Demaryius Thomas will join some illustrious names after being elected to the Denver Broncos’ Ring of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

The Super Bowl 50 champion and five-time Pro Bowler will become the 38th member of the team’s honoured group, and the 13th to do so as a first-ballot selection, but will do posthumously following his untimely passing in 2021. The induction ceremony is scheduled for half-time of the Broncos’ Week 7 game against the New York Giants, when the club will also celebrate the tenth anniversary of that SB50 victory over the Carolina Panthers.

In his nine seasons in the Mile High City, Thomas put up a shade over 9,000 receiving yards on 665 receptions and scored 60 touchdowns. He still holds the Broncos’ single-season and single-game receiving records, at 1,619 and 226 yards respectively, and his five career 1,000-yard seasons are second in franchise history behind only another Ring of Famer, Rod Smith. Those five prolific campaigns came consecutively between 2012-16 and made Thomas — the 22nd selection in the 2010 NFL Draft — only the third player in NFL history to achieve the feat, highlighted by his averaging 100+ receptions, 1,400 yards and 10 touchdowns between 2012-15. As a result, the former Georgia Tech wideout, who briefly overlapped with another great WR, Calvin Johnson, as a Yellowjacket, earned five back-to-back Pro Bowl selections, putting him alongside fellow Bronco greats Shannon Sharpe, Steve Atwater and Von Miller.

As well as helping Peyton Manning re-establish the NFL’s career touchdown mark by catching the QB’s 509th scoring pass, Thomas was also on the receiving end of one of the most iconic postseason moments in league history, as he corralled Tim Tebow’s overtime heave to claim a walk-off 80-yard touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2011. The 204 yards he recorded in that Wild Card matchup remain the most accrued in a single game in franchise history. His 13 receptions in Super Bowl XLVIII set a new Super Bowl record as he recorded the Broncos’ only score in a disappointing team performance against Seattle — all while reputedly playing with a separated shoulder!

“Demaryius Thomas’ election to the Denver Broncos Ring of Fame — in his first year of eligibility — is a testament to the indelible mark he left on our organization and community,” team owners Greg Penner and Carrie Walton Penner, who weren’t at the helm for the receiver’s expansive career, said in a statement. “One of the most beloved players and greatest wide receivers in franchise history, Demaryius inspired our fans with breathtaking athleticism, record-setting performances and a joyful, infectious spirit. While we wish ‘DT’ was with us to celebrate this special moment, we look forward to honouring Demaryius alongside his Super Bowl 50 team-mates during an unforgettable Alumni Weekend.”

Thomas’ Broncos career ended in 2018 when he was traded to the Houston Texans, and he bowed out of the NFL altogether after brief stops with the New England Patriots and New York Jets in 2019. His death, at age 33 and just two years after retiring, was attributed to a seizure, possibly brought on by injuries Thomas suffered both on the field and in a 2019 car accident. A posthumous examination at Boston University tested positive for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).