It was Dec. 25, 2015, and Alex Singleton found himself alone in a hotel room at the TownePlace Suites in Eden Prairie, Minn.

Singleton, then a 22-yearold undrafted rookie inside linebacker out of Montana State, was trying to make inroads in the NFL and already had a training camp stint with the Seattle Seahawks and been on the practice squad of the New England Patriots in September 2015 for a week.

And then the Minnesota Vikings signed him to their practice squad on Dec. 22, 2015.

“I spent Christmas by myself in a hotel room,’’ Singleton remembers. “It was really snowy, and it was really cold.”

Singleton lasted on the Vikings’ practice squad for the final two games of that season and for one playoff game. Then he got the news on April 13, 2016, that his services no longer were needed.

“I got cut the day before OTAs (organized team activities), so I don’t really like the Vikings,’’ Singleton cracked.

Flash forward 7 1/2 years and Singleton has come a long way. He is the leading tackler for the Broncos, who will face the Vikings on Sunday Night Football at Empower Field at Mile High.

Heading into the game, Singleton has thought about his short Vikings stint and about the long road he had to take to the NFL. After being let go by Minnesota, he went to the Canadian Football League, playing for the Calgary Stampeders from 2016-18.

Singleton finally stuck in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles, playing for them from 2019-21. He signed as a free agent with the Broncos in March 2022 and then last March re-signed on a threeyear, $18 million deal. With George Paton being Denver’s general manager, Singleton did note that he was Minnesota’s assistant general manager during his Vikings stint.

“I guess he’s kind of made up for it by paying me this offseason and stuff, so we’re on even terms now,’’ Singleton said.

With the Broncos, Singleton, who turns 30 on Dec. 7, has been a tackling machine. He had a team-high 163 stops last year and his 84 tackles this season are 30 more than anyone else on the team. He has had six games of 10 or more tackles for the Broncos (4-5).

“He expects to make all tackles and we expect him to make all his tackles,’’ said Denver outside linebacker Jonathan Cooper. “I love his game. He’s a baller.”

As the 6-foot-2, 240-pound Singleton makes tackle after tackle for the Broncos, he never forgets the hard road he had to take to get where he is now. Coming out of Thousand Oaks (Calif.) High School, he said the only scholarship offer he got was to Montana State and he debuted for the Bobcats as a 17-year-old freshman in 2011.

Singleton first began to get serious notice as a pro in the CFL, where he won the Most Outstanding Defensive Player in 2017 and was an All-Star in 2017 and 2018.

That led to him landing with the Eagles.

“I bounced around,’’ Singleton said. “I did a lot of things. Obviously, going to Canada I think helped me a lot. I just kind of matured and figured out how to be a pro. I’m thankful for every opportunity I’ve gotten.

“I still sometimes in the back of my mind wonder if I make a mistake that the next week, I’m still going to be doing what I’m doing, but luckily where I am in my career, I can have a couple of those. But I still have that drive, that passion, that chip on my shoulder. I think that’s why I prepare the way I do and do all the little things.”

Singleton said he uses his career path to talk to young players who have “hard roads,’’ including those who were undrafted, about what it takes to make it in the NFL. During training camp, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph asked Singleton to speak to players during a meeting about his journey.

“Alex went up there and told his story and it really resonated with me because being an undrafted guy, things are unknown,’’ said Broncos defensive lineman Elijah Garcia, who was undrafted out of Rice in 2022, spent most of last season on the Los Angeles Rams’ practice squad and has been on Denver’s 53-man roster throughout this season but has gotten into just three games. “It’s cloudy and dark. But one thing that he said that resonated with me was he just kept working for the love of the game. Eventually, it worked out for him. Even though it took a long time, it’s awesome to see.”

Cooper calls Singleton’s road to the NFL “amazing.”

Cornerback Fabian Moreau also admires the career path he has taken.

“His story tells you everything you need to know about him, what kind of person he is, what kind of football player he is,’’ Moreau said. “It takes a special dude to go through everything he went through and to be where he’s at.”

Singleton earlier this season had five straight games with 10 or more tackles. That was the second-longest streak for the team since 1987, the only one being longer the sixgame stretch linebacker Todd Davis had in 2019.

“He’s a productive tackler,’’ said Broncos coach Sean Payton. “He has good football instincts, and obviously a good football IQ. An important trait for an inside linebacker is the ability to key and then diagnose. … He’s one of those guys.”

Singleton said it’s the nature of his position to “get to the ball.” And that’s exactly what he did in last Monday’s 24-22 win at Buffalo.

In the third quarter, Bills quarterback Josh Allen fumbled on an aborted handoff. It looked as if Buffalo wide receiver Stefon Diggs was the closest player when the ball was loose, but it was Singleton who pounced on it.

“You got to be willing to sacrifice your body and I could guarantee I’m willing to throw my body into any pile before he ever does,’’ Singleton said.

Diggs was a teammate of Singleton’s during his short Minnesota stint. And now that Singleton is preparing to face the Vikings for the first time, is there any extra incentive for him heading into the nationally televised game?

“No,’’ he said. “I mean, every team skipped me over, if you know what mean.’’