Denver, CO
WATCH: Broncos Let Cameras in For Fiery Post-Game Locker Room Speech
The mood in the Denver Broncos locker room on Sunday following the team’s playoff-clinching win over the Kansas City Chiefs was jubilant. Tones of triumph, relief, elation… the Broncos embodied it all and for understandable reasons.
Denver snapped its eight-year playoff drought, finishing the 2024 regular season 10-7. But before the Broncos could get into game-planning mode for the Buffalo Bills in the Wildcard Round, head coach Sean Payton finally gave fans a glimpse of the post-game locker room scene at Empower Field at Mile High.
For the first time this season, the secretive and protective Payton allowed the cameras in for his post-game locker room speech.
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You can see how excited and greaful Broncos CEO and co-owner Greg Penner was as he greeted the players and coaches at the door, exchanging hugs, fist-bumps, and words of encouragement. We learned from Coach Payton at the podium that his game balls went to the Walton/Penner ownership group.
“The game balls today went to ownership,” Payton said on Sunday. “They’ve been tremendously supportive. Man, I’ve been to a number of pro teams, but I told the players, you don’t get to pick a lot of times where you end up, but you guys are in a good spot. This is a group that cares about you.”
Payton has often talked about how big of a selling point the Walton/Penners were in his decision to come out of retirement and take the Broncos job. They rewarded Payton with a lucrative contract and traded a first and second-round draft pick to the New Orleans Saints to acquire his coaching rights.
Payton knew the long-standing tradition of winning in the Mile High City and was well aware of the legacy created by all-timers like John Elway, Peyton Manning, Mike Shanahan, and late owner Pat Bowlen, but in his NFL experience dating back to the ’90s, he believed that the caliber of a team’s ownership group is one of its predictors of the future.
“In today’s pro sports, I think it’s probably one of the bigger indicators of success,” Payton said of ownership. “I know for me, personally, when I went through this process, that meant a lot to me relative to where, and I said that it wasn’t like I was looking to choose to join Patrick Mahomes in this division, you know? But the ownership group here was the reason. They got the game balls.”
Kudos to Payton for relenting and acquiescing to the cameras being the locker room following Sunday’s win so that Broncos Country can partake in the message and the celebration. Now it’s on to Buffalo.
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DENVER (KDVR) — Two Denver police vehicles were hit by separate drivers during a traffic stop last week, according to a social media post from the Denver Police Department.
On May 7, officers responded to a crash on northbound Interstate 25 near the exit for Alameda Avenue.
The officers were parked with their emergency lights on to direct the traffic away from the scene of the crash. Despite the lights being on, two separate vehicles crashed into the officers’ vehicles.
One driver caused minor damage to a Denver police vehicle and was cited for careless driving. The second driver caused extensive damage to a police vehicle and was cited for careless driving, as well as arrested for allegedly driving under the influence during the crash.
Officers were in their vehicles during the incident, with one uninjured and the other taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
“Traffic safety is a shared responsibility! If you come upon flashing lights, emergency vehicles, tow trucks, or disabled vehicles while driving, move over at least one lane or slow down if it’s not safe to move over. And don’t drive under the influence,” said the department in the post.
Denver’s outdoor warning sirens will sound for three minutes on Wednesday morning as officials test the city’s emergency systems.
All 86 outdoor sirens are scheduled to go off at 11 a.m., and at the same time the wireless emergency alert system will send a test text message to all mobile phones in Denver.
People in neighboring counties may also receive the emergency alert message, the Denver Office of Emergency Management said in a statement.
“Speed and clarity are critical in an emergency,” Executive Director Matthew Mueller said in a statement. “This test helps ensure Denver can deliver alerts across multiple platforms, so people know what to do right away.”
Denver officials have mistakenly sent emergency alerts about isolated police activity to the entire city twice in recent months — once in January when a person was barricaded near the University of Denver and once in April when two armed robbery suspects ran into a nearby home in Ruby Hill.
Denver emergency response officials may start using the outdoor sirens more often, including for destructive thunderstorms or flash flooding, instead of just for tornado warnings, city leaders said in a news release.
While Denverites don’t need to take any action during the test on Wednesday, the sirens are usually a sign to seek shelter indoors immediately and check for updates from the city and local news outlets, according to Denver officials.
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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional death for children ages 5-14. The folks at the YMCA of Metro Denver believe that drowning deaths are completely preventable.
“Drowning is a silent killer, but we can prevent that through education and encouraging parents and adults around to put their phones down and be water watchers,” said Breezy Bolden, President & CEO of YMCA of Metro Denver.
In recognition of the Y’s 150th anniversary and the 5th anniversary of the Aurora YMCA, the Y is offering a free community swim lesson for up to 150 children ages 3-12.
“We are teaching sidewalk CPR and how to apply a life vest, and also what happens if you unexpectedly find yourself in water … you fall in … you want to swim to the side … so we’ll be teaching those water safety skills,” Bolden explained.
YMCA of Metro Denver is working with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver and the Wheatlands Metro District to fill up that community swim class, but anyone is welcome to register up to 150 participants. For families who aren’t able to get into the free class, the YMCA of Metro Denver offers swim lessons throughout the year. The Y is actually the national provider of swim lessons and created group swim lessons.
“I believe and many of us believe at the Y that swimming is a life skill, just like riding a bike. It gives you an opportunity to be physically active, safe around water, and enjoy the beautiful outdoors of Colorado and all the lakes and reservoirs we have around here,” Bolden said.
LINK: Register for the free Community Swim Lesson
The YMCA of Metro Denver’s free Community Swim Lesson is Saturday, May 16, 2026 from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. at the Aurora YMCA at Wheatlands, 6100 Kewaunee Way.
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