Some future NFL players spend the final days before the draft touring New York City, buying new suits or planning lavish parties.

Derek Wolfe’s predraft routine was far less glamorous.

Less than 48 hours before the Broncos made his NFL dreams come true, Wolfe found himself in a pig stall, shoveling manure.

“Most guys don’t live on a farm and don’t have all the little things that have to get done,” Wolfe said. “It humbles you and helps you remember where you came from.”

Wolfe arrived back in Negley, Ohio, a tiny rural town just a mile from the Pennsylvania border, last week to spend time with the Hoppels, friends who became his family after a turbulent childhood. The draft party, the catered meals and the fanfare, though, would have to wait. If Wolfe was back home at the farm, then that meant there was work to do.

“It’s helped develop a toughness and a work ethic,” Wolfe said. “Waking up early has never been a problem because you had to wake up early before school to get things done. I ruined a lot of good pairs of shoes by being in my school clothes already and then finding something else to get done, so I did it.”

The Broncos shouldn’t have to worry about effort when it comes to Wolfe, the defensive tackle they selected with their first pick, at No. 36.

“The thing that really stuck out to us on film was the way that he plays the game. He’s relentless, and he’ll be able to set the tone for us on the defensive side,” Broncos executive vice president John Elway said. “That combination of want-to and athletic ability he has, we’re thrilled to get him where we did at 36.”

Nearly 60 people showed up to the Hoppel house for Wolfe’s NFL draft parties, one Thursday and one Friday. Each person emotionally invested in Wolfe’s life. Not a single person there was biologically related to him, yet Wolfe considers many of them family.

“I’ve got so many moms and dads. I’m luckier than anybody,” Wolfe said. “The town, my friends — I’ve got some great, great friends that care about me, want nothing but the best for me and would never put me in harm’s way.”

Wolfe has been estranged from his mother for years and severed all contact with her during his sophomore year at the University of Cincinnati. He never met his biological father and no longer has a relationship with his stepfather, who is divorced from his mother.

“She had some alcohol problems, and my stepdad had his own priorities,” Wolfe said. “I didn’t just cut her out. I gave her chances. It wasn’t like one drastic decision. I gave her chances. It sucked when it was going on, but it formed me and shaped me to who I am. I can’t dwell on the past, so I try to just forgive and forget.”

Wolfe went to live with the family of his best friend, Logan Hoppel, full time when he was 15. It started with sleepovers before weekend wrestling tournaments, and eventually, Kris Hoppel told Wolfe he had a permanent place to stay.

Wolfe admits he was “kind of a punk” when he was a teenager, but living with the the Hoppel family — Kris, her husband Mike, their two sons and daughter — helped “shape my morals,” he said.

“Any kid gets upset and frustrated, but it’s one of those things where you know you’re a good person inside, you just need adults to tell you you’re special,” Kris Hoppel said. “Just because you had a bad home life, it doesn’t mean you can’t be a successful adult. I just think (the Broncos are) getting a person that is hungry to be successful in life. He is going to do absolutely everything they tell him to do. He won’t ever do anything to mess that up for himself.”

Wolfe nearly declared for the NFL draft last year. Cincinnati had won only four games in 2010, and Wolfe was nearly broke.

“I was going to sign the papers, and I was going to leave without telling anybody. I was sick of it. I was sick of being broke. But then I thought, I’ve been playing this since I was 7 years old. Why sell myself short?”

He chose to return to Cincinnati and racked up 9½ sacks and earned Big East co-defensive player of the year honors. He lined up at defensive end and defensive tackle, sometimes on the same defensive series.

“If there was a critical down, Derek Wolfe was in there, because you want him on the field,” said Steve Stripling, Cincinnati’s associate head coach and defensive line coach.

Though Wolfe said Saturday he expected to wind up on a team that plays a 3-4 defense, not a 4-3 like the Broncos, Denver could wind up moving him around, much the same way Cincinnati did, Stripling said.

And even if Wolfe needs to make adjustments for the NFL game, Stripling predicted it wouldn’t be a difficult transition for Wolfe, whom he described as “extremely intelligent” and “mature.”

“He’s kind of had to scrap for everything his whole life, so he’s very, very motivated about football. He understands that’s his pathway,” Stripling said.

Lindsay H. Jones: 303-954-1262 or ljones@denverpost.com

About DT Derek Wolfe

Height: 6-foot-4

Weight: 300 pounds

College: Cincinnati

Drafted: No. 36 (No. 4 in second round)

Hometown:His hometown of Negley, Ohio, is 1 mile from Pennsylvania, 10 miles from West Virginia and about 40 minutes from Pittsburgh. Wolfe never was a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and said he can’t wait to play Pittsburgh on Sept. 9.

Family life: Wolfe is estranged from his mother and stepfather and lived with friends while in high school and college. He credits “the whole town” for helping raise him as a teenager. He had about 60 people at his draft party Friday.

Football life: Struggling for money and frustrated by Cincinnati’s 4-8 season in 2010, Wolfe nearly declared for the NFL draft last year. By returning to school for 2011, he significantly boosted his draft stock and secured future earnings.