Ex-Bronco Braxton rights life through coaching

By Lynn DeBruin, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 26, 2008 at 2:33 p.m.

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Photo by Tim Hussin © Rocky Mountain News

Former Broncos defensive back Tyrone Braxton has shaken a drug habit and now is an unpaid assistant football coach at Arvada High School. "Everybody deserves a second chance if they honestly want one," the 43-year-old said.

He looks a little different with a whistle hung around his neck, dressed in red and gray instead of Broncos orange and blue.

But the loud, raspy voice is unmistakable - even with cheers drifting over from a nearby softball game and the cacophony of band practice down the hill.

"Somebody call the ball! 'I got it. I got it. I got it.' Be confident. Make the decision."

Chirp. Chirp. Chirp, chirp, chirp.

It's nine days before Arvada High School's football opener, and Tyrone Braxton, an unpaid assistant, is in top form, demanding and critical and threatening to "run their (butts)," but also offering words of encouragement.

He's 10 years removed from a starting role on two Super Bowl championship teams and 19 months removed from a drug- possession conviction in Arapahoe County.

More important, also in the rearview mirror is the cocaine and marijuana addiction that dropped him lower than he ever has been - having to fess up in public to a serious problem and face a daughter privately who, at the time, said she hated her Daddy.

"I like where I am now," said Braxton, 43, who insists there's no chance he'll go back down that nasty road. "I like the true friends I have now, and I don't need the damn drugs and the partying to have fun."

Where he is now is working with two other former NFL players, trying to help turn around a downtrodden Arvada program that can count the number of wins (three) the past three seasons on one hand.

Kevin Clark, another former Broncos player and longtime Braxton business partner, is the Bulldogs coach and former New England Patriots defensive end Quinn Dorsey is a paid assistant for a team that starts its season Friday against Denver West at All City Stadium.

"A lot of these kids, they're all second-chance-type guys," said Clark, a former walk-on who became a college All-American, entered the NFL with Braxton in 1987 and co-owns KRSK trucking with him. "They're getting a chance to redeem themselves and play in a program that's positive."

As Braxton firmly believes, "Everybody deserves a second chance if they honestly want one."

'Hard and fast'

There's no question Braxton wanted one.

To Broncos fans, "Chicken" was the scrawny strong safety who symbolized perseverance, moving from unheralded 12th-round draft pick out of North Dakota State to two-time Super Bowl champion.

He produced a key interception in the Broncos' first title win against Green Bay and he recovered a fumble in the second against Atlanta.

But there also were the drugs.

He said he was 12 the first time he smoked marijuana and 18 the first time he tried cocaine.

While he'd rather talk about the kids he's trying to help now, he gives glimpses into the old life, one that turned him into a real-life Jekyll and Hyde.

Yes, he used drugs during his playing years. Yes, while he was with the Broncos.

"I won't mention the guys, but we worked hard and we played hard. Hard and fast, baby," he said.

Though his football career ended after the 1999 season, his drug use didn't, even though he had his own business and a family.

At its peak, he said he would get high four or five times a week.

"That was my problem. I didn't think I was an addict because I would come home at night and get up and go to work the next morning. I wasn't not doing my job, or robbing people. I'd get up, go to work, make some money and buy some dope and get high," he said.

Though the "working addict" lifestyle didn't match the perception many have of addicts living along East Colfax, the result was the same.

It affected his family, ruined his marriage and strained relationships with his son and daughter.

"People say, 'Oh, I'm not hurting anybody but myself.' But you are. You're hurting your family," said Braxton, who is divorced but says he's temporarily living in a guest room at his old home so he can be close to his children.

Wake-up call

On Dec. 2, 2006, Braxton's life changed when police stopped him as he left an apartment in Arapahoe County.

In January 2007, he pleaded guilty to possessing less than a gram of cocaine and less than an ounce of marijuana. He was ordered to pay a $50 fine and complete 48 hours of community service, and he received a two-year deferred sentence on the cocaine charge, which will be purged from his record when he successfully completes probation.

In a way, Braxton was glad he got caught.

"I've always been the type of guy (who thinks) things happen for a reason. I've always wanted to stop, and this jump-started me into stopping," said Braxton, who considers himself lucky he didn't get into worse trouble.

Another wake-up call came a month later, when a friend started shooting up heroin and died of an overdose. She was 26, with three children.

Though he admitted partying even after his arrest because he still was hooked up with the wrong people, his real recovery started when he met a drug counselor, Mike, an addict for 20-plus years who has been clean for 20-plus more.

"He laid it out real, just like coming out here and playing football," Braxton said. "You've got somebody telling you something, and you're not going to believe it unless they went through it."

So Braxton latched onto the former Vietnam War veteran at Cocaine Anonymous.

"Part of the process of getting healing is you can't keep any damn secrets. That's what really eats you up - the secrets," Braxton said. "You've got to be able to tell somebody. I'm not necessarily telling the whole (expletive) city of Denver, Colorado. I'm talking about my counselor. He can know. But that's a big weight off my back."

Giving back

His biggest hurdle now is helping Clark and Dorsey, plus holdover coaches John Howes, Matt Teagarden and Matt Cisneros.

"I watched this community and watched this team, and there was a huge need for what I have to offer," said Clark, who once coached with Jack Elway in the World Football League, at George Washington High School and most recently in the Cherry Creek youth system. "It's a labor of love."

Clark, who was coaxed into helping by former Broncos linebacker Karl Mecklenburg, said he probably earns $7 or $8 an hour when the time is added up - Dorsey even less and Braxton nothing.

But the feedback has been priceless.

"It's been a fantastic learning experience," said Chad Bren, a senior safety who is convinced the Bulldogs not only can win but dominate in their new 3A classification after going 3-27 the past three seasons and winless in the 4A Mountain/Plains League since 2005.

"Football is more fun with these guys coaching us. It's definitely more work, but that's just what we needed."

Bren and his father, Troy, said the new coaches promoted community spirit and persuaded more players to suit up.

"The cupboard was bare," said Troy Bren, who added that open enrollment was partly to blame. "A lot of kids were going to Pomona, Ralston Valley, Arvada West because it was not perceived that there was any continuity or commitment (at Arvada). There was a lot of turnover with coaches, and it doesn't take much for kids to get wind of that. But it's been a night-and-day adjustment, attitudewise."

There is excitement at Arvada again, even if the growing pains are evident at times in the coaches' voices - particularly the colorful Braxton.

"You can't miss him," the elder Bren said. "He catches his tongue. He gets frustrated saying the same thing over and over. It's just like having kids. 'Don't stick your finger in the fan, don't stick your finger in the fan, don't stick your finger in the fan.' "

Braxton laughs when asked about his coaching style.

"I always hated them damn coaches who (were) always on my (butt), and now look at me," he said, letting out that familiar snicker.

Though he can't remember back to his high school days, he thinks back on his college coach, 1983 Division II Coach of the Year Don Morton, screaming at him, even when he botched a play but made an interception.

"Now I find myself doing the same thing. I'm like, 'Man, am I like Morton that much? Am I crazy?' I can't believe I'm like Morton."

New highs

As he stood there in the hot sun, chatting after a 21/2-hour practice, Braxton was thinking about getting high again, but not the way one might imagine.

He was reminiscing about a recent trip into the rugged wilderness of State Forest State Park, on the west side of the Medicine Bow Mountains in northern Colorado.

About three weeks ago, he had hiked about three miles through the 71,000-acre park and set up camp at the end of a trail. There was a crystal-clear lake, with snow still visible along one ridge and fish swimming everywhere.

"It was awesome," Braxton said, already making plans to return next year and bring his fishing gear with him.

To hear him tell the story, it's clear his intent was to stay as clean as that lake.

"I was scared," he said of giving up a life of partying. "It was like, 'Damn, how am I going to have fun again?' I can't get high. I can't drink, but now I found out I can still have fun."

Besides coaching, fun entails hiking, fishing and camping, usually with his 9-year-old son by his side.

A handful of times this summer, they headed up into Boulder Canyon, stayed in rustic cabins, barbecued, made marshmallow s'mores, played cards and hung out.

It was a chance to get out of the heat and get away from the city, especially if those old ways get his mind going.

"I'm not running from (those memories), but the main reason why people slip up and relapse is they feel overconfident," he said. "So I don't ever want to feel that. I don't want to feel like I've got this thing kicked. So I make sure I'm not. I just get out."

So it is with coaching, a way to keep busy, give back while also focus on the broad picture. He always had a desire to coach at the high school level, and said his goal is to be coaching in the Denver Public Schools system by the time his son, now in the fourth grade, gets to high school.

"I still got a little fire in me, trying to get these boys right," Braxton said. "It's not easy, but, shoot, it's fun. It's perfect for me."

• August 26, 2008

  8:20 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  kc02 writes:

  Well, good for Tyrone. He made a great career out of playing with more heart than talent. I'm glad he made good. Good for you, Tyrone, and keep it up.

• August 27, 2008

  12:14 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  kfattor writes:

  "Chicken" feels like an old family friend. As long as he's happy, I'm happy for him. If those kids can follow his example for how to work hard and how to commit to learning, they'll all go far. Stay strong and lead a long, happy life, TB.

• August 27, 2008

  1:58 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  dirkle writes:

  Way to go, Chicken. It's all you, and we're proud of you!

• August 27, 2008

  9 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  cpd writes:

  There is a chance that Braxton will not win this battle. Drugs and partying is a strong one-two temptation. But he's giving it his best. Let's give the man his due. Best wishes, Chicken.

• August 27, 2008

  10:18 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Dude writes:

  good for you Tyrone. lets go puff one to celebrate.

• August 27, 2008

  10:37 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  PRAYFORTHEKIDS writes:

  I met him a few weeks back. He is so down to earth and a great guy. I am so glad he cleaned himself up. Best wished to you Mr. Braxton.

• August 27, 2008

  1:04 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  mveillette writes:

  Good luck, stay clean and stay involved with your kids and football.

• August 27, 2008

  11:19 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  ShadyGrady writes:

  > Dude writes:
  >
  > good for you Tyrone. lets go puff one to celebrate.

  I was taking a drink while reading this and ended up spraying water all over my monitor. Thanks a lot Dude.

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