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Garett Bolles job is to protect those important to him.
On the field, he does it with second-year quarterback Bo Nix – off the field, he aims to return the favor to military veterans.
“Seeing military veterans, what they go through on a regular basis, they go to war for us so we can live freely here in the United States, they provide a safe place for us to raise our families, to raise our kids, and without them and what they do overseas, to protect us from the evils of the world, it really goes to show you what hard work does,” Bolles said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital.
That’s why the Denver Broncos offensive lineman teamed up with USAA and Team Rubicon to help protect Eagle Next Ranch in Colorado from wildfires earlier this week.
The ranch provides therapy for military veterans with PTSD, and Bolles, who grew up in a wildfire danger zone in Utah, spent his day clearing brush and cleaning debris around the facility in what was a full-circle moment.
“Not only does it play close to home being in the military background, but just being out here in the community. Colorado is known for being a high-risk wildfire area, it’s one of the deadliest spots in the country when it comes to wildfires and all of the wildlife that we have here, all the amazing things that we have in this beautiful state,” Bolles said. “Being able to have a protective zone around this beautiful ranch so that we can protect them from wildfires, so the military veterans can come out here and have their peace and not being able to stress out over wildfires. Just clear brush, using some machetes and chainsaws, which is always fun being a rancher myself, just clearing debris and making sure that this place is protected and making sure that we’re cleaning up the unnecessary brush that needs to be done to be able to make sure this is a safe environment.”
“Military veterans and knowing that that is something that’s part of my family, part of my legacy and my life, knowing that it was something that they needed somebody to come out here and protect the community, it’s what I do on a regular basis. I protect my quarterback, so protecting my community out here is something that just always rings the bell for me. I always jump at those opportunities, because it’s something I do on a regular basis, and it always puts a smile on my face,” he added.
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Now, Bolles will turn his attention to protecting Nix’s blindside. This past season, Bolles, a lifelong Bronco, made the playoffs for the first time in his soon-to-be nine-year career.
“I’ve gone through some rough years. The last seven years, it’s been ups and downs. We’ve had high hopes and fallen short multiple, multiple times… I’m here going on my ninth year, and just seeing the changes – getting a new facility, new ownership, new coaching staff, new players in and out. It’s so awesome to be one of those older guys that are here. It used to be a revolving door – we’ve closed that revolving door, and now we’re moving forward. It’s awesome, and I’m really looking forward to all the amazing experiences we’re going to have this year, build off what we did last year, and focus on the little things to continue to lead us down the path to winning the Super Bowl.”
Bolles plays somewhat of double-duty with Nix – for one, he’s a teammate who must stop anyone in his path to keep Nix upright. Simultaneously, Nix just completed his rookie season, and Bolles is now an eight-year veteran.
“I think we feed off each other. Sometimes, I gotta loosen Bo up and be like, ‘Yo, it’s good brother, you got this!’” And sometimes, he’s like, ‘GB, lock in!’” Bolles said.
But at the end of the day, Bolles said Nix, a “freak of nature,” can be the catalyst to get the Broncos back to their glory days.
“Bo is such a freak of nature, man. He’s so composed, so calm, so collective. To watch him be the light of our team. We have a quarterback on offense, and we have another freak of nature on defense in Pat Surtain that leads them. So watching Bo and the young players continue to step up day in and day out to lead this team to victory like we did last year to our first playoff appearance since 2015,” Bolles said.
“It’s been years of losing, it’s been tough. But one thing about our team, we’re so resilient, we’re going to continue to fight every single day. It doesn’t matter how you start, it matters how you finish. The sky is the limit for us, we can go as far as we want. I feel like the only people that are going to get in our way is ourselves. As long as we can control what we can control and have the best attitude and effort day in and day out, we’re going to be the most successful team this year in the NFL.”
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