Katina Smith, the mother of late-great Demaryius Thomas, held it together ahead of the unveiling of her son’s Ring of Fame pillar on Sunday. As she helped remove the curtain to display the pillar, the emotions finally hit her.

Her son’s face was once again right in front of her, and she did what any mother would do.

She reached up and touched it.

“It’s like, I’m wanting to touch his face again because the last time I did it, unfortunately, he was leaving us,” an emotional Smith said. “But this right here is like he’s still here with us today, and in our hearts. He lives on through all of us and through our community and fans.”

Surrounded by many of Thomas’ former teammates and hundreds of Broncos fans, DT’s mom, dad, and former Broncos coach Gary Kubiak unveiled the pillar. There was no mistaking who this statue was of because it contained the one thing fans, coaches, and teammates will remember DT by.

His signature smile.

“I just wanted that smile. That’s what he was so famous for, that smile,” Thomas’ dad, Bobby Thomas, said. “It will never go away. I was so happy to see that smile, I really was.”

“That smile has taken me through some very hard times,” his mom said.

“A smile uplifts everything, and Demaryius smiled through everything,” former Broncos linebacker Demarcus Ware said. “He was always a very, very positive person. No matter where he went … he brings that peace with his smile.” 

“He had the best smile, so they did right,” Emmanuel Sanders, who was Thomas’ teammate, said.

Kubiak, who coached Thomas for two of Demaryius’ nine seasons in Denver, had thought long and hard about how he’d answer when asked what his favorite memory of the former Broncos receiver was. There was no shortage of memories for him to choose from.

Thomas was a five-time Pro Bowler, a two-time All-Pro, Super Bowl 50 champion, and sits second all-time in Broncos history in receiving yards and touchdowns.

Even with an abundance of highlights to choose from, Kubiak came back to one trait that made Thomas such a great teammate.

His unselfishness.

“On the day that he was on a world championship football team, he had one catch for 6 yards,” Kubiak said. “You would have thought DT had 15 catches for 200 yards in that game. He was a great teammate, a great person, and he was a selfless guy when it came to football and his job. Just a tremendous young man.”

Sanders, who played opposite Thomas on the 2015 Super Bowl team, could attest to the receiver’s selflessness.

“I wouldn’t have any catches and a few times, DT would have about four or five catches and they still wanted to get him the ball,” Sanders said. “DT would go to the offensive coordinator and say, ‘let’s get E involved a little bit’ … that’s what type of teammate he was.”

Thomas now lives on forever at Empower Field at Mile High. His pillar (fittingly) stands right next to that of Peyton Manning, and at halftime, his name went up right next to his old quarterback in the Ring of Fame. Broncos fans will never forget Demaryius Thomas.

And that’s all he ever wanted.

“That is the top of the cake,” Smith said. “Because he always wanted to know, ‘Did he make a difference in the community, and did his fans love him, or did he do something rewarding for this?’ So this right here is a testament that he did.”