Demaryius Thomas was 11 years old when his mother and grandmother were arrested and charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, so they’ve followed his entire football career from inside of a Florida federal prison. This Sunday’s Super Bowl will be no different. And although Thomas doesn’t have the conventional mother/son or grandmother/grandson relationship, they still provide him with the encouragement and motivation that only a mother and grandmother could.
H/T: ProFootballTalk
“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.”
“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.”
You never know what people have to overcome to get where they are. Having such a traumatic event happen at such a young age would derail many young men. It’s great Thomas has been able to succeed despite those circumstances and maintain a positive relationship with his mother and grandmother.
Thomas’ mother is serving a 20-year sentence and his grandmother is serving a life sentence.