Following his high school graduation in the spring of 2020, Jayden Tolson received a gift from Demaryius Thomas.

It was a signed photo of Thomas, with a personal note to Tolson.

“Jayden, you’re awesome,” Thomas wrote. “Keep reaching for your goals. You’re going to achieve everything in life that you want.”

Thomas and Tolson forged a close bond over the years when the former Broncos receiver met a 15-year-old Tolson at the Denver Broncos Boys & Girls Club in 2016. That relationship had never wavered over the past five years, as the two often spoke and kept up with each other’s personal lives.

That was until Thomas’ sudden and tragic death at age 33 on Dec. 9.

“He was devastated,” said Tolson’s mom, Shaunte Timmons. “Demaryius was such a big impact on my son. He didn’t have to do a lot, but what he did do was enough to help keep him uplifted, help him keep feeling strong. My son used to always say, ‘Demaryius Thomas is my superhero.’ And not because he was a football player – he was his superhero because he was there for him.”

Tolson, now 20, is one of many people to have experienced Thomas’ loving personality.

During Thomas’ nine and a half seasons with the Broncos (2010-18), he was one of the most community-involved players on the roster, becoming known for his giving attitude. And while he was widely known for his skills on the football field – making five Pro Bowls in his 11 NFL seasons – he also positively impacted hundreds of kids, spending a good amount of his time off the field at the Boys & Girls Club, where he played basketball with the kids and dressed up as Santa Claus during the holidays.

“I learned pretty quickly that D.T. was kind of in a league of his own,” said Liz Jeralds, who is the Broncos’ senior manager of community development and has been with the organization since 2013. “He never did things for publicity. He really liked to be under the radar in the work that he was doing. I think the vast majority of things I helped him with, he never had cameras there. It was just him really wanting to engage with the kids.”

Even after being traded to the Texans midway through the 2018 season, Thomas would often call Jeralds asking, “How are my kids?”

“He always would refer to them as ‘his kids’ because he loved them with all of his heart. He was in it for the kids,” Jeralds said. “One of his magic powers was that it was never just a one-time thing for him. If he met you and he had a connection with you that was going to be for life and he was going to make sure you always felt that love from him. D.T. just had the ability to make everyone, no matter who they were, what they were going through, what their connection was to him or the team, just feel so important and loved. His smile would light up a room and his hug would just completely make you feel like you could do anything.

“I think everyone will remember those lives that he impacted, whether it’s Jayden or kids that he met at the children’s hospital – anyone that he met that was a part of Broncos Country he just wanted you to feel the love and feel the positivity and know that you were important.”

Few had a closer relationship with Thomas than Tolson. While Thomas was Tolson’s favorite player growing up, it was their similar stories that brought them together.

Thomas’ life journey has been well-documented, having a turbulent childhood with his mother being sentenced to 20 years in prison when he was a child and subsequently being raised by his aunt and uncle. His mom was eventually pardoned by President Barack Obama on July 13, 2015, after spending 15 years in prison.

Similarly, Tolson has grown up without his father, who has been incarcerated all of Tolson’s life. This was hard on Tolson, who struggled in school at an early age. He spent a lot of his childhood at the Boys & Girls Club, where he was promised if he got his grades Thomas would visit him at the club.

Having heard Tolson’s story, Thomas made that meeting happen in December 2016.

“As a mom, it was the most awesome thing in the world to know that someone like Demaryius Thomas was taking time out for my child to be that rock,” Timmons said. “He wanted to be there for kids like my son because when he was younger he went through a lot as well. We all know his history. We know his upbringing. And to have someone who supports you in that way is the best way for you to become successful. And that was D.T.’s thing – him motivating others just because he knew they could be great and he wanted them to be great.

“That’s all he wanted for my son. He knew my son’s potential. He knew my son could be great. He also knew my son was missing that middle tier in his life, that father figure in his life.”

Tolson, like many who knew Thomas, has struggled over the past week, coming to grips that his close friend has passed away. But Tolson also knows the best way to remember Thomas is to continue his work in the community.

Today, Tolson works at North Middle School in Aurora while also volunteering at the Boys & Girls Club.

“D.T. was such a huge role model for him and had such an impact on his life that now it’s on Jayden and it’s on us to keep that legacy alive in how we celebrate his life and pay it forward,” Jeralds said. “The fact that Jayden’s doing that in the Denver Broncos Boys & Girls Club, where he can walk around and see D.T.’s face on the walls and just know that he’s always going to be there with him, has been really special. And I think it’s going to help heal Jayden and really help heal all of us.”

The outpouring since Thomas’ death has been overwhelming, as many have shared stories similar to Tolson’s about the impact Thomas had on their lives. Many have also donated money to the Boys & Girls Club in Thomas’ honor, including safety Justin Simmons who played with Thomas in Denver and is a frequent visitor at the club.

“To have a young man at 33 pass away who related so well with our kids, that was a tough call to receive last Friday morning,” said Rich Barrows, the club’s director. “I just found it really surprising because he’s not the face of the franchise and he hasn’t been the face of the franchise for a few years. But you could just tell, whether it was interactions with the kids here, his teammates, or coaches, he was just well-loved and well-liked.”

So, when remembering Thomas’ legacy, those who knew Thomas hope most don’t forget that football was just one small part of who he was and what he did. It’s all the things that happened off the field that one should remember him for every day moving forward.

Because for kids like Tolson, and many others, Thomas was always more than a football player.

“His impact on this world – I don’t even know how to explain it,” Tolson said. “He was like a father figure to kids who didn’t have a father. He made sure that if he needed someone to talk to, you can talk to him. He’s not going to judge you about a situation that you were going through. And he really just cared about the Broncos’ community. He wanted to make sure Broncos community felt home to him.”

“He’s my superhero. Forever and always.”