Today, on Orange Sunday, color Ezekiel Bishop bold, bright and full of anticipation.
The East senior, who has committed to Arizona, is the third Brian Dawkins/Denver Post Award winner. Bishop will be at Invesco Field at Mile High today when the Broncos play the New York Jets and will have an opportunity to meet the Denver safety.
“Oh, yeah, I’m very psyched,” said Bishop, a 5-foot-10, 170-pound linebacker who will play in the secondary in college. “I look at his highlights and he’s a great football player. I try to model my game after him.”
The speedy Bishop, who is helping to keep the Angels in Class 5A Denver Prep League contention (4-3, 3-1 league), recalls when Dawkins, as a Philadelphia Eagles star, was “Weapon X. . . . He carries himself very well. I have some questions to ask him, like, how it is going from high school to the college level?”
The mainstay of coach Ron McFarland’s Angels, Bishop carries a B average and is recognized for his character.
“He’s a great kid, very deserving,” East athletic director Andy Mendelsberg said.
Bishop, who played in the Police Athletic League, is a weekly usher at his church, an aspiring optometrist and has accomplished much in a single-parent home. Since beginning school, his father has been in and out of prison.
“But he stayed focused, he really did,” said Bishop’s mother, Brenda Willis. “It made him work harder for everything. I’ve never seen a boy that works as hard for what he wants.”
Dawkins, who had a similar program in Philadelphia, will choose a deserving prep player before each Broncos home game who demonstrates strong commitment to and accomplishment in the sport and in the classroom, character off the field and has overcome adversity.
The winner will receive two tickets to a Broncos home game and pregame sideline passes courtesy of Dawkins. The player must be accompanied by a parent or chaperone. Dawkins will meet with the player after the game.
Nominees must be submitted to The Denver Post at ndevlin@denverpost.com. The final selection is made by Dawkins.
