A beautiful bronze statue of Darrent Williams is near the entrance of the building. Inside, a colorful mural depicts Williams in his No. 27 Broncos jersey. Some of the kids here know the story of Williams’ vibrant life and violent death six years ago this week. Many do not.

What they do know is that the Darrent Williams Memorial Teen Center in Montbello provides a haven, a second home and a second chance.

“I’ve been very impressed,” said Williams’ mother, Rosalind. “We wanted a place that would be interesting and educational. Something not just for today but for tomorrow. I think we have done that.”

The teen center, a wing of the Denver Broncos Boys & Girls Club, cost $600,000 to build and opened in May 2008. It has a pool table and over-stuffed chairs for lounging. A computer lab provides a quiet place to study. An enormous big-screen TV, courtesy of Broncos guard Chris Kuper, draws kids like a magnet.

But the center is much more than a hangout. Covering the walls are photos of alumni who have gone on to colleges and universities such as Colorado, Regis, Arapahoe Community College, Texas Southern and Bethune-Cookman.

“We consider the teen center as a supplement to high school and something that is very needed,” said Rich Barrows, the longtime director of the Denver Broncos Boys and Girls Club.

The club serves about 1,200 youths from the Montbello area, and about 40 percent of those are teenagers. While the on-time graduation rate at nearby Montbello High School was 60.1 percent in 2011, Barrows notes that “for the kids who are truly active in our teen center, they are graduating at better than 90 percent.”

Guy Johnson, the teen-program director and club’s basketball coach, spends much of his time organizing events.

“We keep a lot of kids out of trouble, and this gives them a place to go, a place to call their own,” Johnson said. “We host teen night on Fridays until 11 o’clock because it helps keep the kids off the street. We play music, open the gym for basketball, go bowling, travel to other area clubs. We want to give them something constructive to do.

“For everybody here, we have one message: You can do better, and you can go farther than just getting out of high school.”

It’s a nice tribute to Williams, a Denver starting cornerback in 2005 and 2006.

Though he stood 5 feet 8 inches and was one of the NFL’s smallest players, Williams was a rising star and flashed a smile that lit up the Broncos’ locker room. His life ended around 2 a.m. on New Year’s Day 2007.

Williams was riding in the back of a rented Hummer 2 limousine when he was killed by one of at least 14 bullets shot from a passing SUV. He was 24 years old. A Denver jury convicted Willie D. Clark of the murder.

As Rosalind’s only child, Williams spent much of his childhood at the Boys and Girls Club in Fort Worth, Texas. After joining the Broncos, he devoted countless hours to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Denver.

“I think Darrent would be proud to know he helped others,” Rosalind said.

Tempted, then rescued

C.J. Manning is one of those teens who desperately needed help.

“I would have been lost without this place,” said Manning, who is in the running for the Colorado Boys and Girls Club’s youth-of-the-year award.

Manning, an articulate 17-year-old who wears Von Miller-style glasses, has been coming to the club since he was 8. His mother gave birth to him when she was 12. Manning’s father was 14 and spent a lot of time in juvenile detention after his son’s birth.

“In my first 17 years, I have moved 17 times,” Manning said. “There have been a lot of other roadblocks along the way.”

He said he was tempted by gang life and drug use but was rescued by the teen center. Now, he’s determined to go to college and has targeted Colorado or Howard University in Washington, D.C.

“If my mom wasn’t there or my dad wasn’t there — and they hardly ever were — I was always able to come back to this club,” he said. “It’s always been my most consistent home.”

Until recently, that is. For the past year, Manning has lived with Broncos Ring of Famer Billy Thompson, now the team’s director of community outreach. They established a friendship through Thompson’s many years of involvement with the Boys and Girls Club.

“Billy was always a consistent father figure in my life,” Manning said. “Before I moved in with him full time, we always kept in touch. I would spend holidays with his family. Then he took me in and provided me with stability. It’s been extremely life-changing. I see a lot of what life can be. None of that would have happened without this club.”

Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428, psaunders@denverpost.com or twitter.com/psaundersdp