Fangio Recounts 'Emotional' & 'Teary' Conversation With Garett Bolles After Massive Extension was Finalized

Saturday actually started off on an incredibly positive footing for Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio. As he began preparations for the last practice ahead of Week 12's bout with the New Orleans Saints — not long before the NFL dropped a thermonuclear bomb on the Broncos' heads — Fangio's day was made brighter by a visit he received to his office from starting left tackle Garett Bolles.

The news was about to hit the wire of Bolles' massive four-year, $68 million extension, making him the fourth highest-paid tackle in the NFL. Fangio found himself face-to-face with Bolles where the big tackle informed him of the news from his agents that a deal was basically done.

On Monday, Fangio recounted that meeting with Bolles, which occurred before the NFL's momentous decision to pull all Broncos quarterbacks from the building and render them ineligible to play on Sunday vs. the Saints without giving the team the benefit of rescheduling the game.

"Well, my Saturday started off good. Garett came up to my office and told me that he thought the deal was done. I wasn't aware that it was done-done—I knew that they were talking. And we had an emotional couple of minutes there, him and myself together. [I'm] very happy for him."

What happens next for the Broncos? Don't miss out on any news and analysis! Take a second and sign up for our free newsletter and get breaking Broncos news delivered to your inbox daily!

Bolles entered Week 12 as the top-graded tackle in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus. But even that abomination that was the Broncos' offensive product on the field on Sunday only saw Bolles' ranking drop to being the third highest-grade tackle per PFF.

The Bolles extension completes a remarkable redemption tale. After playing one year of Division I football as a left tackle at the University of Utah, the Broncos selected him in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft.

Bolles became a day-one starter at left tackle for Denver. Although suffered one injury in Week 2 of his rookie season, it didn't cause him to miss time. He has started all 59 games at left tackle for the Broncos.

It wasn't often pretty as Bolles quickly branded himself a consistent perpetrator of holding penalties and became a recidivist in the eyes of NFL officials with a figurative bullseye on the back of his jersey. That's not to take the responsibility off of Bolles by any means but he did become a target, though, unfortunately, he fed into it. Halfway through his rookie year, he had become public enemy No. 1 in the minds of the refs and it didn't take long for him to become that to Broncos Country.

In his first three seasons, Bolles was among the NFL's most-penalized players at any position. However, something remarkable happened down the stretch of his third season.

After hiring Mike Munchak to coach the Broncos' offensive line, Bolles, initially, didn't seem to take to the new tutelage well. But down the stretch of the 2019 campaign, he elevated his game to a level that had heretofore been unseen and cut down on the penalties by a wide margin.

The Broncos were unconvinced that Bolles had turned a corner and opted not to exercise his fifth-year option, rendering 2020 a contract year for the beleaguered tackle. But he took the team's message for what it was and buckled down on his game.

This past offseason, despite the lack of practice reps and OTAs, Bolles took every opportunity to improve his game, focusing on his technique, even with help from his wife at times in the couple's kitchen at home. By the time the 2020 regular season rolled around, it quickly became obvious that the late-2019 version of Bolles wasn't fool's gold. It was here to stay.

Bolles' turnaround has been drastic. But Coach Fangio doesn't view it as an outlier.

"It can happen, it does happen," Fangio said.

The Broncos showed patience in the player, applied the right coaching to get him developed, and have reaped the rewards, even in a season that has been marred by the pandemic, an inordinate number of injuries, and unfair treatment by the NFL. Through all the ups and downs, the Broncos stood behind Bolles and the dividends are being paid out in kind — both to the team and the player.

"I just think it was keeping him in there and just letting him play," Fangio said. "I think that's the key decision and the key moment was letting him play through, letting him continuously improve. He did improve last year as the season wore on and he had a great offseason this year, albeit under duress with the situation. He did come back in great shape, great mindset. I would think too probably that with it being his contract year that helped him get motivated. We're trusting him that he's going to keep that same mindset moving forward.”

“I needed time," Bolles explained last week. "I’m extremely grateful for Coach Fangio. I know he’s talked to you guys about how he’s grateful to just let me go in there and learn from my mistakes."

Bolles considers himself to be a "fighter" and perhaps a modern gladiator of sorts. But without the team and his coaches showing patience and putting in the work, Clan Bolles would not have received the generation-altering contract extension.

"I’m a fighter," Bolles said last week. "I never give up and I’m just going to continue to do what I need to do to help this team win.”

To be a fly on the wall of that "emotional conversation" between Fangio and Bolles, I imagine, would have offered up an interaction very poignant, tender, and triumphant to behold.

“I'm going to keep to myself with Coach Fangio, but I will tell you this, I love that man dearly," Bolles said on Monday. "He put up with me for the last two years of the boos and people telling him to kick me out. But he knew what I was capable of doing because he saw me in practice every day. We talk regularly. He believes in me. I believe in him. I think he's a phenomenal head coach that's leading this organization in the right way. That moment I had with him when we both shed teary eyes and even the time that he said, 'I knew you could do it,' that meant a lot to me. I also told him, 'I won't let you down coach,' and he told me he's going to hold me accountable to that. So, I'm very thankful for that and I know that I won't let him down."

Bolles became just the fifth John Elway-era draft pick to receive a contract extension with the club. That doesn't count Justin Simmons' franchise tag this year or Chris Harris, Jr., the latter of whom wasn't drafted and signed with Denver in 2011 as a college free agent.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.

Add us as a preferred source on Google