DENVER – They will ride for the brand for life.
 
Some of the most prominent Cowboys in recent history reunited to support the "NFL & NIL Night Out" on Friday at the Cherry Hills Country Club.
 
Proceeds from the event will be used by the 1Wyo collective to engage student-athletes in name, image and likeness (NIL) opportunities working with a variety of charities in Wyoming.
 
"We've all got to row together," athletics director Tom Burman told the loyal supporters in attendance. "Because there's not a lot of us."
 
The Cowboys have produced a significant number of NFL players in recent years.
 
Josh Allen, the poster boy for the developmental program Craig Bohl established over the last decade, is the Buffalo Bills franchise quarterback and one of the best players in the entire league.
 
In addition to Allen the 2016 team that played in the Mountain West championship game also sent Brian Hill, Tanner Gentry, Jacob Hollister, Cassh Maluia, Marcus Epps, Rico Gafford, Carl Granderson, Tyler Hall, Chase Roullier, Logan Wilson and Andrew Wingard to the NFL.
 
Several of those players showed up to assist the efforts of 1Wyo, which was established a year ago, to gain momentum with its "307" fundraising campaign by sharing their UW origin stories.
 
"Long-term it's the best decision to make," Wingard, entering his sixth season as a safety with the Jacksonville Jaguars, said of playing for the Cowboys. "You can go chase a check if you want, but are you chasing checks or are you trying to get somewhere? Wyoming was the best thing for all of us. It developed us mentally, physically and gave us that grit, that tough attitude, and it carries over into the league for sure."
 
First-year head coach Jay Sawvel brought Alex Brown, Tyrecus Davis, Sabastian Harsh and Shae Suiaunoa from the 2024 team with him to mingle with the alumni in the NFL.
 
"It's kind of fun because these are the names in the building," said Sawvel, who arrived as UW's defensive coordinator in 2020 and just missed out on getting to coach some of the current NFL stars. "Now I get to meet the people."
 
Wingard was a senior when Chad Muma was a shy freshman linebacker at UW. Now they're playing on the same defense in Jacksonville.
 
"You couldn't get a word out of him," Wingard said of his first impression of Muma, who developed into an All-American middle linebacker for Sawvel after replacing Wilson, the decorated Cincinnati Bengals veteran from Casper, at the position in 2020. "Transition to the NFL, me and Chad have become really good friends and really good teammates. When you get past the surface of Chad and get to really know Chad, he's a funny dude. He's quirky as hell, he's hilarious and everyone in Jacksonville loves him. I love him.
 
"It's cool being two Wyoming guys there. We've kind of got a little posse in the locker room."

Muma was unable to attend the event because he was getting married last weekend, but he did appear via video message during the dinner program hosted by Kevin McKinney.
 
Frank Crum, a rookie offensive lineman with the Denver Broncos, showed up ahead of his wedding this coming weekend. The former Laramie High standout emerged as an all-Mountain West left tackle and helped lead the Cowboys to nine wins during his senior season in 2023.
 
The other NFL players in attendance didn't have unlimited transfer and NIL opportunities available to them during their playing days. Crum understands the importance of 1Wyo's fundraising efforts to make sure UW remains competitive in this new era of collegiate athletics by retaining the key players Sawvel and his staff develop.
 
"We don't want this to be a steppingstone and at the end of the day the atmosphere of all this has changed. NIL is really real," Crum said. "It's not this taboo thing that should be scary. It's a way to have players be engaged within the communities in the state of Wyoming and for them to be compensated, which I think is totally fair. It's not this signing one autograph and you should be paid a million dollars. I don't think that's what we're looking for here.
 
"Let's engage these student-athletes. People want to engage these student-athletes, and just like anybody else you should get paid for your work and your time. I think it's exciting that's now allowed."
 
Mitch Edwards, the 1Wyo president, noted that while the NFL & NIL gathering was taking place in Denver, another 14 current UW student-athletes were participating in a Jae Foundation event in Pinedale to raise awareness about suicide prevention.
 
"It's with your support and your help that we can engage these student-athletes to do work for our charities," Edwards told the crowd.
 
In most cases, the NFL players UW produced only had a couple FBS scholarship offers coming out of high school. For some playing for the Pokes was their only opportunity.
 
Epps, who recently signed a lucrative long-term contract with the Las Vegas Raiders after playing in a Super Bowl for the Philadelphia Eagles, started out as a walk-on prospect.
 
"It worked out and it's the best thing that ever happened to me," Wingard said. "I thank God I only had one offer. Work is what gets you the results, and we learned that at Wyoming. It's that Wyoming grit, that toughness, that took us to the next level."
 
Wingard, who went to high school in Arvada, Colo., said watching fellow Coloradoans Gentry and Josh Adams thrive in Laramie inspired him to do the same.
 
Another notable player from south of the state border, recent UW graduate and G-League champion Hunter Maldonado, made the drive up from his home in Colorado Springs to represent Cowboy basketball with Adams.
 
"I'm eternally grateful for them allowing me to further my education and further my football career," said Gentry, who was Allen's go-to receiver in 2016 and also went on to play for the Bills. "I made memories that will last a lifetime and built friendships that will last a lifetime as well."
 
Roullier, who recently retired from the Washington Commanders due to injuries that limited his career as a starting NFL center to six seasons, is pulling for Crum to make the Broncos' roster and carry on UW's O-line tradition at the next level.
 
Current senior Nofoafia Tulafono is one of the nation's top centers and will be looking to recreate some of the magic Roullier had with Allen when he snaps the ball to Evan Svoboda this fall.
 
"It's really great to see a lot of the guys. We don't really get together all that often necessarily, other than maybe going to a UW game here and there," Roullier said. "It's nice to be out here and really support the new era of college football that is a little bit more complex in some ways, but you've got to do things like this to stay competitive. Any way we can help out with that, we're happy to."
 
If you are interested in learning more about NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) or would like to support our student-athletes, please visit 1wyo.org. 1WYO was created out of Wyoming's culture of neighbor helping neighbor. The mission is to promote and strengthen local charitable organizations and develop Wyoming student athletes. 
 
Follow Ryan for more stories on Wyoming athletics on X at @By_RyanThorburn on Facebook at Wyoming Athletics and Instagram at wyoathletics. Also follow him at Pokes Insider at Gowyo.com/pokesinsider.