On this past Wednesday a good friend of mine and fellow Broncos alum Larry Brunson and I had the opportunity to play a round of golf with a couple of fans who had won the chance to “Golf with a Ring of Famer” through a contest at King Soopers. We played out at the Omni Interlocken Resort, which is where Coach Shanahan hosts his tournament and John Elway has done his tournament in the past. They’re also the Official Resort of the Denver Broncos. Our guests for the day were Galen Hemme and his son Joel. I’m attaching a picture of the four of us on the course. They actually won this contest last season but asked that we wait until this summer to schedule the outing.
The King Soopers is Broncos Country promotion is about to start up again for 2008 and Golf with a Ring of Famer will be a prize again so this time you could be the one to win. All you need to do is use your SooperCard when you shop there and buy items marked with Official Items of Broncos Country tags starting next month. It’s going to be items like Coca-Cola, Kraft, Oroweat, Snickers and dairy that are sponsors of the Broncos. Kraft is actually the company that makes possible the Golf with a Ring of Famer prize but you can win by buying any Broncos tagged items. There’s a different prize each week and some pretty cool and unique opportunities beyond just golf, like the chance to have your picture on the back cover of the Broncos game program. Or maybe next summer you and a guest will be my guests for a round of golf…

It all started with a letter I received on June 8th 2006. The letter read: My name is Brenda Eyman. I live in Chama New Mexico.  My dad is (Billy Eyman) he is a die hard Broncos fan and recently they discovered that he had liver cancer. In November 2005 my dad fell off a roof during a regular work day and that was when he started feeling ill.  After numerous doctors visits he was diagnosed with liver cancer in March of this year. On April 26th, 2006 the doctor in Albuquerque, New Mexico told us that the cancer had taken over ¾ of his liver and that my dad didn’t have long to live and there wasn’t anything more they could do and sent him home. We have taken him to Denver, Colorado for a second opinion at University of Colorado Hospital/Cancer Center and so far everything sounds better than here in New Mexico.

I was wondering if there would be any way that some of the Broncos team members or Alumni might be interested in meeting my dad while he is in Denver. He is receiving treatment through University of Colorado Hospital /Cancer Center on 9th street in Cherry Creek. He has gone to almost every home game for several years. He decorates his house with all the Broncos items for every game we watch at home. This would be greatly appreciated if there was something you could do. Meeting some of the players would make his dream come true…Family has always come first to our dad. Every year when the new schedule comes out he asks who wants to go see a game this year. Being there are four daughters, he tries to get us to go at different times. He has had a hard year and we just want the best for him. If we don’t get very much time with him we would like the time that we do have with him to be the best memories ever.

After reading Brenda’s letter I was sort of spellbound wanting to meet her dad. I could feel the love she had for her dad and was reaching out to do anything to make him happy. We get tons of letters requesting various things but this one just stayed with me. I had to call Brenda back and talk to her.

Sherman County is located in northwest Kansas and is at the crossroads of Interstate 70 and U.S. Highway 27. Bordering Colorado on the west approximately 32 miles from Nebraska on the north and bordering the Central time zone on the east. Sherman County comprises of 1,055 square miles. The population of Goodland according to the 2000 Census is 4,984 and Sherman County 6,780. A dry climate, Sherman County averages 19.76” of moisture per year with 32.7” of snow fall. Average temperatures range from high of 39 degrees to a low of 15.8 degrees in January to a high of 89.9 degrees to a low of 61.1 degrees in July.

So I guess you may ask why have the Denver Broncos Alumni and the Kansas City Chiefs Alumni met in Goodland for three days in June for the past five years? We call it the Border War…Since the 1960s the Chiefs and the Broncos have been competing on the field but for this event we come together to support Rural Health Care. “The Slice of Life” Benefit Auction and golf tournament.