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Officer acquitted in Elijah McClain’s death resigns from Aurora Police Department

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Officer acquitted in Elijah McClain’s death resigns from Aurora Police Department


An Aurora police officer acquitted in the death of Elijah McClain resigned from the department Friday.

Nathan Woodyard, 34, who put the 23-year-old McClain in a neck hold during the violent 2019 arrest, was found not guilty in November of criminally negligent homicide and reckless manslaughter in McClain’s death.

After the verdict, Woodyard requested to rejoin the police department and was owed $212,546 in back pay. He’d been suspended without pay since September 2021, when he was indicted on the criminal charges.

He could have returned to the department after completing a reintegration process, city spokesman Ryan Luby said in November. Instead, he resigned on Friday, Luby confirmed.

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McClain was walking home from a gas station — wearing a black ski mask as he often did, and dancing to music — on Aug. 24, 2019, when someone called 911 to report him as a suspicious person.

The responding officers detained McClain, violently forced him to the ground and handcuffed him before paramedics injected McClain with the sedative ketamine. Woodyard used a neck hold on McClain, who had committed no crime. The 23-year-old suffered cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital, where he was later declared brain dead. He died Aug. 30, 2019.

With Woodyard’s resignation, none of the three officers charged in McClain’s death will be returning to work at the Aurora Police Department.

Officer Jason Rosenblatt, who was also acquitted of criminal charges, was fired before the jury trials for responding “ha ha” in a text to a photo of three officers reenacting the choke hold on McClain. Officer Randy Roedema was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and assault in McClain’s death, and was fired after the verdict. He was sentenced to 14 months in jail.

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Parker Gabriel’s 7 Thoughts after Broncos capture No. 1 seed, including Bo Nix barking at Sean Payton, then looking inward

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Parker Gabriel’s 7 Thoughts after Broncos capture No. 1 seed, including Bo Nix barking at Sean Payton, then looking inward


The Broncos are in prime position.

They didn’t wow many people Sunday, but they controlled a 19-3 win against the Los Angeles Chargers from start to finish and in the process secured the AFC’s No. 1 seed, a first-round playoff bye and homefield advantage as long as they’re in the tournament.

They are two home wins away from playing in Super Bowl 60.

Head coach Sean Payton after the game did as much shrugging off of an offensive o-fer in scoring position as he’ll ever do.

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Players were business-like, but they can feel the inbound rest already.

As they arrived home Sunday night, there are 14 teams still playing in the NFL.

By the time they next take the field, that number will be eight.

Now the fun really begins.

Here are 7 Thoughts following Denver’s dominant defensive performance and a remarkable 14-3 regular season.

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1. Bo Nix asked Sean Payton for more urgency early in Sunday’s game. Afterward, he said he should have provided it himself.

Broncos quarterback Bo Nix looked to the sideline.

Early in the second quarter, Denver’s trudging offense finally found a bit of a spark.

Tyler Badie had just taken a third-and-13 swing pass for 16 yards and a first down.





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Broncos clinch AFC’s No. 1 seed, home-field advantage throughout AFC playoffs

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Broncos clinch AFC’s No. 1 seed, home-field advantage throughout AFC playoffs


DENVER — The Broncos have checked off their second goal of the season.

Denver officially clinched the AFC’s No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs with Sunday’s 19-3 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.

As the top seed, the Broncos will receive a first-round bye in the 2025 playoffs and will host their first playoff game of the year in the Divisional Round on Saturday, Jan. 17 or Sunday, Jan. 18 at Empower Field at Mile High.

The Broncos, the lone team in the AFC to receive a first-round bye, will host the lowest remaining seed in the AFC playoff field in the Divisional Round. Denver’s possible opponents for its playoff opener include the Texans, Bills, Chargers and the yet-to-be-determined winner of the AFC North. If the Broncos earn a win in the Divisional Round, they would also host the AFC Championship Game.

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Denver finished the 2025 regular season with a 14-3 mark, which is tied for the most regular-season wins in franchise history. The Broncos earned the No. 1 seed over the Patriots (14-3) due to a better record in games against common opponents.

The Broncos are the No. 1 seed in the AFC for the first time since 2015, when they went on to win Super Bowl 50. Denver has earned the No. 1 seed for an AFC-best ninth time, and two of the Broncos’ three Super Bowl titles have come after earning the No. 1 seed. The Broncos advanced to the Super Bowl in six of the eight previous seasons in which Denver earned the top seed in the conference.

Broncos Head Coach Sean Payton has now led teams to the No. 1 seed on three occasions in his career, and he is one of five coaches to lead two different organizations to a No. 1 seed.

Bo Nix, meanwhile, became the fourth quarterback in franchise history to lead the organization to a No. 1 seed — joining Ring of Famers John Elway, Peyton Manning and Craig Morton.

Learn more about playoff tickets and suites by visiting DenverBroncos.com/Tickets

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Grading The Week: From Bo Nix’s dog days to Mackenzie Blackwood and Nikola Jokic, Denver sports’ 2026 off to rocky start

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Grading The Week: From Bo Nix’s dog days to Mackenzie Blackwood and Nikola Jokic, Denver sports’ 2026 off to rocky start


The Lumberyard is breaking boards already?

The Colorado Avalanche is becoming the Colorado Ambulanche. The Nuggets’ center options went from Nikola Jokic and Jonas Valanciunas to the 1-2 punch of DeRon Holmes II and Zeke Nnaji.

Hang on. Hang on. Wasn’t 2026 supposed to be “Denver’s Year?”

At least, that’s what the Grading The Week (GTW) crew told each other at the annual holiday soiree a fortnight ago, just before we sent everybody home for Christmas.

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Well after the last eight days or so, Team GTW thinks it might be wise now for the Broncos to double Bo Nix’s security. (Just don’t bring any guard dogs.)

Because if it wasn’t for bad luck, to paraphrase the late, great bluesman Albert King, Front Range sports fans wouldn’t have no luck at all.

Blackwood to the IR — D.

This past Friday, the Avs took a break from wiping the ice with the rest of the NHL to place goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, the younger half of its “Lumberyard” pairing of netminders, on injured reserve with a lower body injury.

You want lousy timing? Blackwood’s absence piles it on with several layers of awful.

For one, the Thunder Bay native finished December on a heater — posting an 8-1-0 record, a 2.13 Goals Against Average and a save rate of 92.3%.

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For another, Colorado is in the teeth of one of the tougher road trips of the season, with visits to division leading Carolina on tap for Saturday, followed by a matinee Sunday at Florida to cap off a night game-into-day-game back-to-back, capped off by a Tuesday evening visit to Tampa Bay.

For yet another, Blackwood only faced 13 shots on New Year’s Eve, his last start, during a 6-1 Avs win over St. Louis at Ball Arena.

Scott Wedgewood (17-1-4, 2.13 GAA, .919 save percentage as of early Saturday) has been more than good enough to shoulder the load in net, granted. But you also don’t want to overload a 33-year-old goalie who’s having a career year in his eighth full season in the NHL. Wedgewood, largely a “1B” netminder since ’15-16, had already logged 24 starts this season going into the weekend. His career high for starts is 32 and his season average has been 20 per year. Depending on the severity of Blackwood’s injury, Wedgewood, at least in the short term, is going to have to ramp up the quantity to match his quality.

In isolation, it’s a lousy way to open 2026. Add in the freak knee injury Nuggets icon Jokic suffered this past Monday night in Miami and Valanciunas’ calf strain two days later in Toronto, you wonder what Denverites did to anger the sporting gods. Or if we’re getting payback for October-December being so absolutely glorious ’round these parts.

Regardless, let’s put a pin in those multiple-championship-parades-in-one-year plans — at least until Nix and the Broncos get to Santa Clara next month in one piece.

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CSU women’s hoops rolling — A.

May whatever karma that’s haunting Ball Arena spare the good folks up in FoCo. The CSU Rams’ women’s basketball team finished the December part of its ’25-26 slate with a flourish on Dec. 31, stomping Grand Canyon in Phoenix 61-47 and improving to 12-2 overall, 3-0 in Mountain West play. CSU has won 12 straight away games dating back to last season. The Rams get a two-game homestand against Fresno State (Saturday) and New Mexico (Wednesday) before returning to the road on Jan. 10 (at Boise State) and Jan. 14 (at Air Force).



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