Renck: Garett Bolles’ Broncos’ story is one of redemption, guided by wife Natalie ...Middle East

Natalie Bolles hated going to Broncos games those first few seasons.

“I can admit it, it was horrible,” Bolles said. “I would hide under a blanket.”

Gripped with anxiety, she watched the road games on a 30-minute delay, asking her mother-in-law to text her if there was a penalty so she could brace for it.

Watching her husband, Garett Bolles, mingle with 300 kids at his free football clinic Monday night at Legend High School, that seems like a long time ago.

No Broncos player has ever changed the trajectory of his career quite like Bolles. If Denver reaches the Super Bowl in the next four years, the eight-year starting left tackle will make a compelling case as a Ring of Famer.

The goal, once unfathomable, is reachable.

From getting “booed by 75,000 people,” to becoming the longest-tenured player on the team, Bolles represents a story of redemption — of the power of faith and family.

“I could have never imagined we would still be here. We love it,” Natalie said. “It’s rare to be with one team with three contracts. God is good. To see Garett out there giving it back, it is special. Being part of this community, this high school, it is so fun.”

Bolles maintains a child-like enthusiasm for life. On this night, 8-year-old son Kingston goes through the drills, 6-year-old daughter Ariyah cheers and 10-month-old Zaya rests on her mother’s hip as Garett slaps high-fives with campers and plays DJ on the bumping sound system.

“Garett!” Natalie chides him. “Leave that alone.”

These two make a fantastic couple, competitive and devoted, their resilience and bond explaining why Bolles remains with the Broncos despite being presented with two obvious off-ramps to other cities during his career.

The latest opportunity came last season. Free agency was pending. Bolles could have cashed in with teams like the Chiefs, Titans or Patriots, who were seeking upgrades for their quarterback’s blindside.

He and Natalie talked. The gravitational pull of the Broncos remained strong. After suffering through 13 starting quarterbacks and seven straight losing seasons, Bolles had finally reached the good part.

“Everyone talks about how I could have gotten more money, but I wanted to create a legacy,” said Bolles, who signed a four-year, $82 million contract extension last December. “I wanted to be where people know my name, where I could create a legacy with my (GB3) foundation and create a profile on the field, too. I have worked so hard to be part of a winning situation, I didn’t want to leave that. I want to be a rock for this team.”

Truth is, Bolles did not have great leverage. If he departed as a free agent, his family would have stayed behind. Diagnosed with childhood apraxia of speech, Kingston had settled into a routine. His progress outweighed all other factors.

“King told his dad he wasn’t going,” Natalie said. “His school is amazing. His speech therapist is 15 minutes from our house. It took him a while to warm up to her, and we couldn’t start over with someone new.”

During the early years when penalties defined Bolles, he was considered raw and emotional, his athleticism not translating into the consistency required of a left tackle. Then COVID stopped the world, and Bolles hit the reset button.

Confined to a California home, he had a choice. Pout, sulk, and stay upset the Broncos declined the fifth-year option on his rookie contract.

Or go to work. Well, if you know Natalie, there was only one option.

“I told him, ‘We can sit here and not get better. Or you can do your pass sets and improve your technique,’” Natalie recalled.

With Natalie as the edge rusher, Bolles refined his footwork and hand placement in the living room and front yard. He earned second-team All-Pro honors. That led to his second contract.

Once a liability, he has become durable, consistent, trusted. He protects Bo Nix like a bodyguard, allowing just two sacks in 476 dropbacks last season. His play is an outgrowth of his personality. Bolles is nothing if not loyal, “sometimes to a fault,” Natalie admitted.

“If you are on Garett’s team,” she said, “there is nothing that can turn him against you.”

That’s why several teammates — Adam Trautman, Frank Crum, Nick Gargiulo, Alex Palczewski, Caleb Lohner and Joaquin Davis to name a few — sprinkled throughout his camp coaching the kids.

“He has done so much for me and helped me,” left guard Ben Powers said. “I wouldn’t have missed it.”

Natalie and Garett met while both attended Snow College, where she was a cheerleader and he was on the football team. The breathtaking scenery of Ephraim, Utah, helped overshadow the size of the city (roughly 6,000). The young couple soon married.

“I was the breadwinner back then. He had no car,” Natalie said with a laugh. “We used mine to run to McDonald’s and Walmart. I got us through those first few years. Then I told him once he got to the NFL, it was his turn.”

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Those years were difficult for reasons they never imagined. Garett, always a force on the football field, struggled mightily. It strengthened their relationship. Natalie worried his career might be over before it really got started. Operating on the principles of faith and family first, football fell into place.

Now, as her husband enters his ninth season, Natalie enjoys going to the games. Well, that might be a little misleading. She watches with such intensity — “I get into a zone” — that she often retreats from company and watches alone in a cubicle or outside the family room.

“I will tell him after the game, ‘You played great, but what happened on that one play? Did you lose your footing or were you off with your hand placement?’” Natalie said. “And he’s like, ‘Babe, I will watch the film.’”

As Natalie watched Garrett on this night, her pride seeped through. There is no mistaking that he has become a beloved Bronco on the field and off.

“The one thing I want you all to remember,” Bolles told the campers, “it doesn’t matter how you start, it’s how you finish.”

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