Bronco players visited with victims of the Aurora shooting at the Medical Center of Aurora on Sunday. Left tackle Ryan Clady, right guard Chris Kuper, wide receiver Eric Decker, tight end Jacob Tamme, linebacker Joe Mays, defensive end Ben Garland, and the retired Brian Dawkins were present. Peyton Manning also called the victims on a one-by-one basis earlier in the day. Twelve were killed and 59 injured in the tragedy.
“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.”
The players spent time with the victims listening to story after story and learning about some connections with a few of them.
They first met with Steve Barton, who was biking across the country when the event happened. The players grouped up in the room with his family and his friend Evan Rodriguez-Torrent ,also on the biking trip with Steve.
“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.”
The next victim they met with was Carey Rottman, who has a gunshot wound in his leg.
After a while the conversation with Rottman turned to football and right guard Chris Kuper learned of a connection the two had. Rottman played runningback at Winona State, and his team played against Kuper's North Dakota team.
“It meant the world,” Rottman said. “Especially with some of the guys I had a connection with through college football – we knew a lot of the same people and that just brings them down to more of a real level. It’s surreal.”
The two continued talking and talked about their games and Rottman discovered a few of his friends played with Decker and Mays in North Dakota State and Minnesota.
"We’re just here to show support for the medical staff and some of the victims and just kind of do what we can to help people,” Kuper said. “Hopefully we can lift someone’s spirits after such a tragedy.”
Next up the players met up with Josh Nowlen, who is an Iraq war veteran. Nowlen jumped on his friends to protect them. He suffered hits to his arm and leg.
While talking with Nowlen and the family, the players found out they were talking with Patriots fans. The two groups were not on the same page with teams, but each left with a smile on their face.
“A lot of these victims are in great spirits and just happy and blessed to be alive,” Clady said.
The seven players also spent time with the emergency room staff, who first treated the patients.
“We’re just thrilled to have the Broncos here to visit with the patients and uplift their spirits as well as the staff that was here,” Acting President of the Medical Center of Aurora Bill Voloch said. “There’s no doubt it helps the patients in every way. As they’re trying to recover from their injuries, it’s just a wonderful thing for the players to be able to come down and visit with them.”
The players felt that coming to visit the patients before training camp was the least they 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.”
Ben Garland, a Colorado native, extended Dawkins thoughts.
"Colorado is a tight community,” he said. “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.”
