Ron Leary grabbed a box of frozen turkeys out of the back of a truck Tuesday morning and effortlessly carried them to a staging table as if they were a bag of feathers. The Broncos’ hulking offensive lineman was joined by safety Will Parks, who directed traffic with karate moves in a parking lot outside Sports Authority Field at Mile High. They and more than a dozen other Broncos, in partnership with the Denver Rescue Mission, helped pass out hundreds of Thanksgiving meals to families in need.
“People say, ‘You don’t have to be here,’ but I think I do,” said Parks, who used moments between passing out meals to sign autographs and take pictures with young fans. “A lot of us do because at one point we didn’t have much. I didn’t have fresh, frozen turkeys. It’s more, for me, a sign of appreciation. I’m excited more than (the families) are, probably.”
The warm interactions between the Broncos and their fans on a chilly, rainy morning — one woman got out of her car, greeted Leary, Parks and tight end Austin Traylor with a smile and proclaimed, “This is the best Thanksgiving ever!” — stood in contrast to some of the more contentious dealings players have had with fans in recent weeks, particularly on social media.
For the first time in the era of players and fans regularly interacting on Twitter and across other social media platforms, the Broncos are consistently losing. Yes, Twitter was around in 2010, the last time the Broncos had a losing season, but was not nearly as widely used. And with each loss during this six-game skid, the volume of complaints being taken directly to players has increased.
Many players ignore negative posts. Some players, such as running back C.J. Anderson, cornerback Aqib Talib and linebacker Brandon Marshall, have responded.
“I have no problem with our fans. I love every one of them,” Anderson said recently. “But when you think you know and you don’t know, we have the right to put you in your place. We have that right. A lot of them don’t think we’re going to respond at all. A lot of them just want response. I’m just having fun with them. They continue to tell me I don’t care about football and I don’t care about winning. It’s like, ‘OK, that’s cool.’ I come to work every day and work hard every day. I hope you’re doing the same thing with your job. That’s how I feel about it.”
Athletes have often said they appreciate Twitter for allowing them to connect directly with fans, whether it’s sharing off-the-field hobbies or providing thoughts on issues surrounding their teams or anything else going on in the world.
Marshall, for example, posted a message for his 177,000 followers on Instagram on Monday, saying “The ‘Never-say-die’ attitude is when someone never gives up hope in a difficult situation. … I always push through, no matter what the circumstance looks like.” Marshall concluded the message by asking fans to ride with the team through the final six games, promising they “fight every snap.”
The responses were mostly words of encouragement. But the Broncos have also had a deeper look the last two months at how those interactions can cut the other way.
“There’s a lot in there that I don’t go after,” Anderson said. “Believe me.”
Leary said he understands fans being unhappy with the results. The criticism, he said, comes with the territory when a team fails to meet expectations.
But he and other Broncos who charitably gave their time Tuesday, including several players who helped prepare Thanksgiving meals at the Salvation Army, want their fans to know they are still working for them.
“Some of the fans aren’t happy, and rightfully so,” he said. “The season’s not going the way that we all planned for it to go, unfortunately. But things like this, it kind of puts football on the back burner for the day. We come out here to do things like this and it reminds you there are a lot of other things going on in the world besides football. To come and put smiles on people’s faces, those are real fans. Today is about them.”
