Broncos receiver Demaryius Thomas won’t be able to bring his family with him to the Super Bowl. Thomas’s mother is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence and his grandmother is serving a life sentence, both for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
But while they can’t be there to cheer him on, Thomas says his mother and grandmother will be able to watch the Super Bowl, and will support him from afar. Thomas’s mom and grandma are both in the federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida, so he doesn’t get to see them often during the football season, but he said he talked to them recently.
“My momma, she just told me, ‘I told you you would make it.’ We haven’t really talked about it much but I talked to my grandma and she said the same thing,” Thomas said today. “She got emotional and all, but they just said, ‘You were going to make it.’ They get to watch every game that comes on TV there and they’ve got the t-shirts. All of the ladies have the t-shirts and watch me, so that’s special.”
Thomas was only 11 on the day when police broke down the door of the family home to arrest his mom and grandma, so he has missed a lot with them, but he says they still inspire him.
“They drive me more to know that they’re there and they’re watching me,” Thomas said. “I try to go out there and play my best because they’re going to talk about it to the people in the jailhouse.”