Five things you might not know about Dalton Risner

In Manhattan, Kansas, an offensive lineman became the face of a major college football program.

In five years on the Kansas State campus, Dalton Risner became king. He’s been named to first-team All-American squads in two different seasons. He was first-team All-Big 12 in three. He was conference lineman of the year. He was a finalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year award.

This year, Risner appeared destined for the NFL Draft’s first round, but he fell to No. 41 overall, where the Broncos scooped him up. He should be a plug-and-play starter at guard as a rookie.

Here are five things you might not know about Dalton Risner:

He’s tight with Nate Solder

By now, you’ve probably heard that Risner grew up in Wiggins, Colorado, a town of about 500 people an hour or so north of Denver. He’s from a family of diehard Broncos fans. At his draft party, they had a box of t-shirts ready in case the Broncos chose him. They said “Dalton to Denver.” Risner is a BSN Denver subscriber.

But Nate Solder, a former first-round pick out of Colorado who makes $17 million per year playing left tackle for the Giants, comes from a similar background. He grew up in Buena Vista, Colorado, a few hours from Wiggins.

“Nate Solder is from Buena Vista, Colorado, also called Leadville, which is even smaller than where I come from,” Risner told Newsday. “Leadville doesn’t even have a gas station!”

The pair bonded over their small-town Colorado ties and Solder has helped him through the transition ro the NFL. Risner calls him a mentor.

“My heart goes out to him because I know what he’s going through and I know this is a stressful transition,” Solder said in the Newsday story. “He’s got a lot of high hopes, I’m sure, and a lot of things on the table. I just try to be able to answer questions he has for me if we can talk through things. I try to give him tidbits of advice.”

He was drawn to the community vibe at Kansas State

Unlike Solder, Risner decided to leave Colorado for college. He received offers from both Colorado and Colorado State — as well as various other Pac-12 and SEC schools — but it was Kansas State made him feel at home.

“He wanted to play for a town and a support system that was like Wiggins,” Dalton’s father, Mitch Risner, told The Mercury. “A small town. Signs are up in the windows — ‘Gone to the game.’ Everybody’s wearing the colors.”

During a recruiting trip to Kansas State, Dalton and Mitch visited Kite’s Bar and Grill for lunch. That afternoon, the Wildcats’ basketball team was playing Baylor. As tipoff approached, fans packed into the bar to watch the game.

“We started to notice all this purple,” Mitch said. “2-year-olds, to 22-year-olds, to 42-year-olds, to 102-year-olds, everybody was wearing purple. Everybody and their businesses was supporting purple and K-State.

“Dalton looked at me right then in the restaurant and said, ‘This is who I want to play for.’”

He called a players-only meeting

In October, the Wildcats’ football season hit a low point. They’d lost three-straight games and at 2-4, it was time to turn things around.

Risner, in his third year as team captain, approached head coach Bill Snyder. He told his coach he wanted to call a players-only meeting. Snyder thought it was a good idea.

“I trust Dalton, and Dalton wanted to talk with the players and elicit thoughts from players at the same time,” Snyder told the Topeka Capital-Journal. “You’ve got to have a great deal of trust in your players in order to consent to allow that to happen. Although they have control over whether they get together or not, but I think it went well from what I understand.”

“We work way too hard as brothers, we work way too hard as a family, we put way too much time and effort into what we do to just throw in the towel,” Risner said. “And at the same time, we want to be bowl eligible. I can’t remember the last time we haven’t made a bowl game.”

The next week, Kansas State blew out Oklahoma State 31-12 on homecoming. The Wildcats’ success wouldn’t continue though, and for the first time since 2009, Kansas State didn’t appear in a bowl game.

He started a foundation

Before his junior season at Kansas State, Risner took a trip to Camp Hope.

He’d been there before, the previous summer. He met 100 kids who were at the camp either because they were fighting or had fought cancer. He signed autographs and tried to make them laugh.

When he returned, he expected to see the kids again. But when he arrived, he only recognized about five of them.

“That second year had a huge impact on me, not seeing some of those kids,” Risner told KStateSports.com. “The ones that were still there remembered everything about me.”

The visit prompted him to launch RiseUp. It’s a website where he publishes podcasts and blog posts about his life, faith and influences, meant to inspire others. He hopes to build it large enough to host camps for kids with cancer or special need, or are victims of bullying.

“I’ve always given back, but this past year I took a few large leaps, as far as giving back and interacting with those around me, and it really had a huge impact on me,” Risner said. “I know why I’m here now.”

He decided to shoot his shot with John Elway

Risner was a Broncos fan his entire life, so when he saw John Elway at the Senior Bowl, Risner sprinted 40 yards across the field to introduce himself.

“Mr. Elway, my name is Dalton Risner,” he said. “I’m from Wiggins, Colorado and I’m doing everything I can to represent our state well out here.”

Who knows if Elway would have chosen Risner if it weren’t for the introduction, but it all worked out in the end. Rinser is playing for his hometown team.