It was 51 years ago that Tom House caught Hank Aaron’s 715th home run. Now he’s touching all the bases with Broncos quarterback Bo Nix.

House is perhaps best known for being in the bullpen as a Braves relief pitcher and snagging the homer on April 8, 1974, that Aaron slugged in Atlanta to break the baseball record held by Babe Ruth. House later in life became a Major League Baseball pitching coach and is now a throwing mechanics expert, working with pitchers and NFL quarterbacks.

That has brought him in contact with Nix, the Broncos’ second-year man. House, 78, told The Denver Gazette he had his first session with Nix, which lasted three days, in mid-June in Denver. He then returned last weekend to Denver to work with Nix for three more days.

“There’s four things that every one of these athletes, especially quarterbacks, have to have a really good command of,” said House, who holds a Ph.D. in sports psychology. “That’s biomechanical efficiency, functional strength, mental emotion management and nutrition, sleep and recovery.’’

Broncos coach Sean Payton on July 23 revealed that Nix during the offseason had worked with former star quarterback Drew Brees, whom he had for 14 seasons in New Orleans, and House. Nix three days later touched upon his work with both.

Interestingly, House’s association with Brees led to him to working with Nix. In the final game of the 2005 season, Brees, then with the San Diego Chargers, suffered a serious shoulder injury against the Broncos. House, who long has lived near Brees in San Diego, began working with the quarterback during his recovery, and his training continued when he played for the Saints from 2006-20 and had Payton as a head coach.

“The common dominator is Beau Lowery,’’ House said of the Broncos’ vice president of player health and performance who worked for the Saints from 2012-21. “I had known Beau really well from his days with Sean Payton and Drew Brees down in New Orleans. So, Beau reached out to me (about Nix).”

House had met Nix in passing at an event a few years ago when he was an Oregon quarterback. But they sat down and really got to know each other in June. House put him through some body tests, and they watched film and did some work on the field.

House said it is against NFL rules for him to work with Nix at Broncos Park. So, he said his dealings with him during his Denver visits have been at a hotel, a restaurant and a public park.

“He’s a pretty complete product right now,’’ House said. “The things that I help Bo with are all small things that can make him more efficient and consistent and able to recover quicker. But he’s a very good quarterback.

“His delivery is very solid. Maybe the only thing and this is no secret, but quarterbacks throw with their feet and the quicker their feet, the quicker their delivery time is going to be. Bo had a tendency to be a little long in his stride and a little long with his arm, so all we did basically is speed his feet up a little bit and that caused his stroke, his arm action, to also be a little quicker.”

House, who said he receives a “retainer” fee from Nix but declined to give a figure, also talked about working with Nix on nutrition.

“Bo’s nutrition was pretty good but there were some subtle things to change that help his recovery,’’ House said. “Sugar or complex (carbohydrates) are really bad for you, and so we’re trying to get away from a carbohydrate-oriented diet to a protein-oriented diet. … We’re also making some subtle changes in the way he hydrates, and it’s all designed to help his blood chemistry and his ability to recover quicker.”

House has worked with many notable quarterbacks, including Tom Brady, Matt Ryan, Dak Prescott, Jared Goff, Carson Palmer, Andrew Luck and Alex Smith. He was asked to compare Nix to Brees.

“He’s not Drew and he’s not Tom Brady, but he has characteristics of both,’’ House said. “Not just mechanically and physically but mentally, emotionally and nutritionally. (Nix is) unique onto his own. He’s got longer arms than Drew but he’s not as tall as Tom (6-foot-2 to 6-4). He strides more like Tom than he does Drew, but the teachings are similar to all three.”

Brees is a lock to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame next year and Brady is a lock for 2028. As for House, he became well-known after catching the home run by a Baseball Hall of Famer. Aaron, who died in 2021, finished his career in 1976 with 755 home runs and his record stood until Barry Bonds broke it in 2007 and finished his career after that season with 762.

“My standard line about catching Aaron’s 715th is the good news is that it was the highlight of my Major League career and the bad news is that was the highlight of my Major League career,” said the modest House, who actually was a solid reliever, having gone 29-23 with an ERA of 3.79 while playing for Atlanta, Boston and Seattle from 1971-78.

After House caught the ball, he delivered it to Aaron at home plate. He was asked what the ball, which is on display at Atlanta’s Truist Park, might have been worth then and what it would be worth now.

“Before the game, (legendary entertainer) Sammy Davis Jr. said in the clubhouse, ‘If any of you bullpen guys get the ball, I’ll give you 50 grand and Henry will come on my show, and I’ll give it back to Henry.’ But I wouldn’t do anything different than I did. I was in Atlanta for the All-Star Game (last month), and I heard $4.8 million to $5.2 million on what it would be worth now.”

So House is not a multimillionaire. But he did touch upon how much he loves the work he does with pitchers and quarterbacks.

“I’m embarrassed that I’m even making a living doing this,’’ he said. “I would do this for free if I was wealthy.”

From Rowan to White to Rowan

There was a Utah State receiver the past two seasons known as Kyrese White. Now he’s known on the Broncos as Kyrese Rowan.

But that might not be for long.

White’s stepfather Emmett White was a star Utah State running back from 1998-2001. Kyrese played at Utah from 2019-21 under his legal last name of Rowan and used that name when he transferred to Utah State in 2022. But he then asked in order to honor his stepfather to be known as Kyrese White for the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

“That was a surprise for me,’’ Emmett told The Denver Gazette. “If anybody says they want to take your name for any reason, it was just an honor.”

When the Broncos signed the receiver as an undrafted free agent in May, he was listed on the roster as Kyrese White. But that had been changed to Kyrese Rowan when training camp started July 23.

“He has to go by Rowan,’’ Emmett said. “That’s his legal name. At Utah State, he didn’t change it in the court or anything. He said he wants to go by White but right now he’d have to go into the court to change his name. He doesn’t have time for that now, so he has to go with Rowan.”

Emmett said Kyrese is hopeful at one point of legally changing his last name to White. In the meantime, he has looked good in Broncos camp, which perhaps gives him a chance to make the practice squad.

If Kyrese makes the NFL, that would be something his father didn’t do despite rushing for 1,322 yards in 2000 and 1,361 in 2001 for the Aggies. That included in 2000 rushing for 322 yards and having 578 all-purpose yards at New Mexico State, a college record that still stands.

“I’m amazed that it’s still there,’’ Emmett said. “This is the 25th anniversary.”

Emmett was signed by the New York Giants as a free agent but said he was let go because he was born without an ACL in his right knee and the team didn’t want to take a risk. He ended up playing one season for the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League and six years of Arena Football.

For the last 18 years, Emmett has worked out players in Ogden, Utah, with his company Optimal Performance. Among the current and former NFL players he has trained are Nick Vigil, Tyler Larsen, Marcus Kemp, Darwin Thompson and Robert Turbin.

Emmett has trained Kyrese, 24, since he was 6. He hopes one day to be able to talk about an NFL player named Kyrese White.

Franklin’s ‘extra hunger’

In training camp last summer, while with Carolina, safety Sam Franklin suffered a broken foot and ended up missing the first seven games of the season.

The special teams ace returned for the final 10 games and signed a one-year deal with the Broncos in March. He said the injury he suffered a year ago continues to give him motivation.

“It was the first major injury I ever had,’’ said Franklin, 29, who played the past five seasons with the Panthers. “I’ve been playing football since I was 8 and I never had a broken bone, so it was my first time sitting on the sideline. It made me appreciate the game a little more and it brings a little bit of extra hunger.”

Franklin has had plenty to motivate him in his football career. Coming out of Citrus High School in Inverness, Fla., he was going to play in college at Massachusetts but didn’t qualify academically and had to go to prep school for a year. Franklin later went to Temple but missed some time at the school because he said there was a “misunderstanding”, and he was claimed to be two credits shy academically. He was undrafted in 2020 before making the Panthers due to his prowess on special teams.

“I feel I have always had to push the odds and beat the odds,’’ Franklin said of being able to bounce back from adversity.