Demaryius Thomas Breaks Super Bowl Record for Most Receptions

Demaryius Thomas refused to go quietly into the night. Despite the Denver Broncos crumbling around him against the Seattle Seahawks, the star receiver broke a Super Bowl record, picking up his 12th reception at the end of the third quarter, per Jeff Darlington of NFL.com:

Up to that point, Bleacher Report's Matt Miller astutely pointed out that Thomas had more catches than the Broncos had points:

That's never a good sign for a team.

Thomas finished the game with 13 receptions for 118 yards and a touchdown.

The previous record (11) was held by four players. The San Francisco 49ers' Jerry Rice, New England Patriots' Deion Branch and Wes Welker and Cincinnati Bengals' Dan Ross were the holders, per ESPN Stats & Info:

The biggest shame, of course, is that almost nobody will remember Thomas' individual performance.

It's one thing to break a record in a losing effort. In a close game, a star will be given credit for helping his team hang around and almost snag a victory.

It's another thing entirely to break a record in a game where your team was completely outclassed on both sides of the ball. Everybody's going to talk about how good your opponent was, as was the case on Sunday night for Thomas and the Broncos.

In fact, John Boyle of the Everett Herald later shared this detail regarding Manning:

Denver could get nothing going against the Seattle defense, with Thomas the lone bright spot. He did play very well against what was a great secondary.

And yet, what was one of the best showings for a wide receiver in Super Bowl history will merely be a footnote. Still, for a player as talented as Thomas and a team that will likely remain a contender, there's always next year.