BRONCOS HELPING

Team matching players’ efforts

Relief efforts in Houston are a personal matter for Emmanuel Sanders, the Broncos’ receiver who grew up 70 miles west of the city and attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He has family in the Hurricane Harvey-ravaged area. He has friends there. He calls Houston home. And he wants to help.

Sanders announced Wednesday at the Broncos’ annual kickoff luncheon that he and his teammates have so far raised more than $70,000 to donate to victims of Hurricane Harvey and that the team will match, dollar for dollar.

“Obviously, you guys see what’s going on out in Houston with Hurricane Harvey,” Sanders said. “It’s extremely bad out there. I’ve got family and friends, and a lot of people out there are struggling and need our help. Luckily, I’ve got great teammates and I play for a great organization.”

The Broncos have many players, coaches and staff members with ties to Texas and Louisiana. Outside linebacker Von Miller is from DeSoto, just outside Dallas, and he went to Texas A&M. He, too, has family in Texas, including an aunt who received nearly a foot of water outside her home.

“You see the pictures all over Instagram and all over social media, you see the highways and it looks like an ocean — the waves and the tides and the winds blowing. It’s just unfortunate,” Miller said.

Earlier Wednesday, former receiver and current radio host Brandon Stokley, as well as former tackle Tyler Polumbus accepted donations for American Red Cross in a daylong telethon at TeleTech in Englewood. Barbara Marshall, the mother of inside linebacker Brandon Marshall, joined.