ENGLEWOOD - Memories are forever.

And as the Broncos have gone on with their football lives - through another training camp in the summer sun on the way to a new season - they have made a decision. A decision that memories are forever and "that we aren't afraid to talk about Darrent, that we embrace the opportunity," said cornerback Domonique Foxworth.

"People have already asked, and will ask, are you going to talk about it with the team? Are you going to address the issue during the season? What are your plans?" said Broncos coach Mike Shanahan. "We're embracing Darrent, what he meant to this organization, how he lived life."

Since the early-morning hours of New Year's Day, when Williams was killed in a drive-by shooting in downtown Denver, the Broncos have lived with much of their collective grief in the public eye.

And they know as they go through the upcoming season, as they travel through their road schedule from city to city, from network telecast to network telecast, Williams will be the object of new questions, new stories.

"This is going to be the season where every game they talk about Darrent Williams," Foxworth said. "So every game we win, the more publicity that will be brought to this situation, and hopefully the more good that it can do for kids around the country.

"We don't want it go away," Foxworth said. "We're happy to talk about it in that way. He lost his life. We can't be afraid to talk about it, be afraid to get out the message, afraid to confront kids about doing the right thing - that would be the least I could do."

Many of the Broncos are already wearing orange and blue wristbands with Williams' name on them - they are being sold among the team as a fundraiser - while the team will also wear decals on their helmets for the season with Williams' No. 27 on them as well as running back Damien Nash's No. 29.

Nash collapsed and died in February, shortly after playing a charity basketball game.

The Broncos are planning to honor Williams' mother and Nash's wife at a game this season.

And team officials have contacted the Pro Football Hall of Fame to find a sculptor to make a large bronze plaque commemorating the players that will be placed in Invesco Field at Mile High.

In early 2008, the Broncos are hoping to open the Darrent Williams Memorial Teen Center as part of the Boys and Girls Club in Montbello, with money raised from the wristbands and Broncos Country license plates. Foxworth has also approached the NFL Players Association about securing a grant to aid in the construction.

"When I speak to kids I try to keep it as positive as possible," Foxworth said.

"Maybe keep it away from how I felt losing a friend. But still it's a learning experience for the kids. They didn't know Darrent and they don't feel the same way about him as I do.

"And when we get that teen center up, the amount of good that will do will be tremendous. As simply put as I can put it, there's going to be a lot of lives saved.

"It might sound a little dramatic," Foxworth said. "It just gives them a place to be, keep them away from those things, give them something positive, going on to college, rather than just hanging out with the same people in the same area.

"That's what we want Darrent's legacy to be."

legwoldj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2359