Becoming a Bronco: Will Parks recalls the big moments and emotions from his draft process

[Miles]

“We celebrated at the Clarion Hotel, right outside the King of Prussia [shopping center]. … My dad said, ‘Hey, man, even if you don’t get drafted, we’re going to celebrate you being alive and being able to go through this kind of process. Who would ever think that from where we come from that you would ever be in this position?’


“Obviously I waited until the third day: Round 6, pick 219. I got the call from the Denver Broncos, and that’s when my life changed. …


“Before it happened, we walked through the hotel. Everything was calm. And that was the first day. I looked at the first day, and I was like, ‘Hey, man, somebody might come and get be on the first day.’ And the first safety selected off the board was, I think, Keanu Neal or Karl Joseph. One of those two guys were selected, and I was like, ‘OK. Well, whatever.’ …


“Then the second day came around and I’m like, ‘OK, now it’s my day. Someone is going to call me.’ And that’s when the Broncos took Justin Simmons. I was like, ‘OK, that’s cool.’ And he was the eighth safety selected. I was the 16th safety selected. …


“The third day came around, and at that time, I started to get the free-agent calls. I got calls from the Packers, the Chicago, Redskins, Cowboys — a whole bunch of teams.


“Then a different number called me. It was a 720 number. It was John Elway. He goes, ‘Hey, Will, how are you doing?’ I was like, ‘I’m doing good, sir. How are you doing?’


“I was like, ‘I already know what you’re about to say, man. I’m going to consider visiting you guys as a free agent.’ … And he was like, ‘Wait, what? What do you mean? No, we’re drafting you.’ I was like, ‘What?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, we’re taking you right now. Look at the screen.’


“I looked at the screen, and I don’t know. I thought I’d seen a bunch of fish just circling my head. I thought I was in a dream, like I bumped my head and woke up. … And it was true. [Former head coach Gary] Kubiak got on the phone at the time, and Joe Woods got on the phone, … Wade and all those guys. I felt like right then and there, there was that family energy. That atmosphere — that ‘We want you here’ feeling. And that’s what you want as a player. …