The Broncos are always so thrilled to be able to host our annual Denver Rescue Mission Holiday Party at the Crossing Facility. This year’s party held December 9 was no exception. It is an extremely moving experience for staff and players alike.

The following is shared from the perspective of Angie Nelson, a case manager at the Crossing.

Thank you so much to Greta, Devany, Mark Bodman, Lisette, The Crossing Management, STAR Youth Program, STAR Case Management AND EVERYONE ELSE INVOLVED for putting on such a fantastic party for our residents last night!

Last night, 182 residents of the STAR Program were given the VIP treatment at a Christmas Party held in their honor, with special guests from the Denver Broncos, including players and cheerleaders. This is my third year helping to work at this event, and it was the best one by far!

I left last night so encouraged about the work we are doing here. Children were running around, star-struck to see their favorite players in person. Residents were changing to come to the party in their best Broncos gear. Women who don’t usually change out of sweatpants and slippers while they are at The Crossing, came down with their hair fixed and their make-up done (I saw bright red lipstick and a huge grin on the mouth of one female resident who rarely ever smiles).

For some of our residents, there isn’t much to smile about this holiday season and there aren’t many people that they feel truly connected to in a positive way. But last night, residents were giggling in corners about their interactions with the players, taking pictures with each other (not just with the players), and we got to catch a glimpse of the “healthy community” that we are trying to foster for our residents here at The Crossing.

I don’t know how to word it best, but this party gave our residents an opportunity to feel special. . . to feel like there is a reason to dress up. . . to feel like they have a reason to take pride in themselves, and I am tearing up now even as I write this, remembering all of those happy faces last night, and how special I know some of them felt.

So thank you so so much, on behalf of the families and individuals we serve day-in and day-out, for the wonderful party last night.

- Angie Nelson, STAR Case Manager The Crossing

To see more photos from the event, click here.

The following reflection, shared by Peer Leader Gabe Bustos of the Commerce City Boys & Girls Club, recaps his experience at last week’s NFL Hometown Huddle in partnership with Mile High United Way:

On October 14, each of the Boys and Girls Clubs of MetroDenver took about a dozen kids that participate in What Moves U to the Hometown Huddle in the INVESCO field. There, a group of Broncos players were waiting for us to arrive. When we did arrive the Broncos Players were all very friendly. They answered all the questions we had ready for them (Their name, what position they play, and of course their height.) The people that were organizing this event gave every child a shirt with the Broncos logo and the name of their club. Everyone looked really excited to be there and was anxious to start the activities. There were loads of press everywhere, taking pictures and filming every moment.

One of the C-City kids made really good friends with the Broncos players and started showing him his dance moves. Immediately there was a challenger from the Broncos Boys and Girls Club. All eyes were on them as they battled it out, Even the press. There was one really strange thing — there was a pet turkey in the crowd. The turkey was advertising a marathon they were going to have on Thanksgiving Day.

After a couple of minutes of waiting we separated in groups, every leader was a Broncos player. We jogged/ran/walked around INVESCO Field. When we almost completed a lap we stopped for a water break and waited for our Broncos leader to arrive. For an athlete he was pretty slow, he commented that he just ate so that’s why he couldn’t run. (Right, like who’s going to believe that!)

When he finally made it to the station we had a little race. We had to run up the stairs of the INVESCO and do ten jumping jacks. After a quick rest we ran around INVESCO twice. When we finished we got to step into the field. We were inside a 70,000 spectator stadium. We had a snack and got to learn a little bit more about our Broncos leader while eating. When we left they gave every child a healthy happy meal. We stayed outside the stadium for a while to eat and then left in our Boys and Girls Club bus.

–Gabe Bustos

The following is a guest blog written by Lucia Madera, a Keystone Club member of the Denver Broncos Boys & Girls Club.  Lucia participated in the annual NFL Hometown Huddle with Mile High United Way and the Broncos on Tuesday, October 14th, a day selected to highlight fitness in partnership with the American Heart Association and NFL’s What Moves U program.  The kids enjoyed a 2-lap Fitness Walk around INVESCO Field, while receiving encouragement from Denver Broncos players Jack Williams, Carlton Powell, Wesley Woodyard, Calvin Lowry, Niko Koutouvides, Eddie Royal, Darrell Hackney, and Louis Green.

Thanks to the Broncos sponsoring the Boys & Girls Club, the Montbello community has changed drastically. Before we had a Boys & Girls Club in Montbello, most of the kids spent their free time in the streets getting in trouble or at home watching TV. When the Broncos Boys & Girls Club opened in August 2003, a world of opportunities opened for many. When I started attending the Boys & Girls Club, I began to be more physically active. I no longer stayed at home to watch TV. I began to play sports such as soccer, basketball, volleyball and even football. Staying involved in the club has kept me and many other kids and teens out of trouble. The Boys & Girls Club staff has made sure to keep us active by introducing programs like What Moves U. This is a program designed to encourage kids to be more physically active, by sponsoring fun motivating activities.

On Tuesday, October 14th, the Broncos invited all the Metro Denver Boys & Girls Clubs to Invesco Field for an afternoon of fun exercise. Some of the football players came out and encouraged us to have fun with exercise without competition. For many of the kids, just the fact that the football players were there to support us encouraged them to try hard and have fun. The presence of the players meant a lot to the kids participating. As I recall, everyone who attended in this activity, including the adults, left with a smile on their face, as well as the satisfaction of accomplishing something great. For all of this, I would like to thank the Denver Broncos, The American Heart Association, and Mile High United Way.

-Lucia Madera, Denver Broncos Boys & Girls Club

Madera is pictured with safety Calvin Lowry at the Hometown Huddle event.
Jake Grilley / DenverBroncos.com

We had the wonderful opportunity this week to formally launch the NFL What Moves U program in partnership with the Amercian Heart Association and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver.

We had ten Broncos players at various Clubs this past Tuesday to join in the kick off (Champ Bailey, Karl Paymah, Erik Pears, Chris Kuper and rookies Eddie Royal, Carlton Powell, Jack Williams, Ryan Clady, Ryan Torain, and Jack Williams) and one special young lady, Regina Robles, who will be the program peer leader from the Cope Branch, summarized her initial experience as follows:

There are several things that I liked about the Broncos coming to Cope and participating with a game called “Spiders and Flies”. I think that it was a great experience and I think that the kids had fun as well as the Broncos. This experience was fun to watch the Broncos interacting with the kids and watching them all smile and laugh together. At first almost every one didn’t know what Spiders and Flies were so I explained to them that the Spiders where in the middle. You can start off with one or more in the middle– it just depends on how many people are playing the game. As for the Flies, they’re on the wall and when someone blows a whistle, the flies try to run to the other side without getting touched by the spiders. When we played that game, the Broncos (Rookies Eddie Royal, Ryan Torain, Ryan Clady, Wesley Woodyard, Carlton Powell, Jack Williams) were all laughing and smiling with all the kids. Also the guys were sometimes the spiders and some of them were not.

In the gym Jason and I will be running a program called “What moves U”. The activities in the gym are for kids to be active so that the kids get healthy. Some of the activities are jump roping and basketball. The kids have tracking logs so that when they do an activity they can write it down. The activities will be for a week and they will be for an hour, but there is more than one activity that’s why it lasts for one week, because there’s a specific activity a week. The overall program lasts about six weeks. When we run the activities Jason and I sign off on their tracking logs. Thank you Cindy Kellogg for this opportunity that I’m looking forward to.

Regina Robles is in the right side of the photo below, wearing a white t-shirt and standing just in front of Broncos’ Ryan Torain.

Our Community Development office here at the Broncos would like to extend a special thank you to Domonique Foxworth for all of the work he did to advance the organization’s mission in the community.

As many of you know, Domonique was an integral part of opening the Darrent Williams Memorial Teen Center in Montbello.  Long before the Center opened in May of this year, Domonique had started a weekly writing class for teens of the Broncos Boys and Girls Club who proudly became the inaugural members of the new Teen Center.

He was committed to advancing literacy in our community and did so through work with College in Colorado and the summer reading program with Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver.

Furthermore, he was an excellent ambassador for some of the organization’s annual community events such as Drive For Life, our annual community blood drive with Bonfils Blood Center; NFL United Way Hometown Huddle and Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver Youth of the Year Gala.

On behalf of the metro-Denver community, thank you, Domonique and all the best to you.

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…

Hi Broncos Country!

Last week was busy around here…the first full week of training camp was well underway but we also had a lot going on in the community too!

On Tuesday, Broncos Wives: Amber Bailey, Julie Leach, Eyamide Garrett (Cecil Sapp’s fiance), Richelle Scheffler, Lana Stokley, Kallie Mustard and Kristyn Bly all gathered at the Denver Rescue Mission’s The Crossing facility to chaparone a trip for 20 youngsters residing at The Crossing to the Museum of Nature and Science and IMAX Theatre! The group departed by bus and arrived just in time to see the IMAX Film: Coral Reefs.

Following the film, the group all gathered in the museum’s cafeteria for some fun boxed lunches and a surprise visit from Miles who brought along Cold Stone ice cream for everyone! After lunch the group dispersed in small groups throughout the museum to take in all of the exhibits. What great day it was for the children of The Crossing and from the feedback of the Broncos Wives it sounded like they had just as much fun!

On Wednesday, Broncos Senior Vice President of Administration and General Counsel Rich Slivka along with Cindy Kellogg, Billy Thompson and myself made our way to Rangeview High School in Aurora to help them celebrate their new field dedication as part of our NFL Youth Football Fund grant–a program under the Broncos Community Fields Project for 2008.

The district was able to refurbish the field and put in artificial turf creating a long-lasting and high quality field for many of the youth and high school teams to enjoy!

A special thanks to all the Aurora staff we worked with throughout the granting process including Tony Antolini, Tammye Pirie, Paula Hans and Tim Stanford. We are very proud to be a part of this project and are excited for Rangeview and other Aurora teams to begin utilizing their new state-of-the-art field!

Whew! What a week…and just around the corner is Broncos Bowl! That’s right! Our celebration of youth football in the form of a state-wide scrimmage takes place this Saturday, August 9th from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. at INVESCO Field at Mile High and is FREE and open to the public! We’ll report more on that next week. Until then!

It was 1977, probably one of the most memorable years in my life. It was 30 plus years ago, but some things you never forget. The Broncos were picked to finish last in the AFC West which had been dominated by the Oakland Raiders Here we are – playing in Super Bowl XII, facing the Dallas Cowboys, in New Orleans, in the Super Dome. A day etched in my mind that I will remember forever.

Here I am, after all these years, back in the “Big Easy”. This time I come back to New Orleans as an observer and coach. We were invited to come down July 10th – 13th to participate in this year’s NFL 7-on-7 National Tournament. Thanks to the Broncos Organization for sponsoring a team consisting of 12 athletes and three coaches from Colorado. I wish I could take credit for the idea to include me, but I give that credit to Cindy Kellogg. She thought it would be a great trip and she was so right. I say “Thanks” for making it possible.

I would like to also thank Wayne Voorhees, Head football Coach from Legacy High School, and Tom Thenell, Head Football Coach from Bear Creek. These two coaches, whom I have the utmost respect for, are not only great coaches, but great people. I couldn’t have enjoyed their company more. It is no surprise to me why they are so successful.

To be eligible, players had to attend the High School Player Development Program, sponsored by the NFL. The 12 players on our team were from three different high schools. I want to name them because I think they are all special.

From Bear Creek:

Zach Thenell - QB

Cody Nolte - LB

From Legacy:

Beau Trigsted - LB

Travis Sears - WR awarded Sportsmanship Award

From Fort Lupton:

Zach Nash - LB

I think we must have had four or five practices before going to New Orleans. It was pretty tough on the kids due to the fact they all were right in the middle of their own school’s camp. So for these 12 guys it was double-duty practice. They would finish their camp, take about an hour break and practice again for the 7-on-7 team. They made it!

Thursday July 10th – We boarded United Flight 1601 at 10:12 a.m. bound for New Orleans (no one was late). I really didn’t know what to expect from the team because our guys were tired for most of the practices. We talked assignments a lot. We arrived at Louis Armstrong International Airport at 1:51 pm. When we walked to get the shuttle for our rental van I realized why I didn’t miss the South. It was very humid. After picking up our van it was a pretty tight fit with luggage and 15 riders. Coach Voorhees drove and I was the designated navigator. We were packed together. Good thing we didn’t have far to go to the hotel (Mattiott Metairie at Lakeway).

We get checked in and there is a welcome meeting at 7 p.m. All teams were present except Carolina. They had run into difficulties with their plane and had to be bused in on Friday. The Hotel was jammed with 16 teams; eight represented the AFC and eight represented the NFC.

AFC NFC

Miami Dolphins Seattle Seahawks
Houston Texans San Francisco 49ers
Denver Broncos Atlanta Falcons
New York Jets New Orleans Saints
New Enlgand Pats Carolina Panthers
Indianapolis Colts Washington Redskins
Cleveland Browns Minnesota Vikings
Baltimore Ravens NY Giants

Friday, July 11th – Breakfast started at 7:30 am and we started Round-Robin play from 8 am to 3 pm. We played our first game against the Houston Texans which we lost 17-34. What a way to get started in the tournament. It looks like we were still on
Colorado time. Our next game was at 10:15 am versus the Miami Dolphins, which we lost a little bit closer 20-28. I’m starting to worry just a little, but we showed great improvement over the first game. Our next game at 11:45 versus the Cleveland Browns, which we won in overtime 31-28. I’m starting to smile now. Our next game was at 12:30 versus the Baltimore Ravens, which we won 28-10. We are gaining confidence, as we won our next game against the New York Jets 38-21. That was the last game of the day. We finished 3 and 2 – not bad for the first day.

We went back to the hotel to get ready for a tour of the 9th Ward and a tour of the Super Dome and dinner at the Saints Training Facility. It was an action packed second day for all of us.

Saturday, July 12th – Second day of the Round Robin Tournament. We start our first game versus the New England Patriots and won 21-17, and you could see our confidence rising. Our next game was against the Colts and we won in a very close match that went into overtime 20-14. Our record for the Round Robin Tournament was (5-2).

Now its time to set the brackets for the single game elimination bracket.

AFC NFC

#1 Dolphins (6-1) #1 Seahawks (7-0)

#2 Texans (6-1) #2 49’ers (4-3)

#3 Broncos (5-2) #3 Falcons (4-3)

#4 Jets (5-2) #4 Saints (4-3)

#5 Patriots (3-4) #5 Panthers (3-4)

#6 Colts (2-5) #6 Redskins (2-5)

#7 Browns (1-6) #7 Vikings (2-5)

#8 Ravens (0-7) #8 Giants (2-5)

We won our first single game elimination against the Colts and lost in the semi finals to the Jets who went on to play Seattle in the Championship which Seattle won. Seattle was undefeated throughout the whole tournament. They were very impressive.

Let me just say how proud I am of the young men we took down to New Orleans representing Colorado and the Broncos. We didn’t win it all but we showed what team work is all about. What I was most impressed with was that our kids had the most votes for sportsmanship, voted on by other coaches. Travis Spears from Legacy won the Sportsmanship Award. This really made my trip back to New Orleans really special. I will always cherish the moments and time I spent there. It will always be a special place for me.

Good morning, Broncos Country,

Our apologies to the reader who questioned whether or not we ever post anything new on our community page.  We do.

Summer has been all about our youth football commitment.  Thus far, we have had NFL Junior Player Development programs in Aurora (kudos to Billy Richardson who coordinated our effort at Hinkley High School) and in Denver (thanks to Jeff McDonald of Denver PAL who coordinated our 2 sites in Denver at East and Lincoln High School respectively).  Next week, John Ayers will run our JPD site in Broomfield. 

JPD is our joint program with the NFL geared toward teaching the fundamentals of football to the junior high school age group.  It has been extremely well received, especially in light of the fact that fewer and fewer school districts are offering junior high school football.

Wayne Voorhees has been tremendous in running our JPD feeder system:  High School Player Development.  Wayne has run our HSPD camps for several years and now selects 12 kids from the camp each year to represent the Broncos at the NFL 7-on-7 High School tournament, which is held in New Orleans this year at the end of the week.  Our own Ring of Fame member Billy Thompson has been working with this year’s team as well and will accomany Wayne and the guys down to New Orleans as an honorary coach.

I want to take a moment and reflect back on our JPD camp in Aurora mentioned earlier in the blog.  Out of that camp came an unbelievable story of courage and perseverance.  I had the privilege to meet a young man, Greg, who competed hard throughout the week and aspires to be a middle linebacker for the AYL league this fall.  Greg is a determined and special young man and I am awed by the fact that Greg is doing all of this with just one arm after losing one in a tragic accident 2 years ago involving a pit bull.  Greg, under the guidance of JPD coordinator Billy Richardson and his wonderful mother Renee, visited our group at Dove Valley last week and met with our equipment ace, Chris Valenti.  Chris graciously agreed to trouble shoot with Greg what adjustments could be made to his uniform to achieve his dreams of competing this fall at middle linebacker and it looks very promising.  I want to thank Chris for this very special showing of humanitarianism–we need more Chris’s in the world.  I also want to tell Greg that all of us in Broncos country will be rooting him on at middle linebacker this fall . . . . . . . . . .

Before signing off, I want to make mention of our upcoming Annual Broncos Bowl on Saturday, August 9th–our summer’s culmination to a tremendous youth football journey.  We are excited to have youth teams competing this year from across the state. 

Until next time, have a great month in Broncos Country.

Hello Broncos Country,

 Our apologies for not updating our blog recently.  We do have some exciting things to share!  The month of May was highlighted by the Grand Opening of the Darrent Williams Memorial Teen Center, which as you all know, has been in the works for over a year.  The kids are absolutely in love with their new center, and it is wonderful to see it going to such good use so quickly.  A special thank you to the hard working staff we collaborate with at the Broncos Boys & Girls Club to make all these new visions reality:  Rich Barrows and Company (Guy, Meca, Dave, Amber, Karly, Julio . . .all of you are the best!!)

This past Monday was highlighted by the annual Mike Shanahan Golf Classic in partnership with the Phil Long Community Fund.  Many players hit the links with community members in the spirit of charity.  The tournament proceeds alternate between Denver and Colorado Springs (where Phil Long is headquartered) projects and this year’s proceeds will go to support a Phil Long designated project:  John Venezia Park.

Special thanks to  Kelly Woodward in our Community Development office who spearheaded the entire Shanahan Golf Classic.  Kudos!!

Have a great weekend in Broncos Country!!