The NFL has a recent, proud history of supporting our military in a variety of ways.
Specifically, their Salute to Service program — with the camouflage jerseys — support military non-profit programs, like the Wounded Warrior Project and Pat Tillman Foundation, and 100 percent of profits of that gear goes to those groups. According to NFL.com, “Since 2011, the NFL has raised more than $26 million for its military non-profit partners.”
For the Denver Broncos, a connection to the Air Force has been strong for many years, with Buckley Air Force base being located close to home in Aurora, CO and the Air Force Academy down in Colorado Springs.
On Tuesday, a group of Broncos players took a trip a few miles east to Buckley to get a firsthand look at the planes as they flew overhead and looks inside the cockpit, too. That group included safety Justin Simmons, tight end Jake Butt, defensive lineman Clinton McDonald and many others.
DenverBroncos.com shared the photo gallery on Tuesday evening, as well as how the military holds a special place to newcomer, McDonald.
“Military’s special to me because most of my family so far as my great grandfather, my grandmother and everybody served in the military,” McDonald explained on a video from the team. “Had two uncles that served in Vietnam, my father served in Vietnam, my mother was in the Army during the Gulf War time. And it’s very important because these are the people that defend and serve our nation to make it a great place we live in as of right now.”
Beyond McDonald’s close connection to the military through his family, the Broncos family has seen a few players come from the Air Force, too. Most recently, there was Ben Garland, the offensive lineman who now plays for the Atlanta Falcons. And before him, there was Steve Russ, a former cadet the Broncos drafted back in 1995.
