There will be a bearded, 300-pound angel on the shoulder of Broncos quarterback Bo Nix when he takes the field for his first NFL playoff game.

Christopher Michael Deal left this world too soon, succumbing to the cruel ravages of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at age 50 in the summer of 2022.

But even in death, this giant of a man gives strength to Nix.

“We can go further than just (making) the playoffs,” said Nix, the rookie leader of the first Broncos team to qualify for the postseason in nearly a decade. “I don’t want to be handcuffed by just making the playoffs, just because we haven’t done it in so long. If we’re going to make it, we might as well go win some games.”

Nix unveiled a cool hype video last week to inspire his Denver teammates before they take on heavily favored Buffalo on Sunday. The music that rocks the quick-cut highlights of Denver’s surprising 10-7 season is Aerosmith’s classic anthem “Dream On.”

Are you a Bo-liever?

Every impossible dream is inspired by unseen hands.

And the loving fingerprints of the late Christopher Michael Deal are imprinted on Nix’s quest to shock the NFL world.

Nix recently began selling orange and blue Bo-lieve T-shirts, with all the profits going to the fight against ALS, a terminal, muscle-wasting disorder that is frequently referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

“I’ve seen the tragedy and the tough part of the disease,” Nix said. “Any awareness I can bring to it, I think is helpful to all those going through it.”

All that Nix has now from a life well-lived are photographs and memories inspired by Deal. But when a friendship takes root deep in the heart, that’s often enough.

“My dad was a burly, bearded guy with big hands that could knock anyone silly and a deep, loud voice that was kind and caring. Maybe those are weird words to put together in describing somebody, but that’s why everybody loved a big guy with an even bigger heart,” said Luke Deal.

He’s the real Deal, a proud son of a high school football coach that grew up to be a tight end for Auburn, where he caught a touchdown pass from Nix against Mississippi State at Jordan-Hare Stadium late in 2021.

There’s a photograph snapped during the summer of that same year. It features Nix, a handful of Auburn teammates, Luke and his father.

In the picture, a young college quarterback can be seen smiling at the right hand of a huge man trying to enjoy every minute despite being robbed of his ability to walk by ALS.

“Dad was strong enough to carry the world on his shoulders and then was brought to his knees by ALS. It was sad to see. I wouldn’t wish it on any family in the world,” Deal said.

“But there’s light at the end of the tunnel, because I believe there’s going to be a cure. I’m really thankful to Bo, not only for his friendship and everything he’s done for me and my family, but what he’s doing to fight ALS.”

Nix was raised in a small Alabama town where fewer than 8,000 folks live. Deal hails from a sleepy burg in South Carolina with a population of 22,000. Both are sons of a coach that molded them to be team captain material. They first met as teenagers after freshman year of high school, during a summer quarterback camp at Clemson, where Nix could spin the football better than anyone, including Deal.

“There’s a reason I switched positions to tight end,” said Deal, laughing.

So when they entered Auburn together with the recruiting class of 2019, Deal already understood that underestimating Nix is always a bad bet.

“What you see with Bo is what you get. He came to Auburn as a freshman and joined a really competitive quarterback room, including Malik Willis (now a back-up for the Green Bay Packers). But didn’t care. He beat everybody out,” Deal said.

“While everybody seems surprised about all the touchdowns Bo has thrown as a rookie in the NFL and are amazed how he’s taken the Broncos to the playoffs, I’m not. That’s just the Bo I know.”

For a decade, the histories and families of Nix and Deal have been intertwined, their stories impossible to tell without each other, in good times and bad. They’ve become football brothers, from sweating together on the same practice field and keeping in touch by phone from more than 1,000 miles apart.

On July 3, 2022, Deal attended his father’s funeral in South Carolina.

A day earlier, he stood up at Nix’s wedding in Alabama.

Before the Auburn tight end departed to celebrate the marriage of Bo and Izzy Nix, however, he spent the final hours of Christopher Michael Deal’s life by the big man’s side, blessed with a chance to say goodbye.

His father’s final words of advice: No matter how brutal the gut punch, don’t quit. Lead. Loved ones are counting on you.

“Anybody can be a leader when things go great,” Deal said. ”But when things go wrong, what kind of man are you going to be?”

On a Sunday afternoon in chilly western New York, as Nix drops back to pass in a duel against the Bills, his former college teammate will be watching the game from a sofa in Alabama.

Deal will catch as much of the action on television as is possible between chasing “an active, happy little sucker,” which is how he fondly describes a five-month-old son given to him by his wife, Ansley.

The kid’s name? It’s a tribute to a grandfather that never met the lad.

Christopher James Deal.

Everyone calls him C.J.

Look in the little guy’s eyes and you can see the strength and joy of a bearded, 300-pound angel.