Demaryius Thomas’ cause of death revealed in autopsy

Former NFL broad receiver Demaryius Thomas died from “problems of seizure dysfunction,” based on an post-mortem launched Friday.

Thomas’ demise in December 2021 at age 33 surprised NFL followers who watched the longtime Denver Broncos receiver for 10 years within the league. Thomas was 16 days shy of his thirty fourth birthday.

A cousin suspected that Thomas died from a seizure within the bathe at his house in Roswell, Ga. The household mentioned Thomas started struggling seizures after a violent 2019 automotive crash.

“It’s unknown whether or not Mr. Thomas’ seizure dysfunction is a results of pure causes or a sequela of head impacts incurred throughout his profession as knowledgeable soccer participant and the reviewed medical data don’t embrace an etiology for Mr. Thomas’ seizures,” the Fulton County, Ga., coroner wrote within the post-mortem, based on the Denver Put up.

Final month, Thomas’ household revealed that he had stage 2 CTE when he died. The power mind illness, which might result in melancholy and dementia, has been discovered in additional than 300 former NFL gamers. The illness can solely be recognized posthumously.

“As soon as I turned conscious of CTE and started to familiarize myself with the signs, I observed that Demaryius was isolating himself and I noticed different modifications in him,” mentioned Katina Smith, Thomas’ mom.

Whereas CTE is related to temper swings and different mind points, “CTE itself doesn’t trigger demise. You don’t die from CTE. What CTE does is it modifications your conduct and your persona,” mentioned Dr. Ann McKee, chief of Boston College’s innovative analysis middle on the illness. McKee mentioned it was unlikely the seizures have been attributable to CTE.

Along with his eight years with the Broncos, Thomas performed for the Houston Texans and New York Jets. He had formally retired from soccer simply months earlier than his demise.