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Georgia Tech Athletics and the PeyBack Foundation, the charitable organization founded by Peyton Manning and his wife, Ashley, announced the Demaryius A. Thomas scholarship endowment Wednesday. The scholarship is named after Manning’s former Broncos teammate and former Georgia Tech wideout Demaryius Thomas, who died of a seizure in December at 33 years old.
“Demaryius Thomas was an incredibly talented and unselfish teammate, but more importantly, he was a special person and friend,” Manning said in the 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,” he continued. “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.”
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The scholarship is specifically for incoming freshman from Laurens County, Ga., where Thomas was born and raised, or surrounding areas who demonstrate significant financial need, per the release. Scholarship awards will range from full to partial scholarships and will follow students through the completion of their degrees at Georgia Tech.
Students must have a 3.2 GPA or higher in high school and should have demonstrated community service involvement to qualify. The program will also honor the former wideout each year on Aug. 8, hereby known as Demaryius Thomas Day. The date was chosen to reference Thomas’s No. 8 jersey while with the Yellow Jackets and the No. 88 jersey he wore through most of his NFL career.
Finally, the Georgia Tech football team will honor Thomas throughout the 2022 season with a No. 8 helmet decal and a No. 8 memorial painted on the field for home games at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
