ST. LOUIS - His time in the NFL, and in life, was short.

Yet, Damien Nash's impact will be lasting to family, friends and teammates, whether they knew him briefly or for all his 24 years.

About 1,200 mourners at the Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church made that message clear Monday morning, recalling Nash's omnipresent smile, love for family and never-quit attitude on the football field in a moving service for the Denver Broncos running back, who died Feb. 24 after a charity basketball game.

"I can't tell you, through the years, being around somebody that's influenced me as Damien did in such a short time," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan told the gathering during the nearly three-hour service.

Nash played only one season for the Broncos. He was signed by Denver last summer after being released by the Tennessee Titans. After a 2 1/2-month spell on the practice squad, the running back made the active roster in November. The highlight of his season came in a home game against San Diego, when he rushed for 52 yards and added 36 more receiving.

Shanahan recalled talking to Nash before that game against the league's top-ranked rush defense, and the running back assuring him he would perform that day.

Afterward, Nash winked at Shanahan and reminded the coach that he told him he wouldn't let him down.

"I don't understand why he's gone," Shanahan said, speaking at a church service only two months after giving a eulogy in Fort Worth, Texas, for slain Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams. "But the man upstairs, God, he wanted a good man."

Big Broncos contingent

About two dozen Broncos players and personnel attended the service, some coming on their own from around the country and others on a team-chartered plane. George Foster and Patrick Chukwurah, who recently left the Broncos via trade and free agency, respectively, also attended.

Team owner Pat Bowlen, NFL union leader Gene Upshaw and the league's director of football operations, Gene Washington, also paid their respects.

Three Broncos players - middle linebacker Al Wilson, running back Mike Bell and fullback Cecil Sapp - eulogized Nash, who starred at Riverview Gardens High School and the University of Missouri before turning pro.

Wilson echoed Shanahan by saying Nash was one of those people who "stuck" with him. He recalled watching the offense practice from his usual water-cooler vantage point and Nash every day flashing him a wide grin.

"Some days I would be into it, and some days I wouldn't be," Wilson said. "But he was always trying to keep me upbeat and keep me going. And to have a guy like that around you all the time, who you know is going to give you all he has, week in and week out, day in and day out, that's all you can really ask for in our business."

Perhaps no one on the team was closer to Nash than Sapp. The two shared an agent and briefly lived together. Sapp had the congregation laughing when he talked about the competitive battles between the two, in particular over games of paintball or seemingly insignificant tasks such as pre-practice breakdown segments designed to lighten the team's spirits.

"D-Nash," Sapp said ruefully. "I'm gonna miss you, dawg."

The funeral opened with a full choir singing You Are the Strength of My Life, and the church pastor, Michael Jones, reminding the gathering that "this brother is lost but we know where he is . . . so we celebrate."

Heartfelt tributes

One friend composed his own R&B song in tribute, another a poem.

Bennice King, an alderwoman in the 21st Ward, read a proclamation from the city so that Nash "will go down in the history and archives."

After the words of remembrance by the Broncos, Missouri football coach Gary Pinkel recalled Nash as the first big-time player to commit as a recruit during Pinkel's tenure there. Sherman Smith, running backs coach of the Titans, who drafted Nash in 2005, discussed telling the player after cutting him that Smith wasn't going to be surprised if he thrived elsewhere.

And Darren Sunkett, Nash's prep coach, first at Riverview and then East St. Louis, remembered a young freshman whom he pitted against the first-team defense, a group facing the prospect of wind sprints if they didn't stop the running back on the goal line. Nash, he said, bulled into the end zone four straight times.

Afterward, the future prep phenom told Sunkett he couldn't stick around because he had to take his grandmother to the doctor.

"It wasn't always easy, yet Damien thrived," Nash's agent, David Canter said from the pulpit, "And it's not going to be easy for us."

Jason Norton, a wide receiver at Mizzou with Nash, called the ceremony "a real fitting tribute" for Nash, whose cause of death remains a mystery pending a coroner's inquest.

The family has said it can't have closure until the reason for Nash's death is discovered.

"I was glad to see everybody come out and support his family," Norton said. "It was real nice."

Nash's mother, Kimberly, exited the church clutching a football signed by her son's former high school teammates.

How to help

The Damien Nash Trust Fund has been established through the National Football League Players Association to provide help with future educational expenses and health care for Nash's daughter, Phaith. The NFLPA has made a donation to the fund and will seek contributions from players and the public.

Contributions can be sent to:

Damien Nash Trust Fund

c/o NFL Players Association

2021 L St., NW

Washington, DC 20036

rasizerl@RockyMountainNews.com

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