DENVER — It's not just a place to get your hair washed, cut, and blow dried. A barbershop is a cultural cornerstone of every city, and Broncos offensive tackle Elijah Wilkinson felt that a proper one was missing in his new home of Denver.
"The whole idea of it was to bring a vibe from Downingtown, Pennsylvania, where I'm originally from. It's just a place to hang out, listen to music, you know, Saturdays college football is on. While you're sitting there waiting for a haircut, you're just sitting there, having a chat with somebody and it's all good conversation. Just come relax, come get a haircut, come get cleaned up, and look nice."
Wilkinson teamed up with his barber of two years Freddy Soto to open up All-Star Barbershop in the East Colfax neighborhood of Denver.
"It's been a long time coming but you know, Freddy put in the hard work and I put in some of my days off when we were in camp until now so I could come here and help out."
The barbershop opened up on October 1 with an open house. Some of his Bronco teammates, including fellow lineman Garett Bolles, stopped by to watch Wilkinson get a ceremonial first cut.
"I get the same thing every time--same old, same old! That's what we always say! People say 'are you doing something different?' and I'll be like, no, same old."
"Same old" is the theme of what he wants his barber shop to be, the same old feel that he had in his home town, and the same feeling most people associate with classic shops.
"That was definitely one thing that I didn't have here, I didn't have a barber shop where I could go and just hang out or just go and stop in and be like 'yo guys, what's up,' like, you know. Just a nice welcoming, safe barbershop where somebody can come and get a quality haircut."