It’s been a Von time coming.
“I love him dearly. I think the world of him,” Broncos left tackle Garett Bolles said with a grin Sunday after Denver’s playoff-clinching curb-stomping of the Kansas City Chiefs when asked about a reunion with Bills pass-rusher and Broncos legend Von Miller next Sunday.
“I bet he was just as hyped as we were winning this game because he’s a Bronco for life.”
Huge win. Small world. Who says the NFL scriptwriters don’t have a sense of humor? The Broncos (10-7) are heading to the postseason for the first time since Super Bowl 50. The Vonster was the MVP of that game back in February 2016 — a tilt that, in hindsight, marked the end of an era in Broncos Country.
With Bolles blocking his blind side, rookie quarterback Bo Nix just put his stamp on a new one. Nine long, hard, painful years later.
“I think it’s just made me who I am today, made this organization (what) it is today,” Bolles, who was drafted in 2017, said of the journey to his first-ever playoff appearance this Sunday in Buffalo, where the seventh-seeded Broncos will visit Miller and his 13-4 Bills.
“Sometimes, when you’re in these types of moments, you look back and wonder how you got here. And it’s just by (way of) all these amazing people in this organization, from (general manager) George (Paton) to Coach (Sean) Payton … but to be in this moment, to take this franchise back to where it belongs, in the playoffs, and be one of the longest-tenured Broncos — it’s the sweetest moment that I can think of. And I’m just extremely grateful.”
At 32, Bolles is the longest-tenured player in the Denver locker room and the one for whom orange and blue hearts felt the most empathic joy. No. 72’s played for five head coaches, if you count grown-up interim Jerry Rosburg, since the summer of 2017. Over that span, he’s blocked for 14 starting QBs, Denver’s blind-side bridge from Trevor Siemian to Nix. He didn’t have a winning season until this one. Before Payton and Nix came along, he didn’t have a playoff game to prepare for, either.
“We’ve been through the ugly,” Broncos wideout Courtland Sutton, who joined the team in 2018, reflected Sunday. “For us to be able to see this other side of it … this is really dope.”
Through thick, thin and thinner, Bolles lost a lot of games here before this season. He rarely lost his youthful zeal, especially in moments of triumph, even after a broken leg, after an aching knee and elbow.
“Everyone — even the big sports radio (hosts) — including (ESPN’s) Jeff Saturday, saying that he didn’t want us to be here,” Bolles said. “Well, you can watch us next week. So you can enjoy that one, my brother. Shannon Sharpe, get after him for that one. But I’m just grateful for it.”
Once a postseason berth was secured, the former Utah Utes star left the sideline raising his arms and jumping for joy. Bolles swung a big blue flag in the end zone, planted the thing into the Empower turf like there was no tomorrow, then strode off into the tunnel.
“Guys like him and (Sutton), I’m so happy for,” Broncos guard Ben Powers said. “Playoff football is something so special to be able to experience. It doesn’t matter if it’s late in their career or early on, like I was fortunate enough to have happen. It just matters that you get there sometime.”
For 72, that sometime is now. With a win in Buffalo, Bolles could shock the world again. How dope is that?
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