ANTIOCH, Calif. — Viewed now, the snapshot is symbolic, a reminder of friendship, fun and football.

At legendary De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., coaches permit the players to take a single customized picture on team photo day. The Amigos — T.J. Ward, cousin Maurice Jones-Drew, Terrance Kelly, Jackie Bates, Willie Glasper, Cameron Colvin, DeMontae Fitzgerald, Damon Jenkins and Eric Love — stood tall, reflecting the confidence and innocence of youth. No one thought about the cruel way lives can change and meld through tragedy.

On Aug. 12, 2004, Kelly, just hours before he was supposed to head to summer practices at Oregon for his freshman season, was murdered. When Ward arrived at De La Salle, Kelly treated him like a little brother. Or as Ward’s father, Terrell, said Wednesday, “He was his guardian angel.”

Ward internalized his grief. It remains one of the worst moments of his life, a pain that frames his Super Bowl 50 experience. Ward honored Kelly, who died in Richmond, two hours from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, with a tattoo of an angel on his right arm.

“I got it because it keeps T.K. with me at all times,” Ward said of his friend who was long shielded from violence by a protective grandmother. “T.K. goes where I go. They see me, they see him.”

Ward arrives at the apex of his career with an important role. He is a three-level player, integral to coverage of Carolina tight end Greg Olsen, on run support against Jonathan Stewart, and in a few well-timed, sprinkled-in blitzes. The Broncos continue to be asked how they are going to stop quarterback Cam Newton, not what Newton will do against the league’s top-ranked defense.

“That’s what the question should be,” Ward said.

Ward “brings the boom,” as Broncos linebacker Von Miller says. Ward inspires fear with big hits. And cornerback Aqib Talib provides the running soundtrack. The pair forms the attitude of the defense.

“T.J. plays with his hair on fire,” Talib said. “He’s our Tasmanian Devil.”

Photos in the Ward family scrapbooks reveal a long history of swagger and intensity. When T.J. was little, he wore No. 44 on his Antioch youth team, same as his father’s jersey at San Diego State. He began playing tackle football at age 8, weighing 60 pounds.

“The coaches didn’t think he would make the team because he was so small,” said his mother LaNeita Ward, decked out in Broncos gear at the couple’s home. “But he had heart.”

Coaches and opponents couldn’t break Ward. He learned toughness and work ethic from his father, who played defensive back in the NFL for the Philadelphia Eagles. Terrell broke out the chalkboard in the living room and taught 9-year-old T.J. and 7-year-old Terron, a running back for the Atlanta Falcons, how to read a playbook. The boys went through circuit training, joined by Jones-Drew, a longtime NFL star, featuring sit-ups, curls and hill training.

The idea that her son is playing in the country’s biggest sporting event creates pause for LaNeita. But when she thinks about T.J. running out of the tunnel, she remembers the days in Pop Warner.

“He was little, and going against the archrival San Leandro Crusaders. He played both sides of the ball and dominated them,” she said. “And after the game, he changed his clothes and put on his glasses, and all the opposing coaches were asking, ‘Where is the kid that ran us over?’^”

Ward’s personality belies his persona on it. He plays angry. Yet he remains quiet when in company of strangers. Even as T.J.’s secondary coach in high school, Terrell wasn’t sure what the future held for his son. Ironically, it was when T.J. wasn’t playing that the father realized how much football meant to him.

“His junior year he was standing next to me on the sidelines and I asked him if he was OK. And he looked at me with a glare that said, ‘No I am not.’ He was (really upset),” Terrell said. “He wanted to be out there so badly.”

After waiting his turn, Ward began his senior year at De La Salle with a flurry of interceptions. Then, he injured the patella tendon in his knee, leaving his friends, including Colvin, to carry him to his parents’ Honda SUV.

“T.J. was always a fiery player when we were little. He made himself known on the football field,” said Colvin, who sang in the church choir with Ward. “He had worked so hard for his chance. But I knew he would overcome it somehow. He was always so focused on his goal.”

After taking a year to recover, Ward walked on at Oregon, joining a crew of De La Salle players. It wasn’t long before he landed in the starting lineup and his parents began making the 8-hour drive to every home game for four years. The memories of those days tumble out quickly: Ward’s crushing tackle of Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor in the Rose Bowl, his 15 stops in three quarters against Boise State, his breathtaking hits on helpless Cal receivers.

“There are times I will ask him after the game, ‘Do you have to hit so hard?'” said LaNeita, with a smile.

Ward can’t help himself. Football is a tough game played by tough men. This Sunday has been 29 years in the making, ever since a 6-month T.J. laid on his father’s chest as dad read a story about De La Salle High School.

And it’s an opportunity he will share with his family, friends, and TK.

“I think about him everyday. … I mean everyday,” Ward said. “And I know he will have an eye in the sky on me on Sunday.”

Troy E. Renck: trenck@denverpost.com or @troyrenck