WIGGINS, Colo. — Drive an hour Northeast of Denver, approximately 66 miles, and one will find Dalton Risner’s hometown of Wiggins, Colo.

It’s easy to miss. There’s only one exit on I-76 East, exit 64, and no stoplights in the town with a population of around 1,000. And just outside of town where Interstate 76 and Highway 34 merge, sits Stub’s Gas & Oil — where Risner, now the Broncos’ starting left guard, and many other locals grew up hanging out.

“No stoplights and one gas station that has everything we need,” Risner said. “It’s a great town where everyone knows each other.”

On Monday, July 12, though, one might not have realized just how small Risner’s hometown is. On this day, over 400 kids in elementary, middle and high school from all over Colorado gathered at Wiggins High School for Risner’s free football camp.

For Risner, who has become one of the most community-involved Broncos in only two years in Denver, giving back to Wiggins was a no-brainer.

“Coming back home means a lot to me because this is where I grew up and where the dream of the NFL started,” Risner told The Gazette. “I would have never imagined being a part of the Denver Broncos when I was a kid. So coming back here and being able to be a role model for all the small-town kids out here that sometimes don’t have the access to the things the bigger schools have.”

Risner was raised on a ranch with 80 acres not too far from the high school, after his parents, Mitch and Melinda, moved to Wiggins in 2000. In their 20s with four kids at the time, Mitch and Melinda wanted to live in the country and chose Wiggins after seeing they had won the 1A football state championship the year prior. Twenty-one years later, Mitch is now the head coach at Wiggins and has been for the past nine seasons. He also started the Wiggins youth football program in 2003.

Football rules the Risner household, with Mitch playing at Murray State. All five of their sons played football in high school, with Risner and his older brother, Taylor, leading them to a runner-up finish in 1A state football in 2011. They only had 17 players on that team, and in a town like Wiggins, Friday nights are what they live for.

“Dalton is such a people person and he’s so outgoing that everyone in town really knew who he was (in high school). He’s never known a stranger,” Melinda said. “Everybody’s always been really supportive of him, but he’s also had some naysayers too. But he’s very proud of his hometown because he learned a lot of great things here not just about football, but life.”

When he wasn’t playing football, Risner spent his time farming and ranching for others. But his dream never wavered, becoming one of the top recruits in the state and earning a scholarship to Kansas State despite playing for a small school.

“In the summers, I scooped a lot of poop, I worked at a dairy farm, I worked on a ranch, I built a lot of barb-wired fences, I pulled a lot of rye out of wheat fields, bailed and stacked a lot of hay,” Risner said. “But no matter how big the dream was, I was always going to say I was going to do it. When you live in these small towns and you’re in high school, sometimes you have that mindset of ‘this is all there is to the world.’ And I had a lot of people tell me along the way that I couldn’t. A lot of people told me, ‘no one ever leaves Wiggins.’

“At the same time, I had a lot of people in this community who supported me too. And that’s why I want to give back. I’m able to give these kids hope and let them have a dream as well.”

That was Risner’s goal with his camp, teaching those kids about dreaming big while also being a good person — a lesson he learned years ago from his parents.

“I’m extremely proud. I love his heart,” Melinda said. “Football is amazing and he loves it and I’m a huge football fan, too, but I’m more proud of just the way he deals with people and the way he carries himself and is a good role model for the younger kids.”

Wiggins is slowly growing, thanks to a new subdivision that’s pushed the population over 1,000. And Risner has no intentions of stopping his community work in Wiggins, hoping to host a camp at his old high school every year.

“I love this community. This community is my type of people,” Risner said. “What a miracle it is to be right down the road. I’m not coming back wearing Seahawks gear, I’m not coming back wearing Bears gear, I’m coming back wearing Broncos gear, which is what everyone loves around here.

“I want them, and everyone, to remember me as someone who gave back and helped people. I care way more about that than if I’m remembered as a good football player.”