Denson was born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, in 1975.[3] A few years after his birth, his parents moved from Aliquippa to Baldwin, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. He attended Baldwin High School where he played for the legendary WPIAL Hall of Fame coach Don Yannessa.[3] Denson became only the second player in Baldwin High School history to start on the varsity football team as a true freshman. While playing in the highly competitive WPIAL, Denson had to face the likes of future Pro Football Hall of Fame player Jason Taylor and future Super Bowl Champion Mike Logan who would eventually become his 1997 Draft classmates. In his junior year, the Fighting Highlanders beat North Hills High School to win their first playoff game in over three decades. During his senior year, Denson was selected as a USA Today High School All-American and chosen to play in the prestigious Big 33 Pennsylvania Football High School All Star Game playing alongside Jon Ritchie and Ron Powlus.[citation needed]
For Thanksgiving 2015 Denson and his family were featured in an NFL Football Dads Football Is Family commercial where he discusses how the game of football has brought his family closer together and what it means to share the sport with his children.[14]
Faith and personal life
Denson was converted to Christianity during his freshman year at Michigan. He joined a local church where he was ordained as a minister and began teaching bible study on campus. After being drafted by the New England Patriots, he continued to minister as an evangelist at a local Boston church. He has worked as a minister in churches and prisons as well as performing chaplain duties for professional sports teams and speaking at the prestigious NFL sanctioned Super Bowl Gospel Celebration.[15]