It was the week of the NFL draft in April and a large crowd was going to be on hand at an Airbnb in Austin, Texas, to celebrate Jahdae Barron’s selection. The cornerback from Texas knew he had to do something to honor his mother.

Barron is very close to Techonia Davis, a single mother who raised him and five other children. So he sprang into action.

“It was literally at the last minute,’’ Bernard “Bam” Blake, a former Colorado State defensive back and Barron’s personal trainer in Austin, told The Denver Gazette. “He had two custom-made sweaters done. He found someone who could get it done the day before the draft.”

Barron then came up to his mother on that April 24 opening night of the draft, with about 150 people on hand for a celebration.

“He said to her, ‘Put this on,’ and she was like, ‘What?,’’’ Blake said. “It was literally a sweater that had pictures of him and her and the family on it. There were two of them that they wore, one for him and one for her.”

On the front of the sweater was a big picture of Barron and his mother. Both were flashing Texas “Hook ‘em, Horns” hand salutes.

“She’s my everything,’’ Barron said. “I grew up with a single parent, a single mom, so she’s everything. She played the father role and the mother role and she did amazing.”

Davis was excited to receive the sweater. And later that night came the ultimate thrill.

The 5-foot-11, 200-pound Barron was selected by the Broncos with the No. 20 pick in the first round of the draft. It was a life-changing moment for the family.

“I’m just super proud,’’ Davis said about her son joining the Broncos. “I can’t even explain how it in seeing him go from a little boy to living out his dreams. It’s just an awesome experience.”

The next step for Barron will be his first NFL training camp. Barron reported to Broncos Park along with other rookies last Wednesday. Veterans will report Tuesday and the full squad will take the field Wednesday.

Reviews about Barron were good during spring drills. He was used at both outside and inside cornerback, with Denver coach Sean Payton calling him an “extremely smart” player who was able to “handle volume” immediately upon joining the team.

“I’m just trying to push for growth,’’ Barron said. “It’s OK to be a student again. I’m just trying to learn and take in a lot of information from the older guys and coaching staff. … I’m just trying to be of value wherever I’m needed.”

Barron long has been a diligent student. He grew up in Austin playing both football and basketball before deciding to focus solely on football. Barron starred at John B. Connally High School but didn’t immediately receive a scholarship offer from Texas, the school down the road in Austin he grew up following with passion.

Barron first committed to TCU before signing with Baylor. The Bears then let him out of his scholarship when Texas came in with a late offer.

Barron had to work his way up with the Longhorns. He didn’t become a regular starter until his third season in 2022 and then in 2024 won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s premier defensive back.

“He said when he committed to Texas that he was going to win the Thorpe award,’’ said Blake, who played at CSU from 2011-14 and has been working with Barron with his Bam Performance company since he began his junior season at Connally in 2018. “I thought that was kind of crazy since he did not look like a Thorpe winner at the time in terms of development. But he proved me wrong.”

Barron began putting in a lot of extra work and, coupled with his athleticism, that led to him becoming a college star. As for his athleticism, Davis knows all about that.

Barron, 23, was born in Corpus Christi, Texas on Dec. 4, 2021, and moved with his family to Austin when he was 19 months old. He began playing flag football at age 5 for a team called NZA and eventually transitioned into tackle football in that program.

But few then could tackle Barron.

“He was running faster than other people,’’ Davis said. “He was a running back and a receiver for NZA, and he scored pretty much all the touchdowns.”

Barron later played football and basketball for the Tigers and became best friends with Jamal Shead, who is now a point guard for the Toronto Raptors. Shead eventually began to focus on basketball and Barron turned mostly to football although they did play two basketball seasons together at Connally.

Barron’s football coach at Connally was Jason Cecil, now the head coach at Austin High School. He remembers seeing Barron play for the first time when he was in the eighth grade at Dessau Middle School.

“He was supremely talented,’’ Cecil said. “You could see it early on that he was going to be special. The first thing that stood out to me was how physical he was as a defensive back. He was a kid who didn’t shy away from contact and you don’t always see that from kids at an early age.”

After all, Barron had grown up also doing some boxing.

“Between 12 and 14, he did boxing at Ann Wolfe’s training facility here in Austin,’’ Davis said of the facility that Wolfe, a retired boxer who won world titles in three different women’s weight classes, ran in the city. “He got in there in the ring and boxed quite a bit.”

Barron played on the freshman team at Connally in 2016 and then was mostly a defensive back on the varsity in 2017 and 2018. But in his senior season of 2019, he played both ways, having 43 tackles and three interceptions on defense and catching 41 passes for 673 yards and six touchdowns on offense.

“He used to joke around with our defensive coordinator (the late Todd Schonhar), saying, ‘If you ever need help, I’m your guy,’’’ Cecil said. “But he was actually very serious. … Senior year, we put him also at receiver and he was an instant hit. We could throw the ball up and he had good ball skills, and he made a lot of big plays for us. … Makes me question why I didn’t put him there earlier.”

Barron’s college future, though, was at defensive back. Davis said Barron was “disappointed” when he didn’t immediately receive an offer from Texas. After one finally came, Barron wasn’t lacking in confidence.

“The moment he got there, he told me he’d be the best ‘DB’ to ever play at the University of Texas, that he’d be better than me,’’ said former Longhorns star Michael Huff, who is the assistant director of player development at the school. “I was thinking, who is this little scrawny kid who thinks he’s going to be better than me?’ I was an All-American, won a national championship and won the Jim Thorpe (in 2005).”

Huff went on to be an NFL defensive back from 2006-2013 with the Oakland Raiders, the Baltimore Ravens and the Broncos, joining the latter late in his final pro season of 2013. At Texas, Huff became Barron’s mentor and played a key role in his development.

“It was like big brother, little brother,’’ Huff said. “Even when he had a big game, we would sit down and watch film and see what he could have done better. If he had an interception, I’d say, “Why wasn’t it a pick-six?”’

Before last season at Texas, Barron asked Huff permission to switch from No. 23, which he had worn his first four college seasons, to No. 7, which Huff had donned at Texas. Barron then won the Thorpe Award. While Huff isn’t about to say Barron had a better college career than he did, he called him “definitely one of the greats to ever play at the University of Texas.”

As for the Thorpe award, when Barron entered high school he had begun to write down goals he wanted to accomplish. One was to win that award in college.

“It was amazing,’’ Barron said of reaching that goal. “I was blessed to write something down when I was a kid and to actually live it. I put in countless hours of work. And I was blessed to have a mentor like Michael Huff and do it wearing (No.) 7.”

With the Longhorns, the versatile Barron played every position in the secondary. Last season, he had five interceptions and 11 passes defended as the Longhorns advanced to a College Football Playoff semifinal.

Barron also made a big impression off the field at Texas, regularly doing work in the community and at his church. While nearly always flashing a big smile, Barron made plenty of friends. One has been actor Matthew McConaughey, an avid Texas fan, who wrote on social media after Barron was drafted, “Not only a great defender, a great young man. Broncos getting a stud on and off (the) field.”

Barron refers to McConoughey as a “great friend” and said he “can reach out to him any time.” He does so often, saying McConaughey, who is involved in plenty of community work in Austin, “always lifts my spirits.”

Barron said during spring drills he had yet to write down specific goals on what he wants to accomplish in the NFL. But he did say the “sky’s the limit” for him with the Broncos.

“(Barron) brings a lot of versatility towards the defense,’’ said Denver cornerback Pat Surtain II, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year. “He’s smart, savvy. He makes plays and he’s a big addition towards our team. He’s catching up fast.”

Barron could compete with Riley Moss, a third-year man who was a starter in 2024 for the first time, to be the outside starter opposite Surtain or he could try to supplant Ja’Quan McMillian as the primary nickel back. He could even play some safety.

“He’s kind of like a Swiss Army knife,’’ said Broncos safety Brandon Jones, who played at Texas from 2016-19. “He can play anywhere.”

Nick Ferguson, a Broncos defensive back from 2003-07 and now a broadcaster in Denver, expects Barron to most likely take snaps away from McMillian in the slot. He said Barron’s versatility will help a secondary that had issues when players were hurt last season, including when Moss missed three December games with a knee injury.

“Jahdae Barron’s skill set is going to allow (defensive coordinator) Vance Joseph to do a number of things that he couldn’t do last year,’’ said “He’s going to add competition and add depth and give Vance Joseph more tools in his toolbelt.”

Barron, after reporting to Broncos Park last Wednesday, signed a contract worth $18.07 million over four years, including a $9.78 million signing bonus. He plans to buy his mother a house in Austin.

“Everything he does as far as off the field and on the field and in the community, he does for his mom,’’ Huff said. “He appreciates all the sacrifices she’s made for him over the years. He just loves her to death.”

Barron said his mother, among other things, taught him how to “stay focused” in life, “not to get complacent about things” and helped him reach “my maturity level where I’m at right now.” Barron is impressed with how she has been able to raise six children. His older brothers are Treyvon, 30, and Deshawn, 27. His young sisters, whom Barron adores, are Telia, 15, Tamia, 10 and Tazia, 8.

“It was extremely difficult,’’ Davis said of being a single mother. “I was working two jobs sometimes and going to school myself and then mixing in having to get Jadhae and his brothers to and from activities.”

Davis eventually got a degree in computer studies and took a job at Dell. She later moved on to work for 14 years at Workforce Solutions in child care, serving as a manager her last four years. Then she went back to school to earn an esthetician degree, and she recently opened her own business. It’s called Beauty Triple T due to her daughter’s names all starting with T.

“It’s the first time away from home for me,’’ Barron said. “I know she’s missing me.”

Barron, though, has made some quick trips back to Austin since he first reported to the Broncos in May. After a rookie minicamp that ran from May 9-11, Barron flew back to Austin to see his mom on Mother’s Day on the night of May 11. He then had to be back at Broncos Park the next morning for meetings.

“It was like maybe 8:30, 9 at night and I’m getting my house closed for the night and the next thing I know somebody’s walking to my front door, and it’s Jahdae,’’ Davis said. “I’m like, ‘What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in Denver.’ He said he saw a flight that could get him here because we’d never been apart for Mother’s Day. I was blown away. We talked for about 3 hours, and he got like 3 or 4 hours of sleep and woke up at 4:15 a.m. and flew back to Denver.”

After last month’s three-day mandatory minicamp concluded on June 12, Barron at least was able to return to Austin for a few nights before he had to be back at Broncos Park on June 16 for a week of rookie orientation. He again surprised his mother.

“I’m at the gym working out and I’m riding my little bike and minding my own business, and I look up and Jahdae is on the bike next me,’’ she said. “I was like, ‘Where did you come from?’’’

Then on June 15, Davis said Barron wished her Happy Father’s Day, something he does every year.

With training camp getting underway and the season to follow, Barron won’t have many opportunities to slip back to Austin. But his mother vows to hit the road for plenty of Broncos games in 2025.