Former Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas was posthumously diagnosed with Stage 2 CTE following an analysis conducted at the Boston University Brain Bank.
However, that is not what he died from.
In an exclusive interview with ABC’s Good Morning America, Demaryius Thomas’ parents, Bobby Thomas and Katina Stuckey Smith revealed that they donated his brain to research.
Thomas’ parents said he began experiencing violent seizures in 2021, which McKee believes were caused by a car crash and falling down stone stairs.
“He would shake so much, like, he couldn’t breathe,” his father said. “You could hear him say, ‘tch-tch-tch-tch,’ like the wind tryin’ to come out …They got to the point where he was having three or four back to back.”
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In December 2021, Thomas was found unresponsive in his shower.
“He was paranoid, like, all the time. But memory loss, I saw that, as well,” Bobby Thomas recalled. “Every single day, he complained about — about having a headache.”
“His mood would change, and he would also isolate himself sometimes,” his mom, Katina Stuckey Smith, added. “[Demaryius] would tell me, he was like, ‘Mom, I don’t know what’s goin’ on with my body — I gotta get myself together.’ And he said, ‘I don’t feel like myself anymore.'”
After 10 years in the NFL, primarily with the Denver Broncos, Thomas hung up his cleats and announced his retirement in July 2021.
