Every team needs solid-citizen types, and for the Denver Broncos, offensive tackle Garrett Bolles fits that descriptor to a T. He’s been reliable and then some, and this year he had a career year, getting All-Pro votes that made him especially noticeable.
Some linemen like to get away and chill after six months playing a position that’s been described as a “wrestling match in a phone booth,” but that’s not how Bolles rolls. While coach Sean Payton was busy taking questions and evaluating college players, Bolles was doing his offseason thing as a Boy Scout, which he’s been involved in for a long time, according to Sean Keller of the Denver Post.
How long? Bolles received scouting’s honor in 2008, completing a required project that had him making toy cars to be donated to children in Mexico, with the cars delivered personally by a local Santa Claus.
“And it was really cool to see the kids’ faces of the final products,” Bolles said. “And (Santa) would pack them all up — we would’ve put them in this big red sack. And he would fly to Mexico and deliver cars to all these rural areas.”
That prompted Keller to comment that Bolles was basically “the world’s biggest elf,” which doubtless drew a smile. But Bolles also addresses groups of kids, and one of his messages includes a value-based statement that goes well beyond scouting.
“The moral of the story is, you can’t give up on what’s important in life,” Bolles told the kids on Monday. “You’ve got to find your why, why you do what you do. I learned that early on.”
Bolles also earned an award from Scouting Colorado commemorating his EagleScout days, and the left tackle says his appreciation for scouting has grown even more over the years.
“Maybe back then, I didn’t appreciate (the Boy Scouts) as much as I do now,” Bolles said. “Because I think it teaches you so much as a man — teaching you to be disciplined and learning the local laws of where you live. And from doing that to doing a service project to get your Eagle Scout (requirements). Just giving back to the community is truly what scouts is about.”
As corny as all this sounds, Payton values character guys, and Bolles definitely slots into that category, including the likes of Alex Singleton and Courtland Sutton.
Bolles has also applied those lessons to his football journey in Denver. Early in his career he was a penalty magnet, committing 10 infractions in 2018, nine of them holding calls according to Keller, and he had another ten the next season.
That’s changed dramatically, however. He went sack-less in 803 pass blocking snaps according to Pro Football Focus, and he’s averaged just one a month since 2022. He was the highest-rated pass blocker of the year this season by PFF, and Bolles says the work ethic he learned in scouting is a big part of what allowed him to turn things around.