For Broncos receiver Demaryius Thomas, Sunday's game against the Pittsburg Steelers will be a special one -- his mother, Katina Smith, will see him play football for the first time.
Thomas's sister, Tyeshia Smith, told our partners at The Denver Post that her mother will travel to Denver on Saturday and stay through the weekend to attend the Broncos' divisional playoff game.
"She said she's ready. She's excited," said Tyeshia Smith, a sophomore basketball player at Darton State in Albany, Georgia.
Katina Smith was released from federal prison last summer when President Barack Obama commuted her sentence on drug trafficking charges. It was part of the president's push to reduce the prison population of non-violent offenders.
Smith went to a halfway house in Georgia and was restricted from traveling until now.
Thomas said earlier this week the reunion "would mean a lot. This would be her first game. I'll be excited. She'll be excited."
Smith and her mother were arrested when Thomas was 11 years old. Her mother, Minnie Pearl, remains in prison.