Dalton Risner may be doing karate kicks in Minneapolis, but the Broncos still have a kung fu grip on his heart.
“I wanted to win the game. But I’m not gonna be a sore loser and be like, ‘Man, I hate that they’re gonna win,’” Risner, pride of Wiggins and the former Broncos guard, told me after his boyhood team rallied for a 21-20 win over his new one, the Minnesota Vikings. “No, no.
“Good for them, bro.”
Revenge game? Nah. Like Von Miller, Risner keeps referring to the Broncos in the present tense, even if that “present” was ages ago. Old habits. First loves.
“Dude,” the Vikes blocker and ex-Kansas State star continued, “I told all my teammates after the game, ‘Good for you guys. Keep doing your thing.’
“We didn’t win a lot when I was here. And I hope and I wish them the best. We’re not gonna see them the rest of the year unless it’s in the Super Bowl. So best of luck to them, man. Keep doing their thing and hope my boys stay healthy.”
Revenge game? The 28-year-old Risner went off-script and introduced himself as hailing from “THE Wiggins High School” on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” telecast.
You can take a dude outta Morgan County, but you’ll never take the Morgan County outta the dude.
“I heard a ton of people trying to get my attention, saying, ‘Risner!’” the ex-Bronco recalled after Denver snapped the Vikes’ five-game win streak on another slice of Courtland Sutton sorcery. “But I was like, ‘Man, I need to focus on the game.’ Who knows whether we’re gonna turn around and get the middle finger or turn around (and it’s) someone saying, ‘Hi.’”
Because it ended kinda funny, didn’t it? Risner, a second-round draft pick in 2019, made 62 starts for the Orange and Blue from 2019-22. But the big guy last autumn navigated a star-crossed season at the worst of times — the very end of his four-year rookie contract. Risner tried to power through ankle, back and shoulder problems for much of the ’22 campaign, only to be shelved for the season after straining the UCL in his left elbow against the Chiefs in Week 17.
The Pro Football Focus wonks weren’t kind, either. PFF graded the Wiggins native with a 53.4 run-block rating and a 61.1 overall mark for last season’s efforts, both career lows. Throw in the scuttlebutt with ex-Broncos backup QB Brett Rypien 11 months ago during the Christmas Day Massacre, and all sides probably needed a clean break and a fresh start.
“Playing here for four years, you know it’s (about) business,” Risner continued. “And I knew it was a business trip coming down here.
“On these trips, you either get caught up in tickets and who you’re gonna see, and all that bull (crud), or you just focus on the game. I just want to focus on the game.”
Risner eventuaslly signed a 1-year, $4-millon contract with the Vikings this past Sept. 18, effectively jumping onto a moving train for the chance to work with Chris Kuper, the offensive line coach in Minnesota and Risner’s old assistant OL coach in Dove Valley.
Vikings brass felt good enough about Risner’s ability to get up to speed that they eventually traded the guy ahead of him on the depth chart, Ezra Cleveland, to Jacksonville last month. Over his first 300 snaps with Minnesota, PFF graded the Wiggins native out at a 55.9 overall and a 53.2 on run blocks.
“We (were) just chopping it up a little bit (after the game), seeing how he’s doing, how his family’s doing,” Broncos center Lloyd Cushenberry said of his old linemate. “It was short , because he had a lot of guys trying to talk to him … he invited me to his wedding. He’s a great guy. I loved playing with him. And I’m happy that everything worked out for him.”
No. 66 in purple, no shock, is fast becoming a cult hero in the Twin Cities. For one thing, if you stick one of those horned helmets on him, Risner looks like he’d have been the perfect pillaging wing man for Viktor the Viking during the Middle Ages. Mr. Wiggins has gushed about the Great White North at every turn and spent off days with the Salvation Army serving meals to locals.
Meanwhile, he’s chasing down the NFC like a man possessed. At Lambeau Field back on Oct. 29, Risner — 6-foot-5, 312 pounds — hurdled Green Bay’s Rudy Ford to help pick up a fallen teammate at the end of one play. On another, he slid the way Charlie Blackmon does at second base to try recover a loose ball near the end zone, diving feet-first into Packers linebacker Christian Young.
And yet those were mere aperitifs compared to what Big 66 pulled off against New Orleans earlier this month. In a sequence that looked like a cartoon fusion of Conrad Dobler and Jackie Chan, Risner extended a T.J. Hockenson reception by bull-charging his teammate, launching an almighty shove into a pile of three Saints and one Viking. He then punctuated the push by leaning back and firing a wild, martial-arts style kick at no one in particular.
That’s some karate, kid. You learn that move in Wiggins?
“I (had) no idea what (Sunday was) going to be like,” Risner said. “But they welcomed me with open arms, man. This is the NFL. Denver Broncos fans are Denver Broncos fans, so they’re not going to cheer on a Viking.
“But I’m sure they’ve got love for me, deep down. Which is cool.”