Dalton Risner's mom bussed 'at least 50 kids' from Wiggins to Broncos camp

The Denver Broncos held their final training camp practice open to the fans on Tuesday.

The Dalton Risner family, and the good people of Wiggins, CO, weren't about to let the opportunity to show out in force and support their local boy go to waste.

That's right. In case you somehow missed it, Risner, the Broncos' second-round pick drafted No. 41 overall, is Colorado born-and-raised. He grew up out in the small town that fancies itself the 'Gateway to the Plains and the Rockies'.

Risner also grew up a dyed-in-the-wool Broncos fan, so ending up as one of the team's premium-round draft picks was literally a dream come true. There were a stunning number of Wiggins folk at Dove Valley on Tuesday and after practice, Risner explained how so many of his hometown folk were able to traverse the 73 miles to Broncos HQ.

“My mom got a big crew together from Wiggins and brought out—I don’t even know what the final number was—at least 50 kids to come out and watch practice which was really special," Risner said following practice. "Got a school bus, a couple school bus drivers and got out here.”

As tickled as the Wiggins locals surely are to see Dalton decked out in Broncos regalia (and he did give out many autographs), the attendees were hoping he could pull a few strings to get a few of the team's star players to give them a little facetime. No problem.

“They wanted my autograph," Risner said. "They wanted me to get [OLB] Von [Miller] and [OLB Bradley] Chubb and everyone over there. They just enjoyed the heck out of it. They thought it was so cool that I was out there. They all said I looked completely different with pads on, all that kind of stuff. They were in heaven."

The Broncos are now in the dog days of training camp, with about three weeks of real time under their belt. To have the fans show out in support, boosted by the infusion of Wiggins folk courtesy of Mrs. Risner, helps give these increasingly tired players a little extra boost. For Risner, Tuesday was double-fold in that sense.

“It meant so much," Risner said. "When you’re out here practicing and we’re on day I think like 20 something of camp, 27 or something, to have people like that come support you—I had a lot of my teammates tell me—giving me grief at first, but then saying, ‘Bottom line, dude, that’s really cool that you have kids coming up to come watch you practice and you’re from their town.’ I don’t know what I would have given to be able to watch someone from my town play in the NFL and watch their practice. That would have been really special.”

It might have been the first time the folk from Wiggins got to see Dalton Risner decked out in Orange and Blue but it won't be the last. Risner has been one of the studs of training camp and earned excellent grades for each of his performances in the Broncos' preseason Games 1 and 2.

Risner has been plugged in as the starter at left guard. Although it's been limited reps against outside competition, he's looked like a veteran out there, not lost or swimming, as is typical for most rookies thrust into a starting role. Hopefully, that trajectory continues when the regular season rolls around.

I have no reason to think it won't.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen.