Denver Broncos left tackle Garett Bolles has been named the Week 1 NFL Players Association Community MVP.
Bolles is the first to receive the honor this season after he and his family established The Bjorem & Bolles Childhood Apraxia Training Center.
“Opening the world's first-ever Childhood Speech Apraxia Training Center is a dream come true,” Bolles said on Instagram Friday following the grand opening. “I've always wanted to use my voice and my platform to be able ot help as many kids as possible to be able to live their dream like I’m doing.”
With the help of speech and language pathologist Jennie Bjorem, the facility trains others in the assessment and treatment of childhood apraxia. Apraxia is a motor disorder that causes the brain to struggle to coordinate the muscle movements necessary for speech.
Bolles and his family were drawn towards working around apraxia after their son, Kingston, was diagnosed with the disorder.
“I’m honored to receive the NFLPA Community MVP Award,” Bolles said. “The Bjorem & Bolles Childhood Apraxia Training Center is deeply personal to our family, and I’m grateful to help give kids like my son Kingston a voice.”
Winning the Community MVP means the NFLPA will donate $10,000 to Bolles’ GB3 Foundation.
Bolles will also become eligible for the Alan Page Award, given to one player who goes above and beyond to perform community service, at the season’s end.
Drafted with the 20th overall pick by the Broncos in the 2017 draft, the All-Pro tackle heads into his ninth year anchoring Denver’s offensive line.
Bolles is no stranger to on-field excellence – and he carries that same standard off of it. He mentors children in the juvenile system at the Foote Center, and follows their journeys from the start of their probation through Magistrate Beth Elliott-Dumler’s juvenile court.
It is a full-time role for Bolles, who got into the work because of his own personal experiences. At 19, Bolles was kicked out of his home and picked up off a lonely Utah street by foster parents Greg and Emily Freeman. He now tries to do the same for hundreds of kids.
“It gives me a fire to go play on the football field. It gives me a fire to be a dad. It gives me a fire to go be the best left tackle in football,” Bolles said. “All these kids, I put them in the back of my heart.”
Whether it’s with kids in the juvenile system or kids suffering from childhood apraxia, Bolles is committed to uplifting the youth in his community, and his recent NFLPA Community MVP is proof of just that.