Guest Writer: Darius Salomonson
So, what do you really know about Denver South’s most famous neighbor, the Denver Broncos? I mean sure, you know they are one of the best franchises in all of North American sports. I’m sure you also know that they have an all-time winning percentage above fifty percent, three super bowl victories in eight appearances (with back-to-back victories in 1997 and 1998), and a consistently sold-out stadium. Fans know the team boasts a plethora of hall of fame athletes, record breaking statistics, a revenue stream of $470,000,000 and an overall value of $3,000,000,000. And of course, there’s the endless number of tattoos on the skin of loyalists, as well as a committed and ever-expanding fan base that spans throughout the Rocky Mountain region and the world over.
However, did you know that the Denver Broncos franchise is on the cutting edge of the STEM fields? That’s right, the Broncos are HUGE science nerds. From their state-of-the-art UCHealth Training Center in Dove Valley that helps their players reach their full athletic potential (and even surpass it), to their commitment to the community by helping further accessibility to science education; the Broncos have an immense amount of investment in and contribution to the sciences, particularly bioscience.
As an athletic organization, the Broncos are inherently tied to the potentials of advancing scientific technology, how that can assist human beings as we progress into the future, and help turn our science fiction dreams into reality. They have a finger on the pulse of the scientific breakthroughs and innovations occurring in the Denver South area (and the state of Colorado as a whole) on a daily basis. Whether it is how better nutrition can help the human brain succeed, how wounds and physical damage can be healed to never before seen levels, or even how better exercise techniques can be the answer to many of our health woes; the Broncos are a direct partner and participant of our established and growing science industries. Even the Broncos cheerleaders embody this scientific interweaving. Four of their current squad are directly employed in the sciences. They have a chemical and biological engineer, a registered nurse, an aerospace engineer, and a pharmacist, leading the cheer for our beloved team.
Perhaps even cooler than the Broncos’ direct involvement in the scientific industries, is their commitment to furthering the opportunities available to our youth when it comes to science education. The Tackle STEM initiative is a direct partnership with some of Colorado’s most prestigious scientific institutions that sees the Broncos directly engaging with the community in order to increase interest in the STEM fields.
Back in 2015, the Broncos teamed up with Denver South-based Arrow Electronics, alongside CSU’s Little Shop of Physics, to sponsor a “girls-only” event at Mile High Stadium. Two hundred girls aged six to fourteen were invited to participate to address the underrepresentation of women in STEM-related professions. (Despite the fact that women earn fifty percent of the degrees in Colorado, they only make up thirty percent of the STEM graduates.) As a result, the Broncos have taken it upon themselves to “tackle” this issue with the hopes that more girls and women will develop a scientific career trajectory. To this day, the Broncos and their Tackle STEM initiative are encouraging girls (and boys) to be interested in science with a multitude of programs.
So, the next time you think the Denver Broncos are merely confined to the gridiron, we encourage you to think again! The Denver Broncos are more than just our favorite team and pastime. They are a committed member of our community and want nothing more than to drive us down the field to score big…with science!
