In the first 45 seconds of his recent appearance on “Ellen,” former Utah and current Denver Broncos offensive lineman Zane Beadles’ best characteristics are on full display.
The dance the Pro Bowler breaks into as he approaches the stage isn’t one of cockiness. Rather, there’s a sense Beadles is simply there to have a good time, reminiscent of his father Brad’s description that the 6’4”, 305-pound left guard who will play in this Sunday’s Super Bowl is just “a big kid.”
Then there’s the hug, as he reaches down to embrace the famous talk show host, who is nine inches shorter than him. The scene calls to mind the ideas that Beadles is “the kind you wish was your own kid” and “the type of kid that you’d want your daughter to marry,” descriptions given by his high school offensive coordinator Gary Daniels and Utes’ head coach Kyle Whittingham.
Finally, viewers get a sense of what makes Beadles one of the better offensive linemen in the NFL. As DeGeneres takes her best jab at the 27-year-old, he stands tall, unfazed by the impact. Sure, DeGeneres may be just half Beadles’ size in weight, but his presence is imposing nonetheless.
The intersection of Zane Beadles the person first and Zane Beadles the football player second on such a well-known stage as “Ellen” speaks to who he’s become both off and on the field. The opportunity came in large part because he’s a prominent piece of one of the best offensive units in NFL history, but he was there representing the Zane Beadles Parade Foundation to rally support for two causes that have grown near to his heart.
The first is Brent’s Place, which provides “Safe-Clean” housing for families in Colorado who have children with compromised immune systems because of cancer. Both of Beadles’ grandmothers and one of his grandfathers were stricken with the disease, and he became close with one young cancer patient during his time with the Utes.
Though he is incredibly busy as an NFL player, Beadles visits Brent’s Place a few times during the season to play Barbies and other games with the children. He goes more frequently during the offseason, but more than that, he aims to provide opportunities such as stadium tours for the children who are experiencing hardship. Additionally, he has donated roughly $75,000 to Brent’s Place over the past three years.
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with a lot of coaches and athletes in the sports world throughout my nonprofit career, and I can sincerely say that I’ve never met anybody like Zane,” says Sean Meyerhoffer, the executive director of Brent’s Place. “He’s not only in it when there’s a camera there or something publicity-wise. He’s here when no one knows he’s here.”
Beadles’ father says spending time with the children at Brent’s Place is something his son looks forward to.
“It’s a good day for him when he’s able to go down to Brent’s Place,” Brad Beadles says. “Not that the reason is good, but the ability to go down and play with five, six, seven-year-olds who have just gone through chemotherapy, that’s what he enjoys, is that kind of thing.”
The second organization Beadles helps is Colorado Association of Black Professional Engineers and Scientists, which helps underprivileged children gain access to educational opportunities. This concept is important to Beadles, who stayed four years at Utah to earn a degree in mechanical engineering despite having the opportunity before that to bolt for the NFL.
“Football isn’t his defining characteristic,” Brad Beadles says. “For me as a father, that’s by far one of the most incredible things about him, is at age 27, he gets that. He understands the perspective of the bigger, broader picture of issues in life.”
Both Beadles’ father and Daniels feel that stems partly from the idea that Zane didn’t view himself as a potential NFL prospect until later in his college career. Baseball was his first love even through his prep years at Hillcrest High School in Midvale, and when he gave that up to join Whittingham’s squad, he felt inadequate as a football player. During his first fall camp at Utah, he confided in his father that he didn’t think he was good enough to make an impact for the Utes.
As his career on the hill — which included a move from guard to tackle -— wore on, Beadles became more of a force. As a junior, he garnered first team All-Mountain West honors and helped Utah win the Sugar Bowl. It was at this point that he was firmly on the radar of NFL scouts.
“The guy is an extremely smart football player,” Whittingham says. “He picks up things as quick as anybody we’ve ever had in our program. I think that’s a reason why, first of all, he made an NFL team and, second of all, why he’s doing so well, is because he doesn’t make mistakes. He’s a quick learner and is able to process a lot of information. Extremely bright kid.”
Even though a future playing on Sundays was essentially a sure bet, Beadles decided to stay in school his senior season. For the 2009 campaign, he earned first team All-American honors from the Football Writers Association of America, among many other awards.
In the 2010 NFL Draft, he was selected by the Denver Broncos with the 45th overall pick. He has started 62 of his 64 career games and was selected to play in the 2013 Pro Bowl. This season, he has helped Denver become a potent offense. With future Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning under center, the Broncos scored the most points ever in a regular season, and Manning set new records for most passing yards and touchdowns in a single season.
“It’s pretty surreal when you look on the TV at an away game, and it’s your son running across the screen,” Brad Beadles says. “It’s very, very humbling, proud, creates anxiety because you feel like you should be there with your son […] To see the work that he puts in 11 out of the 12 months of the year … when a father sees that kind of effort, it’s just humbling and very proud moments.”
Though Beadles has already created an impressive résumé in his young NFL career, none of it will compare with the stage that is the Super Bowl on Sunday. After Denver won the AFC Championship Game two weekends ago, Beadles and his father reflected on the season to that point.
In that moment, the younger Beadles acknowledged all of the hype to be completely true.
“[It’s been] the most challenging and rewarding season of my life,” Beadles says. “People don’t understand the pressure. Going into the season, we were expected to be who we were. That pressure was very, very hard to deal with sometimes. But in return, because we’re going to the Super Bowl, it’s also the most rewarding.”
But even with the excitement surrounding the Broncos in the Denver area right now, Meyerhoffer noted that what Beadles does away from his job will be just as important as possibly winning a championship for Broncos fans to celebrate, if not more so.
“We’re proud and humbled to be associated with him, especially with the things that are going on on the football field for him right now, but I think what we realize is that off the football field he is equally as impressive as he is on the football field. He’s just a great guy.”
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