ENGLEWOOD, Colorado — Face it, after all he's been through, Broncos rookie receiver Juwann Winfree was lucky he got drafted.
He got suspended and kicked out of Maryland for violating the school's student-athlete code of conduct following his freshman season of 2015.
He wound up at a junior college in Kansas.
A nice year at Coffeyville — then catapulted back to big-school football but not long after arriving on the University of Colorado campus, he tore an ACL before playing in his first game.
Despite all these setbacks, Winfree was drafted in the sixth round by the Broncos two weeks ago.
Those trials and tribulations, it seems, didn’t make him a character risk, but a young man of strengthened character. He said his difficult experiences are a big reason why he made it on the Broncos’ draft board and a place in the team’s rookie minicamp this weekend.
“It helped me build my mental — I’m real mentally strong," he said. “Just through all of that adversity, you have to realize that anything can be taken from you at any moment. It just helped me to learn not to take anything for granted. It helped me learn to keep trust in God. I just learned to keep that work ethic because God sees all of that work. Your teammates see all of the work. What is meant to be will happen. I just continue to have that faith.
“I had a really huge support system around me that made sure I couldn’t give up. Never once in my mind did I want to give up. I do this for myself, I do this for my family and for all of the people supporting me. I just have that supportive background. That helped push me along the journey as well I’d say.”
So why did the Broncos’ draft Winfree? The sixth round is where teams often take a flyer on potential. Winfree didn’t have great production at CU: 28 catches on an 11.6-yard average as a senior last year, 21 on a 15.5-yard average as a junior.
But he’s big at 6-foot-1, 215 and can run (4.5 in the 40). His strong hands and athleticism allow him to make the contested catch and, as rookies go, he is a relatively polished route runner.
There is upside to Winfree. It may be a largely untapped upside, but it’s there. Another former Buff, running back Phillip Lindsay, turned out to be a pretty good Bronco and mentor for Winfree.
“We have the same agent [Mike McCartney, coach Bill’s son]. [Lindsay] was really under-looked going through his process, so he just helped motivate me and made sure that you get what you deserve.
“Make sure you work for what you want. Just have faith in yourself. He always had faith in himself. He always believed that he could be a top running back in this league and that he could be a Pro Bowl player. Even undrafted. He came in with that same attitude and that’s something that I’m trying to do myself, coming in with that same attitude to help my team win.
“I’ve gotten a lot of advice from other athletes in the NFL. It’s been real helpful for me up to this point."
Winfree is also fortunate he had an ally in former Buff linebacker Matt Russell, who has long been John Elway’s right-hand man when it comes to the Broncos’ draft.
“It’s fortunate for us that he was in our backyard," said Broncos offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello. “A lot of individuals upstairs -- I think Matt Russell was on it very early to his credit. The University of Colorado is right down the road, it’s his alma mater and he knows guys. You know what a guy is made of. …
“He’s the same that he would’ve been had he not had [to] face him adversity. So far he’s done great. I’m excited to have him. We’re very fortunate that he fell to us."
After the Broncos’ rookie minicamp this weekend Winfree will join the likes of Courtland Sutton and DaeSean Hamilton Monday for the team’s first OTA practice. Emmanuel Sanders will be around rehabbing his ankle injury.
Eventually, Winfree will have a chance to make the Broncos’ 53-man roster. But if it’s anything like the journey he took to get here, it won’t be easy.
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