Players lined up to hug Justin Simmons after beating the Falcons

After the Denver Broncos beat the Atlanta Falcons in a 38-6 blowout victory on Sunday, safety Justin Simmons exchanged postgame hugs with several of his former teammates.

KCNC-TV’s Romi Bean shared a 30-second video on Twitter/X showing Broncos players lining up to hug Simmons. The video shows kicker Wil Lutz, running back Javonte Williams, cornerback Riley Moss (who Simmons called “White Lightning”), safety Devon Key and receiver Marvin Mims exchanging hugs after the game.

Forever a Bronco pic.twitter.com/qtHeZd3XT9

– Romi Bean (@Romi_Bean) November 18, 2024

Simmons, 30, played for the Broncos from 2016-2023 before being cut earlier this year. Before Sunday’s game, Simmons dropped an f-bomb on his former team during a pregame speech. Security probably didn’t expect the cameras to pick up audio from that pregame meeting.

After the match, Simmons sang a different tune.

“It was emotional,” Simmons said of returning to Denver. “Obviously, I’ve played here the last eight years. Lots of good memories and it was bittersweet. First of all, I’m grateful for the warm welcome from the fans and (I) was able to see some of my old teammates again. It stinks to be on the opposite side and come away with a defeat, a bad defeat at that.

“We didn’t execute our defense well enough to give ourselves a chance to win this game. That’s a credit to their offense and the way they operated. It makes it bittersweet, but I wanted to say thank you to the fans and the people I got to see. The staff I have known and gotten to know over the past eight years. I am very grateful and I also stand here with a heavy heart from a really difficult loss.

Simmons finished the day with five tackles, including one behind the line of scrimmage. He was on the opposite end of Javonte Williams’ touchdown run in the second quarter. “I was trying to tell them that kid to run hard,” Simmons told Williams after the game.