Garett Bolles
Garett Bolles is an offensive tackle for the National Football League Denver Broncos. However, the Broncos informed him in 2020 that they will not exercise the fifth-year option of his contract for 2021, making him an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2020 season. An ESPN article said that the Broncos did not get involved in any trade talk for a different tackle, so this put Bolles in a “prove-it situation to stay with the team beyond this season.”[1]
Bolles was the team’s first-round pick in 2017. He has started every game for three seasons. However, he has a history of struggling with penalties for primarily holding.
Bolles was born on May 27, 1882, in Walnut Creek, California. His family moved to Lehi, Utah, where he encountered numerous problems through involvement in drugs, alcoholism, violence, and gangs. Consequently, his father kicked him out of the house. Garrett’s lacrosse coach Greg Freeman saw him standing on a street corner with his belonging. He called his wife and asked her what he should do. “I did what I always do,” Emily Freeman said. “I prayed and asked Heavenly Father, ‘What should we do with Garett?’ And the message came back clear: ‘Bring him home.’ So we did.”[2] The Freeman family established expectations and adopted him. Bolles changed his life by becoming active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and following the family rules.
He played offensive and defensive football in high school. He also competed in lacrosse. Before playing college football, he served a full-time mission in Colorado Springs, Colorado, for ten months before being sent home. He then played for Snow College before transferring to the University of Utah. He helped Snow College finish second in the NJCAA rankings. He entered the 2017 NFL Draft instead of completing his senior year at the University of Utah.
Bolles and his wife, Natalie, are the parents of two children.
Bolles was nominated for the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year, considered to be the league’s most prestigious honor that is given annually to an NFL player that is making a valuable difference in his community. Bolles participates in regular mentorship visits at youth probation courts and detention facilities in the Denver area. He has mentored over 100 youth. He was one of 32 nominees — one from each NFL team — announced by the league on Dec. 5. All 32 nominees will receive recognition for their achievements during the week leading up to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, Nevada. The winner will be announced during NFL Honors, a primetime awards special to air nationally on CBS on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024.[3]
