Colorado native and former Bronco Dalton Risner and wife Whitney share heartbreaking loss

Dalton Risner has never been just another NFL player to Colorado. He’s ours — born and raised in Wiggins, a tiny farming town of about 1,000 people an hour northeast of Denver on the Eastern Plains. He starred at Wiggins High School, became a fan favorite at Kansas State, and then came home when the Denver Broncos drafted him in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft. For four seasons, he protected the quarterback on the team this state lives and dies with.

On Friday, Risner and his wife, Whitney, shared devastating news on Instagram: They lost their baby boy at 16 weeks of pregnancy. It was the couple’s second pregnancy loss in just a few months.

“I wish I was writing any other post than this right now,” Whitney wrote. “I never imagined our journey to starting a family would begin like this. This is our second loss in just a couple of months. I don’t know exactly what the future holds, and that uncertainty is incredibly hard. But even in the midst of heartbreak and grief, I know God is still good.”

The couple had announced Whitney’s pregnancy on June 20, sharing a video with their baby’s ultrasound. Whitney, 28, who has a large following as an influencer on social media, also revealed that she had suffered a previous miscarriage during the 2025-26 NFL season. In Friday’s post, she credited Dalton, 31, as her “rock and best friend” through the heartbreak. “More than ever, I’ve realized how important it is who you marry and choose to walk through life with,” she wrote. “I truly can’t imagine getting through this without my rock and best friend.”

The post included photos from a pregnancy shoot that had been intended as a joyful reveal — the couple smiling on a beach with their dog and a celebratory cake. Whitney also addressed anyone going through a similar experience: “If you’re walking this same painful road, I want you to know that you are not alone.”

Risner may play for the Cincinnati Bengals now — entering his eighth NFL season and his second in Cincinnati — but his roots in Colorado run deep, and so does the support. Heavy.com reported that the Broncos organization and former teammates have shown an outpouring of support since the announcement. The couple met while playing college sports in Kansas — Dalton at Kansas State, Whitney playing basketball at Fort Hays State — and married in 2022, while Dalton was still wearing the orange and blue.

For a community that watched Dalton grow up on the football fields of Wiggins, became the small-town kid who made it to the NFL, and then cheered for him as a Bronco for four years, the loss is felt close to home. Colorado is sending its love to the Risners.