Talanoa Hufanga will spend Monday night trying to stop Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Long before the Denver Broncos safety became an All-Pro NFL player, however, football meant something much different.
It meant a little red bike.
It meant Friday nights with his father.
And it meant standing outside a high school football stadium because Hufanga didn’t need to be inside the gates to become completely captivated by the sport. Hufanga was only 5 or 6 years old when he and his father would ride toward the lights of South Albany High School in Oregon. Those nights helped create an NFL dream.
They also helped create another dream Hufanga still hopes to pursue after his playing career is finished.
Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
Talanoa Hufanga Rode His Bike To Watch Football With His Dad
The Broncos detailed Hufanga’s childhood tradition in a feature published on the team’s official website.
Hufanga and his father would ride toward South Albany High School on Friday nights, but they didn’t enter the stadium.
They watched from outside the fence.
The young Hufanga heard whistles and the collision of shoulder pads while staring at players who seemed almost larger than life.
“To me, it was the NFL,” Hufanga told DenverBroncos.com. “I was such a small kid. These guys were huge. They were celebrities to me. It was just something super special.”
Getting home created another memory.
By the time games ended, Hufanga was sometimes too tired to keep pedaling. His father would grab the handlebars and help steer the bike home through the night.
“It was some of the best times of my life,” Hufanga said.
More than two decades later, those Friday nights remain part of him.
Hufanga’s Childhood Created Another Football Dream
Hufanga eventually accomplished what once seemed almost unimaginable to the little boy standing outside the fence.
He became one of those players.
Hufanga was a fifth-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in 2021 and developed into a first-team All-Pro. He signed with Denver in 2025 and earned second-team All-Pro honors during his first season with the Broncos after recording a career-high 106 tackles and 11 passes defensed.
Yet his childhood experiences also inspired a plan for life after the NFL.
“I definitely want to be a coach one day,” Hufanga told DenverBroncos.com.
Specifically, he wants to coach high school football.
Hufanga estimated last year that he had attended roughly 40 high school games since entering the NFL. He views those appearances as opportunities to show young players what’s possible, much like older players once inspired him.
There is something fitting about it.
Hufanga was once a little boy outside the fence looking at high school football players as celebrities.
Now he’s the NFL star showing up at high school games.
On Monday night, millions will watch Hufanga attempt to slow Mahomes and the Chiefs under the lights at Arrowhead Stadium.
The setting is considerably different from those Friday nights in Oregon.
The connection to the kid on the little red bike remains.
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