Offensive tackle Orlando Franklin, all 335 pounds of him, is climbing a 33-foot wall, strapped to two Broncos teammates, with a goal that all three would safely reach the top together.

Broncos nickel back Chris Harris and punter Britton Colquitt are holding hands, feet on top of an elevated, V-shaped ropes course. They must negotiate the ropes from one end to the other, and through communication, trust and partnership, they must get there together.

This was no secret mission. This was the Broncos’ Broadmoor 11.

At a time when the NFL is getting hammered with concussion lawsuits from more than 1,800 former players, former star quarterback Kurt Warner says he wouldn’t want his kids playing in the NFL and former star linebacker Junior Seau commits suicide, 11 Broncos participated in a private leadership boot camp last week on the grounds of The Broadmoor hotel in Colorado Springs.

“It was a good application where we would climb ropes one day, and we got to know one another’s stories another day,” said wide receiver Eric Decker. “It got real personal as far as getting to know one another’s stories. Talking about leadership and getting feedback and learning how to communicate — sometimes in this sport, you feel like all you’re doing is what you’re told, showing up on time, and sometimes communication gets lost.”

Starting left guard Zane Beadles went through similar retreats during his college career at Utah and passed on the idea to Jerry Butler, the former Buffalo Bills receiver who is now Denver’s director of player development. Butler led 11 Broncos — Kevin Vickerson, Lance Ball, Joel Dreessen, Harris, Decker, Colquitt and the entire starting offensive line of Ryan Clady, J.D. Walton, Chris Kuper, Franklin and Beadles — to the three-day retreat.

“I wouldn’t say we’re the core of the team by any means, but I think we are guys who want to be with this team for a long time, and we established a foundation of getting to know each other,” Decker said.

It doesn’t get much more posh than The Broadmoor, but don’t get the wrong idea.

The Broncos didn’t walk around the pond feeding the ducks.

“Didn’t see the pond,” Beadles said.

They didn’t spend Friday or Saturday night hoisting steins and singing along at the Golden Bee.

“Never saw it,” Decker said.

Last Thursday, The Broadmoor 11 — using code names that Beadles asked not to reveal — talked about leadership.

Talked about what they hoped to accomplish.

Talked about each other.

Talked about themselves.

“I thought it was cool to hear where all the guys had come from,” said Harris, who made the Broncos’ roster last year as an undrafted rookie and finished the season covering New England Patriots star Wes Welker one-on-one in the playoffs. “Everybody has their own path to the NFL. It was humbling to hear their stories, the hardships they had to overcome.”

The Broncos’ Broadmoor 11 ate every meal together, spent the night together, then woke up the next morning to perform a variety of team-building exercises — from 8:30 in the morning to 3:30 in the afternoon.

After spending a second night together at the hotel, there was more discussion and exercises Saturday morning.

These are elite enough athletes to play football at the highest professional level, yet the beauty of the leadership boot camp was they were all asked to perform physical tasks that made each of them as individuals feel inept.

But together, whether in groups of two, groups of three, or as a full, 11-man unit? Butler marveled at a team drill in which each guy had to pull two slit boards from a pile, pull out a map and figure out which wood piece goes over, which board goes under.

The average time to put the puzzle together is 13 minutes. The Broncos’ Broadmoor 11 solved it in 6½ minutes the first time, and kept improving until they threw it together in only 13 seconds.

“Foremost it’s about getting to know each other a little better and you go through experiences together,” Beadles said. “But at the same time, it gives you good tools on everything from how you treat people, how you interact with your family, all the way to helping you with leadership skills. Listening to people. Putting your ego aside. Everybody’s different, but it helped me grow as a person and as a man as well.”

Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com