Despite being more than 1,400 miles away, Justin Simmons still considers Denver home. Black and red are his new uniform colors, but he continues to bleed orange and blue. Simmons’ football career took a different path last spring when the Pro Bowl safety was released from the Broncos in March. The franchise’s longest-tenured player at that time was left to find a new team. He found it in Atlanta, signing a one-year deal with the Falcons in August. Months after the move, he is still learning to adjust to life away from the Mile High City. “It’s been a learning process,” Simmons told The Denver Post. “I was in one locker room for eight seasons. …That’s really all I knew. Now, I’m in a different one in Atlanta, and there’s so much good here.” Looking back at his time in Denver ahead of Sunday’s matchup against his former team, Simmons has no regrets. When he came to the organization as a third-round pick out of Boston College in 2016, he hoped to discover the best version of himself. Over 118 career games, Simmons — a four-time second-team All-Pro and the league’s interceptions co-leader in 2022 — turned into one of the best safeties in franchise history. But his impact stretched far beyond the gridiron. He connected with the community on a personal level, visiting kids at the Boys and Girls Club, handing out coffee to the staff members, delivering Christmas trees to families in need and so many other acts of kindness. “I gave it all, and I’ll have nothing but love for Broncos Country,” Simmons said. “They always say ‘A special place is never the actual place. It’s always the people.’ There’s been nothing but special people that made it feel like home.” Simmons’ return to Denver will be filled with a wide array of emotions, not just from him but from former teammates and others he interacted with over the years. The stories about Simmons are endless but have one common theme: He was always the same person, no matter who he came across. “You never see too many guys come around like that in your life,” Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II told The Post. “He genuinely cared” Two days after Simmons was handed a pink slip by the Broncos, he took a trip to the Denver Coliseum to fulfill an obligation to Nashara Ellerbee. Inside the 73-year-old arena, Ellerbee, then a senior at Northfield High School, played in the Class 5A state girls basketball championship against Roosevelt. Simmons had known Ellerbee through the Broncos Boys and Girls Club and Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality Program, also known as RISE. He had developed such a strong bond through their frequent interactions that Ellerbee views him as an older brother. And like any other older sibling would, Simmons occasionally attended Ellerbee’s volleyball and basketball games. There was no chance he would miss watching her play on the big stage. Nashara Ellerbee is photographed on the Colorado State University campus in Fort Collins, Colorado on Nov. 12, 2024. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post) Related Articles Denver Broncos | Keith Bishop’s reliability on the offensive line made him a Broncos legend. But his biggest impact came well after that. Denver Broncos | Broncos rookie Jonah Elliss looks forward to facing older brother, Falcons LB Kaden Elliss Denver Broncos | Broncos, QB Bo Nix have engineered major turnaround on third downs over past three games Denver Broncos | Broncos scouting report: How Denver matches up with Falcons and predictions Denver Broncos | NFL Picks: Two big-time AFC matchups among playoff contenders set Week 11 stage “Having a professional athlete at your game is like ‘Wow,’” said Ellerbee, now a freshman at Colorado State. “Everyone would (say), ‘Oh my God, that’s Justin Simmons’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah it is. That’s a brother to me.’” A couple of months after attending Ellerbee’s games, Simmons was present for Naja’Ray West’s graduation from Highlands Ranch High School. Simmons begged West to give him an invitation, so she knew he would make an appearance. However, she didn’t expect him to stay for the entire ceremony. “Some people might show up and say ‘I saw you walk across the stage and I’ll see you later.’ He waited until I walked then he was there waiting with my family,” West said. Simmons’ friendship with West and Ellerbee, both Montebello residents, began around 2020. He attended virtual RISE meetings that discussed social injustice, systemic racism and the challenge of being Black and brown kids in America. They had Zoom calls once a week for 12 weeks. Simmons attended every session. “We thought he was just another athlete or celebrity joining this call,” West said. “But he kept coming back. He wanted to hear us out, (and) that showed he genuinely cared. Naja’Ray Ray Ray West poses for a portrait at the Community College of Aurora CentreTech Campus on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post) “A lot of people do volunteer service, but he took it to another level. He wanted to understand what we were saying and connect with (us).” Simmons has supported Ellerbee and West ever since. That included assisting their efforts to organize the March for Peace, an annual 5K walk and run that spreads awareness of violence in the community. When they mentioned their idea on a Zoom call, Simmons stepped up and offered to help in any way he could, from donating to being a mentor during the planning process. The first March for Peace took place in the summer of 2021, with Simmons and others from the Broncos organization chipping in. They held the fourth March for Peace last June. Simmons once again was in attendance. “From day one, he supported us,” West said. “Every time that we had a meeting, Justin was sitting right there with us. Even if we couldn’t do it in person, he made sure he called us.” “He gave me the opportunity to push my limits” As a freshman at RiseUp Community School in downtown Denver, Eunique Lee began expressing her creativity through shoe art. She painted different designs on her family’s shoes just for fun. Simmons offered her the chance to take her artwork further. During a visit to the Boys and Girls Club in 2021, Simmons sat with Lee, who was 16 at the time and listened to her talk about art and designing shoes. Lee showed Simmons some of the kicks she had worked on before he asked if she could do the same for him. “Justin is a people’s person, so he cares a lot about finding out a person’s backstory and shedding light on them,” said Lee, now a sophomore at the University of Northern Colorado. Lee first met Simmons when he was a rookie. At 10, Lee was at the Broncos Play 60 at the team’s training facility. She remembered Simmons taking the initiative to speak with kids and getting to know them. Lee is a lifelong Broncos fan, so seeing a player like Simmons take time to connect meant the world to her. Just like Ellerbee and West, Lee was part of RISE. She and other RISE members would occasionally have dinner with Simmons and his wife, Taryn, strengthening their connection to the star safety. “I see him as family,” Lee said. “My mom called me when he signed with the Falcons and we cried.” Sneaker artist Eunique Lee poses for a portrait outside The Shops At Northfield in Denver on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post) A few weeks after Lee designed Simmons’ Vans, the Montbello resident was asked to design his game cleats for the “My Cause My Cleats” game. Simmons had a drawing competition with the kids at the Boys and Girls Club. Lee took some of those drawings and painted them on his cleats, which he wore for Denver’s road matchup against Kansas City in 2021. The following year, Lee designed cleats not just for Simmons but also for other members of the Broncos organization. She did artwork on white Nike Air Forces for general manager George Paton, president Damani Leech, owner Carrie Walton Penner and minority owner Condoleezza Rice. “He gave me the opportunity to (showcase) my artwork and push my limits,” Lee said. “A hole dug into the locker room” Surtain had to adjust to Simmons’ infectious spirit no longer being in the locker room. Simmons would strike up a conversation with any player on the team and was always energetic. He never had a bad day, former teammates say, despite enduring seven straight losing seasons. “When he left, it was like a hole dug into the locker room,” Surtain told The Post. “He was a valuable piece to the organization.” Safety P.J. Locke added: “It was tough to understand that (energy) was going away.” Surtain spent three years soaking in the lessons Simmons taught him about being a leader on and off the field. He said Simmons displayed great humility and always brought positive vibes, one of the reasons the team rallied behind him. In his first season as Denver’s team captain — a role that once belonged to Simmons — Surtain said he’s taken everything he learned from his ex-teammate and applied it to his own style of leadership. “When you have a teammate like that, it makes you more motivated than ever to do the same,” Surtain said. For Locke, his relationship with Simmons runs deep. The 27-year-old realized Simmons was a special teammate when he offered to pay for his meal because he didn’t have enough money when he first joined the team in 2019. On the field, Locke credited Simmons with improving his IQ. Playing under former Broncos head coach Vic Fangio, Locke said safeties had to take command of everything on defense. They had to get the linebackers lined up and be in constant communication with the defensive linemen. Justin Simmons (31) of the Denver Broncos celebrates his interception of a pass thrown by Colt McCoy (12) of the Arizona Cardinals with P.J. Locke (6) during the first quarter at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver on Sunday, December 18, 2022. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post) “It was a lot to process, man,” Locke said. “He helped me understand what the offense was trying to attack. And after a while, I just started to see.” Locke took advantage of everything he learned from Simmons and developed into a quality player in the back end of the defense, eventually earning himself a two-year, $7 million contract last offseason. Ten weeks into the season, Locke still can’t fathom Simmons playing for another team. Locke said Simmons’ departure forced him to grow up because he’s now one of the leaders in secondary. “I’ve had to fill his shoes a little bit, and his shoes are unfillable,” Locke said. Simmons, however, expressed confidence during the offseason that Locke and the rest of the secondary would succeed in his absence. He wasn’t wrong. The Broncos are 10th in passing yards allowed (192.2 per game) and have 12 takeaways, including three interceptions from Surtain. Even though the Broncos will be focused on securing their sixth win and staying in the postseason race, Locke expects Sunday to be an emotional trip down memory lane. “That’s my brother for life. He’s stuck with me,” Locke laughed. “When he comes out, I know the crowd is gonna go crazy. Knowing him, he’s gonna shed a tear.” Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.