Garett Bolles
DENVER BRONCOS
| Position | College | Years in the NFL |
|---|---|---|
| Tackle | University of Utah | 7 |
Demonstrates Excellence on the Field
Garett Bolles is a seventh year left tackle from the University of Utah. Bolles was selected by the Broncos in the first round (20th overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft and was the first offensive lineman taken. He earned Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie honors in 2017 after becoming the fifth rookie to start every game at left tackle in franchise history. In 2020 after starting all 15 games he appeared in, Bolles garnered his first career Associated Press All-Pro selection after participating in 94.3 percent of the offensive snaps. In 2021, he logged the second-most offensive snaps among Broncos offensive lineman, playing 870 snaps while starting all 14 games he appeared in. Through the first seven games of this season, he has started all 90 games played at left tackle placing him third all-time among Denver Broncos left tackles. Through Week 7, he has helped the Denver Broncos offense rank 7th for yards per play.
Demonstrates Dedication and Commitment to Community Efforts this Year
This season, Bolles has elevated his commitment to providing meaningful and impactful mentorship to justice-involved youth, the same way adults mentored him as a justice-involved teenager.
The Arapahoe County 18th Judicial Youth Probation Court Incentives and Sanctions Court is designed for youth who have either successfully completed court orders and will terminate probation (Incentives) or are showing noncompliance, putting them at risk of probation revocation (Sanctions). Bolles provides monthly mentorship with personalized recorded videos and attends the monthly court hearings to make an in-person connection with the kids. Since 2020, he has provided mentorship to 82 different youth, including 37 youth thus far in 2023. In recognition of his outstanding service to the juvenile justice system, Bolles was presented with the Raymond C. Frenchmore Juvenile Law Award from the Arapahoe County Bar Association in June.
The Marvin W. Foote Youth Services Center is a secure youth detention holding site that uses an adaptive pro-social behavioral management philosophy and provides individualized education, restorative justice, and life skills education. Following a visit with teammates and ownership at the beginning of the season, Bolles adopted a facility-identified "high risk pod" and helped develop rules and launch a rewards program to incentivize individual and pod behavior. He committed to weekly visits and providing positive reinforcement when individuals and the pod met their goals. At the conclusion of each visit, Bolles asks how they are going to maintain their positive behavior and tells them he loves them. Youth behavior is ranked by facility staff each week, and three of the eight youth currently in the pod have reached their highest level since Bolles began his recurring visits in September. At the time of writing, Bolles has hosted 33 different mentorship meetings with high-needs individuals and small groups.
Demonstrates Dedication and Commitment to Community Efforts in Years Past
Bolles has used his personal experiences to fuel his community impact work, elevating his understanding of how he can connect with kids and support impactful nonprofits doing direct-service work.
Bolles founded the GB3 Foundation to empower children and youth with learning differences and language-based challenges. These issues personally resonate with Bolles due to his own learning difference diagnosis and his son Kingston's Apraxia of Speech diagnosis. The foundation organizes free annual youth football camps in Utah, encouraging kids to stay active while learning about Bolles' inspiring journey. In 2021, Bolles also launched a t-shirt campaign fundraiser, pledging $1,000 for every game without a sack allowed and $500 for every Broncos rushing touchdown. As of the time of writing, the fundraiser has generated $18,000.
Bolles received the Denver Broncos Community Ambassador Award in 2021 for creating a partnership with Vertical Skills Academy and continuing his mentorship of justice-involved youth. Vertical Skills Academy is a unique school in Evergreen, Colorado that specializes in teaching students with dyslexia and related language-based learning differences to reach their full potential. Bolles has visited students at the school and hosted them at Empower Field for a panel discussion and game.
Continuing his efforts with Arapahoe County 18th Judicial Youth Probation court, he established an incentives program to encourage kids to stay on the right path. He also worked with the court to redecorate the juvenile court room to make it more inviting. Bolles says giving back to youth navigating the justice system is his favorite thing to do, he says "If I can change one kid a day or one kid a month, I feel like I'm doing my purpose."
Bolles took part in the Broncos' We Stand For program, where players express their dedication to social justice organizations. He collaborated with the Broncos and NFL Foundation, contributing $40,000 to support his community work. In 2022, he received the Broncos Community Impact Award.
Demonstrates Consistency in Positive Character and Models a Lifestyle of Giving Back
Bolles recognizes the challenges in his upbringing, such as multiple school expulsions, arrests, and time spent in jail. He draws motivation from these experiences to fuels his philanthropic efforts. After graduating high school, Bolles was kicked out of the family home by his father after repeatedly getting into trouble. Greg Freeman, his high school lacrosse coach, and his wife Emily took Bolles in and helped him get on the right path.
A top Junior College recruit, Bolles had his pick of where he wanted to play Division I Football and ultimately decided on Utah, a place he felt he was encouraged to live his faith. His coaches at Utah never had to worry about where he was or if he was doing the right thing.
Bolles remains dedicated to giving back to the Utah community by supporting the Teen Center Project. This initiative aims to equip schools to accommodate the increasing number of students in need and assist the most vulnerable students in graduating and preparing for success as adults.
