died. We just spoke with him yesterday.”
Bonseigneur said that a friend called Thomas's driver to check in on him when he "couldn't get a hold of him." The driver, who had access to Thomas's home because of concerns over the seizures, found him in the shower.
An official cause of death for Thomas, who was set to turn 34 on Christmas, has not yet been released.
As the news of Thomas's tragic death has come out, so has an outpouring of tributes to the late Broncos star. Former teammates Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Tim Tebow and Calvin Johnson are among those who've praised Thomas both on and off the football field.
“D.T. was a better person than he was a player, and he was a Hall of Fame player. That tells you how good of a person he was," Manning said in a statement, per Broncos chief communications officer Patrick Smyth.
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