Last week we were all unfortunately reminded of just how precious life is as a disturbed man entered a packed theater in a Denver suburb for the premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises” and opened fire. Twelve people lost their lives and another 59 people were injured.
As the community heals the Denver Broncos were there to comfort those injured. It started with Peyton Manning personally calling the victims in the hospital. Peyton Manning has long been an example of class in the NFL and has made headlines with his practice of writing hand-written notes to NFL players who are retiring that he admires and respects, he feels the hand-written nature makes it more personal. However, for a quarterback new to town this is an incredibly compassionate move on his part and shows how much of a leader on and off the field he is.
The rest of the team followed Manning’s lead. Ryan Clady, Eric Decker, Ben Garland, Chris Kuper, Joe Mays, Jacob Tamme and former Bronco Brian Dawkins made a trip to the hospital Sunday to visit three victims according to the Broncos’ website.
“It was just such a tragic event,” Mays said. “You just wish that things like that never happened, but it did and my heart goes out to all the family members and loved ones. Today, we just wanted to come here and speak to those that were in the hospital and just talk to them a little bit. We just wanted to show extra support to them.”
“We just wanted to come out show support and to be able to crack a smile with these guys — it’s good to see that they’re making progress,” Decker said. “I think they’re excited to get out of here, but it’s just good to see a smile on their face.”
Brian Dawkins took what happened to heart and felt that this was the least him and the other Broncos could do.
“When a tragedy happens to us as people, what I quickly do is think, ‘What if that was me? What if that was my brother? Or what if that was a friend going through that?’” Dawkins said. “It’s such a surreal thing that can happen in any place. So, I wanted to get in here and visit as many people as I could as quickly as possible to just bring a smile to their faces in the midst of what they’re going through right now.”
“Colorado is a tight community,” said Colorado native Ben Garland. “We just wanted to come together and do anything we could for these victims. It’s been a tough summer for everyone, so if we can do even a small part just to help them out, we will.”
Amongst all the arrests and negative headlines revolving around the NFL it’s nice to see a positive one that reminds everyone that there are good guys in the NFL.
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