Hall of Fame and former Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning, along with his wife Ashley, announced the creation of the Demaryius A. Thomas Scholarship Endowment on Wednesday. The scholarship will work hand-in-hand with Thomas’ alma mater of Georgia Tech.
“The Demaryius A. Thomas Scholarship Endowment will endow academic scholarships to attend Georgia Tech for incoming freshmen students from Laurens County, Ga., where Thomas was born and raised, or surrounding areas who demonstrate significant financial need,” the press release from Georgia Tech stated.
Demaryius Thomas, a Super Bowl champion and teammate of Manning’s in Denver, tragically passed away last December at the age of 33.
“Demaryius Thomas was an incredibly talented and unselfish teammate, but more importantly, he was a special person and friend,” Peyton Manning said via the press release. “My family and I miss him dearly, and we wanted to honor D.T.’s memory by partnering the PeyBack Foundation with Georgia Tech to establish the Demaryius A. Thomas Scholarship Endowment. An important part of Demaryius’ legacy was the way he inspired the next generation to pursue their dreams with the same perseverance and determination that defined him. Through this scholarship to Georgia Tech, Demaryius will have a lasting impact on deserving youth from his hometown area who can follow in his footsteps and accomplish great things in life.”
Thomas was known as a generous, charitable man in his community, but a menace to opposing defenses on the field. In reality, Thomas exemplified so much of what a stand-up professional athlete looks like in today’s world. Thomas was active and intentional in his Denver community and received nothing but praise from his teammates and coaches throughout his playing career. After his passing, countless players stepped forward to speak about how kind and giving of a person the Broncos’ receiver was.
On the field, though, Thomas was a dangerous receiver that demanded the respect of his opponents. While teamed up with Peyton Manning in Denver, the duo helped build the Broncos’ offense into the most feared in the NFL. Thomas could run any route on the tree whether he was taking the top off of the defense or slicing and dicing towards the endzone after taking a screen behind the line. Thomas and Manning led Denver to two Super Bowl appearances, with a victory in Super Bowl 50.
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Alongside the scholarship from Manning’s PeyBack Foundation, Georgia Tech will also be honoring Thomas’ memory with a day specifically for him. And in a cool twist, it lines up right on track with the football season.
“In honor of the establishment of the Thomas Scholarship, Georgia Tech athletics announced that August 8 (8/8) of each year will be recognized by Tech as Demaryius Thomas Day, beginning this summer,” the press release from Georgia Tech stated. “Chosen in memory of the jersey No. 8 that Thomas wore at Georgia Tech and No. 88 that he wore for the majority of his National Football League career, including his eight-and-a-half seasons with the Broncos, 8/8 will be the date each season that Tech football will recognize the student-athlete(s) that are chosen to wear jersey No. 8. Other 8/8 festivities will include Georgia Tech athletics recognizing the Thomas Scholarship recipient and partnering with a local youth-oriented organization for a community service event, as well as a friend, teammate and/or family member being invited to speak to the Yellow Jackets’ football student-athletes.”
In 1998, Manning created the Peyton Manning Scholarship at the University of Tennessee. Manning’s scholarship at his alma mater is given out annually to students participating in Tennessee’s honors program, helping cover the cost of tuition, room, and board.
“It’s hard to believe we have 45 Manning Scholarship recipients,” Manning said via the PeyBack Foundation’s website. “Ashley and I have been really fortunate and made a gift to UT six years ago to up the scholarships to four a year. We’re proud of all our recipients, they’re all Haslam Scholars and all great Tennessee Volunteers. We hope to continue it forever.”
