On alumni weekend, current left tackle Bolles has become one of Broncos’ best left tackles

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Garett Bolles is the type who would always come back for one of those Broncos reunions.

Bolles loves being a Bronco, he’s said so many times, and the Broncos love reunions, at least since the Walton-Penner group took charge.

Two years ago, the team celebrated the 25th anniversary of its 1997 Super Bowl winning team.

Last year, the Broncos held the silver jubilee for their 1998 Super Bowl winning team.

About 30 players and coaches from the 1977 Orange Crush Broncos were brought back this weekend. The impetus was the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction of Randy Gradishar, the leading tackler for that vaunted Orange Crush defense. His election spurred the Broncos Ring of Fame committee to give just reward to two other standouts from that team, cornerback-safety Steve Foley and tight end Riley Odoms.

It might take some imagination, though, to hold a reunion for one of Bolles’ teams.

His play at left tackle over the past eight years and 103 starts – the most at that position in team history – has been worth celebrating. Not at first, as he struggled early before eventually developing into a second team All Pro. None of Bolles’ teams since he was the Broncos’ first-round draft pick in 2017, though, have finished with a winning record, much less won an AFC Championship or Super Bowl.

Maybe this year Bolles and Broncos can put up a winning mark. The 2-2 Broncos are coming off back-to-back road wins, in the Eastern Time Zone no less, and are playing the once-hated, still rival Raiders today at Empower Field at Mile High. The game will cap the 1977 alumni weekend and feature the home team wearing their new throwback, 1977-like uniforms.

“I’m excited,’’ Bolles said in an interview with 9NEWS this week. “With the rich history that goes back to the beginning of [AFL] football, the great battles we’ve had with them over the years, it’s a fun game. These two franchises duking it out.”

Bolles has so enjoyed his time with the Broncos, win or lose, lose or win, he practiced the day his wife delivered their third child, daughter Zaya Raye, two months ago during training camp. He practiced every day during his daughter’s three-day stint in ICU as she needed an oxygen boost in the initial hours of life. All good now. The point is, Bolles is one dedicated Bronco.

“It was a little crazy,’’ Bolles said. “When [wife Natalie] went in I knew it was happening any day. I had [Broncos’ player development chief] Ray Jackson be on the lookout for a text. And then she went in and all the sudden she gets rushed because she had high blood pressure.

“And then boom, bam, bam, I’m running out of practice. And then I’m like, wait, it’s going to be a C-section so I can relax. And then soon enough the baby came. Sky Ridge [Medical Center], shout out to them, they did a phenomenal job taking care of me and my family and making sure we’re safe and we’re in a secure place so I can focus on my baby girl.

“She spent a couple days in ICU – that was a little hard on my wife. But my wife knows I can’t stay in the hospital too long. I go a little crazy. She was like, ‘No, you should go to practice.’ I wanted to go to practice, that’s just me. I wanted to come focus on the practice, get my mind off that and then I went back and made sure I took care of my wife and my baby.”

Bolles is expecting to go up against his chief nemesis, friend and Bronco basher Maxx Crosby today. Crosby is questionable with a high-ankle sprain but he already missed one game and he’s not the type to miss two in a row, no matter that it’s a four-week injury to others.

“First off, Maxx and I are super good friends,’’ Bolles said.

They’ve known each other through competition and then last year during Super Bowl 58 week in Las Vegas. Bolles and Crosby walked the red carpet on Honors night as their respective team’s Walter Payton Man of the Year nominees.

“I have mad respect for him,’’ Bolles said. “I think he’s one of the best in the league, if not the best. He just causes a lot of havoc. He’s one of those guys where you have to be on you’re A game. But I like going against those guys because it pushes me to be my best. I’m really looking forward to it. I feel like our starting five [along the offensive line] is fitted for this defense that we’re going to play and to stop No. 98.”

Bolles said he and Crosby talked pass-rush and edge tackle blocking techniques during Super Bowl week. For the most part, Crosby lines up across from the right tackle – where Alex Palczewski is filling in admirably for the injured Mike McGlinchey. But Crosby, who has 12.5 sacks and at least one in each of the Raiders’ eight consecutive wins against the Broncos heading into today, will veer to Bolles’ side from time to time.

“Even with Von [Miller, the former Bronco sack artist], I used to pick his brain all the time,’’ Bolles said. “Why do you have your stance like this? What are you seeing in a tackle? Why do you like tackles who set more square? Why do tackles want to jump set you or put their hands on you? Why do some tackles don’t touch you until you touch them?

“So you figure them out. He’s a react-to-pressure, Maxx Crosby is, so you want him to make that first move and you sort of cover him with your feet. And then you use your hands after he touches you. So little things like that, he’ll do the same thing too. What do you see in a D-end? But he’s such a hard worker. His diet, his mindset. His demeanor and working out. Everything about him, he’s just one of those good dudes you absolutely respect and I think the world of him.”

With the Broncos winning 45 against 74 losses since Bolles became the Broncos’ No. 20 overall selection, coming off consecutive wins in the sun and heat at Tampa Bay and the steady rain at the New York Jets the previous two weeks was a gratifying feeling.

“Super rewarding,’’ Bolles said. “That’s the way football is. Sometimes that meter goes left or right and you want to keep it on your side. I felt like we did the last two weeks.

“In the Jets’ game, the weather, the craziness, Aaron Rodgers, I felt like we stayed close to each other and I knew it was going to come down to our starting five upfront to make sure we got the ball rolling. In those environments you can’t really throw the ball too much, so we relied on each other, and we moved the guy that we needed to move, and our backs hit the holes.

“But if you would have told me that [Broncos’ kicker Wil] Lutz would miss a field goal and then [the Jets’ Greg] Zuerlein would miss a field goal I would have been there’s no way two of the best in the league are going to miss back-to-back field goals. But sometimes the ball bounces your way and I’m just beyond grateful that we got a W.”