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KRIEGER: Broncos' holiday cheer buoys at-risk kids

By Dave Krieger, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published December 24, 2008 at 9:19 p.m.

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Jay Cutler's parents, Jack and Sandy, helped set up the enormous Christmas tree in the school's front hall, by the stairs that led to Santa Claus.

Not Santa Claus, Ind., the Cutlers' hometown, but the actual dude with the beard, sitting up on the landing of the grand staircase at historic Wyatt-Edison Charter School in north Denver. One by one, the children ascended the stairs to see him.

Encircling the hall, banners bore some of the words the kids have to learn - and spell - at Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives' after- school program: wisdom, justice, courage, compassion, hope, respect, responsibility, integrity.

"Hope" was behind the tree, the "p" obscured by the crown.

Meanwhile, in the gym, Cutler, Brandon Marshall and Daniel Graham were greeted by a boisterous throng. The Rev. Leon Kelly, who runs Open Door, distributed footballs and glossy Broncos photos as kids took them to the Broncos stars for autographs.

Marshall has been coming to Kelly's after-school program on his day off for most of the season and has hosted some of the kids at home games.

Between Marshall's sweat equity and Cutler's foundation funding, two of the Broncos' brightest offensive stars have resuscitated a connection between the team and the inner-city, gang-prevention program. Nurtured by Claudie Minor and other Broncos stars of the past, the connection had atrophied before the murder of Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams nearly two years ago.

"After 20 years of trying to fill voids, especially during the holiday season, this is the most massive gathering that we've had," said a beaming Kelly. "We planned for 300, 400 kids and families, and we might even exceed that.

"With the support of Brandon and Jay and other members of the Broncos organization, it showed that they're really sold on making a change in this community. A few years ago, this community was certainly in disarray. To take an interest in the lives of these kids, it's important."

The temptations of the gang life are as great as ever, maybe greater with legitimate jobs so scarce. Selling kids on another way at a young age is a challenge. No one's cooler than gangsters. Except maybe Broncos players.

"When Jay came over in the wake of the Darrent Williams tragedy, it caused the organization to try to be a little more proactive, be involved, as they were years ago," Kelly said.

Still, gang-prevention work operates on a shoestring, mostly without help from City Hall, which is why programs such as Kelly's are always up against the limits of their resources.

"We've seen the change in the community over these 20 years, and we've seen the change within the gang element," Kelly said. "These little youngsters right now are a little more aggressive. The difference from the guys that we dealt with back in the days is that at least they had a sense of respect for their elders, to some degree. A lot of these kids have little to no respect for their elders or for anything or for anybody. So it certainly aggravates things."

The killing goes on. When I mention the Williams murder, I sometimes get reminders from the families of other victims of gang violence that the famous Bronco was hardly alone in his fate, even if the difference in publicity sometimes makes it seem that way.

The Tre Tre Crips, a particularly brazen arm of the well-known gang, have been linked to the Williams shooting. They were rounded up in the spring of 2007, when more than 450 law-enforcement officers swept through the metro area, arresting 49 people under federal indictment in a single day. It was one of the largest law-enforcement operations in Denver history, involving federal, state and local cooperation. But the dope business is good. The street hardly noticed.

"Unfortunately, it's just a drop in the bucket," Kelly said. "When you cut the head off, you would think the body would fall. But what happens, you cut the head off, many other heads grow."

Help comes from unexpected places. When my colleague, Drew Litton, used one of his popular sports cartoons to ask Rocky readers to send the Rev a dollar, about $6,000 poured in to Open Door, much of it in single dollar bills.

"If there's any way you could send out a shout to all the Bronco fans who sent in a dollar to support the program, shout-outs to them, man," Kelly said. "We are a Bronco town that loves our team.

"More so than anything were the little comments. There was one who wrote, 'I'm an 84-year-old Bronco fan, I've been a Bronco fan for 40-something years and I've been watching you, Rev. Thank you.' "

In the gym, kids were clambering for photos and footballs as fast as Marshall, Graham and Cutler could sign them. However they played last Sunday, however they play this Sunday, these guys delivered here.

Comments

  • December 25, 2008

    12:16 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Dynamicdave writes:

    God bless you guys for helping the kids. I did a similar thing today for the Vegas City Youth Program. It's a great cause to keep these kids out of gangs. Kids need a positive role model to look up to. Keep it up.