I have had a lot transpire in the last couple of weeks. As you may have read I made the executive board of the NFL Players Association (NFLPA). I am one of 10 players and was told that I am the youngest player ever, which is a major accomplishment for me. I am just really proud and honored to be named to this board and I look forward to the responsibilities that it requires to be a representative of the NFL as a whole and not just the Broncos. They added three new members, because two dropped off and one — Kevin Mawae of the Tennessee Titans — became the president. We added Mike Vrabel of the New England Patriots, Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints and myself.
All 10 positions were elected in. Seven people returned and the rest were nominated. I was nominated all three times, but it got kind of dramatic at the end. The very first time Rod (Smith) nominated me, but I didn’t quite make it. Then for the next spot, T.J. Houshmandzadeh of the Cincinnati Bengals nominated me and I didn’t quite make that one. The last time, Drew Brees nominated me and each person that was nominated had to give a little speech. So I gave a little speech and I guess it put me over the top and they voted me in. I was very proud. The next day I was sitting on the stage next to the President of the Player’s Association and the Executive Director Gene Upshaw. I felt kind of important, but mostly I was honored and proud for the opportunity.
Someone forwarded me an article that compared my nomination speech to a speech Barack Obama would give. I am honored to have my speech compared to Barack, but I am no where near. I think I gained the support of 60 or so football players, where he has gained the support of a few more people. So I don’t know if my speech was that powerful, but it accomplished the goal which I guess is the most important thing.
It was a great experience. Every time that I go out there it is half work and half play which is nice. I always get to learn a lot about the history of the NFL and the history of the NFLPA and the struggles of the past and the future difficulties that we may face. I have always been outspoken and aggressive so I think that is one of the reasons people believed in me. The last two years I have been heavily involved in the NFLPA and I have never been afraid to give my opinion. I guess my opinion isn’t that crazy and some people agreed with me and thought I would be a good representative. And now I am an executive for the first time in my life, which is kind of cool to say.
Last year we did a bunch of stuff while we were in Hawai’i; helicopter rides, some hiking through a rain forest and touristy stuff like that. But this year — our second year there — we kind of felt like natives so we just relaxed most of the time. We had some nice meals and chilled out taking in the sun. Get me a little tan, nothing wrong with that.
I have made an addition to my art collection; in fact I almost lost my life doing it. In one of my past blogs I talked about going to the Little Rock Nine luncheon, which was in celebration of the nine students in Little Rock, Arkansas that desegregated the first school in that area. While I was there I purchased a piece of art by an artist named Charlie Palmer. It was a depiction of the event and I was able to get it signed by each member of the Little Rock Nine, which was very cool.
I had it framed and I went to pick it up. The place I had it framed was way out in Boulder, so on the way back I was behind one of those trucks that carry a bunch of cars. The cars had been totaled so I guess they were taking them to the scrap yard or somewhere. So I was behind the truck and one of the bumpers on one of the cars was kind of loose. The wind ripped it off as I was on I-25 headed south right around I-70. The bumper flew off and landed in front of my car and was rolling right towards me. I had a split second so I looked in both of my mirrors and I was flanked by two cars and there was a car behind me so I couldn’t slam on my breaks.
Fortunately I was in an SUV and just drove right over it. It scared me at first because it flew off the top deck so when it came off I thought it was going to hit me in the windshield which would have been traumatic. Who knows how I would have responded. But I drove over it and it didn’t cause my car any damage, at least none that I am aware of yet. It might be leaking some important fluid that I will find out about sooner or later.
Speaking of my art collection, my rookie year I gave a speech on Martin Luther King Jr. day — I have told this story before and it was in my book, so I guess I will re-tell it. I was in Arvada giving this speech and a gentleman came up at the end of the speech and gave me the Life Magazine from the day after Dr. King was assassinated, an original copy. Anyway I have had it since then, but I took it up to the art framer and they going to frame it up and do a collage next to it, so I am really excited about that.
The guy who gave it to me has become a good friend of the family and has been to a few games. I haven’t talked to him in a while so I guess this a good reminder for me to give him a call to see how he and his family are doing.
I haven’t gotten too caught up in the NCAA Basketball tournament nor have I the past few years. Mostly because I am in Hawai’i when it starts at the NFLPA meetings and it is hard to get my hands on a bracket and fill one out. And if you don’t have a bracket, you just kind of sit and wait and watch the big finishes so I enjoy those games. I am sad to see my Terps not make it in, so now I just cheer for the ACC schools. I know Hamza Abdullah’s school Washington State is playing North Carolina this week so I have been talking trash with him. I am sure Dre’ Bly will add to that when he and Hamza see each other.
To close, I want to send out best wishes to the Broncos employees who were let go recently. You not only get close to your teammates, but you get close to a lot of employees around the facility. We are always prepared for a teammate to leave because that is the nature of the business but when other people leave, especially those that you get to know and you really like it is difficult. I am pretty sad about it. I am sure those who read the blog with miss Andrew Mason especially. He always gave good information, but I guess in business you sometimes have to do things like that.
Well that is all for now. Talk to you soon.
All Ready!
Tags: Andrew Mason, Art, Barack Obama, Basketball, College Basketball, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dre Bly, Drew Brees, Exceutive board, Family, Gene Upshaw, Hamza Abdullah, Kevin Mawae, Little Rock Nine, Maryland, Maui, Mike Vrabel, NFL Players Association, Offseason, Politics, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Uncategorized
Congrats man that is awesome. Sorry to hear about the car incident but glad to hear you are all right. We will need you next year and you are quickly establishing yourself as a class act. Keep up the good work and continue the success.
congrats on making the executive board of NFLPA!!! thats really cool! that is a scary story about you almost dying! thats super scary and i am very glad you are OK! as always i just wish you will be a Denver Bronco next season!
-PARIS (#1 BRONCO FAN!!!!!)
Congrats with the executive board in the NFLPA and representing the broncos so well. Speaking of that accident of yours, I had a desk fall out of a pickup in front of me and hit my car and the wind shield broke out so I know how you felt. I was also wondering what the title of your book is I never heard about it. And I’m confident that you’ll be a bronco next year so good luck and thanks for keeping us informed on all your off-season activities. And go UNC!
WOW! That must’ve been scary to almost get into a crash. My dad just got into one 3 weeks ago and just got his car back. He was fine though. Anyway, I think D-Will and Damien had your back that day. And in fact, I think most of us saw you be elected to the board. You should’ve seen all the people congratulating you. And now that I know that you’re ready to accept those responsibilities, man, it just shows us what kind of person you are. And it’s also heart warming to read your last statement. I thought Andrew Mason was a great blogger and a great speaker. It’s sad to see him go. So, I’ll let you go now. Take care and thanks for watching. (Andrew Mason)
All Ready
P.S. I filled out 27 brackets and bombed 24 of them!
Congrats and keep on blogging Dominique!!!! Denver Forever!!!
Thats amazing that you had that kind of players supporting you, you must be one geat character guy. Anyway thats great to hear that your going places in the nflpa, and if your the youngest t to be an exacutive i cant wait to see you apply your mindset to your game. I wanted to know if you knew anything about brandon marshalls situation with the arm i just saw on PIT and some other show that Brandon Marshall will be out for a few months when i thought it was only gonna be 2 weeks. It makes you wonder if brandon is another one of those talented players that has off the field issues. I never knew you had a book whats it title? Im gonna have to go pick that up. Good job so far and hope to see you next season in orange and blue.
All ready
Congratulations Domonique, I’ll reiterate what I said before: it is great to see such a young player taking such an active role in the NFLPA and in the community.
First off….CONGRATS !!! I am glad that you made the executive board of the NFL Players Association. That is really cool that you are the youngest player ever on the executive board of NFLPA. Thank god you are okay. Reading that makes me more scared of the highway, I have had my permit since January (getting the big L in July) and I am still scared of the highway. I just take the side streets everywhere haha.
The Brandon Marshall story was funny at first but then I heard that he evered a vein, nerve, artery, and five muscle tendons. He is gonna miss 3 months and he had surgery.Hope he gets better quick.I can’t get over all of the people that got fired. I feel very bad for them and their families. Looking foward to the next entry Fox. All Ready. BTW for the 100000022nd time please stay a Bronco !!
http://www.sportsline.com/mcc/messages/chrono/7205424
Major props on your induction into that illustrious position with the NFLPA. It’s good that you’re leading Domonique, because that’s exactly what the NFL needs, good leaders. Drew Brees is a class act as well. I remember last July when he came to the county jail in Beaver, Utah (about two hours from where I live in Manti) and gave the convicts an autographed football. That was pretty sweet! I’m also glad that you survived that incident on the 25-70 intersection. Although I don’t make it over to Denver that often (since I’m Mormon I only come to Monday Night games that the Broncos play in, hopefully there’s a couple of them this season!), I’m well aware that this particular stretch of interstate can be quite treacherous. I’m glad you survived! My bracket’s doing quite well, as I’ve picked 11 of the Sweet 16 correctly. Go Tennessee! Anyway, don’t fall into an entertainment center like Brandon Marshall and keep working hard. You’re the best!
Dom, you are one of the good guys. Congratulations on being elected to the Executove Committee. I really hope you can stay a Bronco. We need men like you and Rod Smith to set an example for the Brandon Marshalls of the team. It is simply not prudent to be wrestling around in front of the entertainment center in your hotel suite with whomever (maybe our next middle linebacker) at 7:00 am. Enough said. We need your leadership. As an example I will cite the new battle cry for the entire tieam for 2008.
All Ready!!
entire team
Dom, I hope Broncos management places an economic value on your intangible leadership skills. Our youth movement has left many fans wondering who tomorrow’s locker room leaders will be. For all the bad press certain players have brought us this off season, it is refreshing to hear about such a young person displaying so much leadership. I am proud that you are wearing orange and blue and hope you make it through free agency a Bronco. We’re lucky to have you.
http://rockymountainfever.blogspot.com/
congrats on being nominated!
Congrats on your election Fox. With great authority comes great responsibility, I wish you great success! Glad to see you are still a Bronco, you want to stay here and win a superbowl in a couple of years, don’t you?
You guys give Brandon Marshall a break. Most of us here are guys, and as the saying goes, boys will be boys! All of us are prone to a spur of the moment wrestling match, it was just a freak accident! Go Broncos !
imready, your right. Boys will be boys. granted wrestling right next to an entertainment center is not the most brilliant thing but he will be fine for training camp. everyone makes mistakes, one time I punched my brother in to the wooden beam of a sofa and he bounced into another one. people mess up.
here, here! it’s not like any of us haven’t been injured in a little wrestling match. but maybe not as drasticly as Brandon. he’ll be back to 110% by the time the season starts. Hopefully with some other receivers by his side to relieve some pressure. This draft may have some 5-7th round wide receiver sleepers.
Jayson Foster is the return guy the broncos could use. 4.28 40 at 5’9″ 165lbs anybody else say Devin Hester #2 or better? draft in 7th round.
Paul Hubbard is 6’2″ 220lbs and runs 4.39. Similar body build to Brandon but a tad smaller. With 2 big guys Stokely could grab everything in the slot. get a 3rd round pick and get Paul there.
Steve Johnson is 6’1″ 210lbs he is a mid sized guy with potential. He has good hands and good, constant production. 61 rec, 1052 yds and 13 TDs at Kentucky. draft in 5th round, he’d be worth it.
Fox every team needs a proven leader as you are, and one that is great on and off the field. It seems that many teams talk a lot about wanting players that are both, but in the end it seems all they want is production. I’m a manager of a sales team and I want salespeople who are articulate, hard chargers to meet bottom line and I want character. Many of my colleagues have excellent sales people, but these people also have issues that cause the company problems.
My fan and I want you here next year, and if not we know its business. When I heard your name attached to a trade to Detroit, I was like, whoa dude-what are the broncos up to. How did you feel about that? Did they tell you they were going to consider trading you? Most teams are not up front like that, so I guess you were surprised too. Well, I guess this is how the NFL works, they want good paper, but they act in bad ways.
Stay strong. When I was in college at Miami, I wish we had high character guys like you who could play. Be a bronco Fox.
Charles
Congratulations on your election with the NFLPA!! Sounds like you have some plans to enact up there. That’s crazy about your driving incident! Holy cow! I’m glad you’re alright and nothing really happened to your SUV. Maybe next year you can have a NCAA pool with all of us
Well anyways. Tell Brandon to get better and give my condolences to Jay on Vandy’s 1st round exit.
hey fox seen ur pics on D-wills myspace page of the teen center…looks like things are starting to take off!! your tha man and cant wait for you take ova at starter in Denver for years to come!!
hey fox seen ur pics on D-wills myspace page of the teen center…looks like things are starting to take off!! your tha man and cant wait for you take ova at starter in Denver for years to come!! alllreaddyy
Hey fox, good to hear from you!! good job with the position, and good luck to you in offseason workouts. tell brandon marshall i’m boycotting mcdonald’s until he gets better!!! haha Peace man
-shill-
Foxy,
Congrats!!! That is really cool that you were selected.
I havent been in many car accidents (knock on wood) but I have always hated driving behind those trucks that carry all the cars. Now Im never going to be behind one, that is some scary stuff! Im glad nothing bad happened though, we didnt need 2 freak accidents this month.
You didnt fill out a bracket? Im not into college basketball but you have to fill out a bracket! CBS4 is giving away a TV if you win so I thought to myself why not, what is there to lose! But Im not doing to well haha, thats what happens when your not into college basketball.
Well I hope all is well and your ready for the offseason workouts!
Peace out
Ashley
Nic eto hear from you again.
I know I and many other Bronco Fans feared that you were heading out of Denver.
Hope you stay giving all a chance to admire your skills and read your Blogs
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DOMONIQUE, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ANGELS ARE SURROUNDING YOU 24/7. CONGRATULATIONS ON THE BOARD….HAPPY BIRTHDAY..HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG NIQUE…LOVE SUPER AUNTIE THOM AND TAH…CALI AND BMORE.
Hey Fox,
Happy belated birthday, friend! I hope you enjoyed your day!
Congratulations on making the NFLPA board. We are truly proud of you.
Hope this message finds you well.
Take care.
All Ready!
~ChocolateQT
Maybe you should concentrate on improving your cover skills. You need to find a way to cover without getting so many penalties. You have killed us so many times with stupid penalties, I can’t even remember all of them. Grow up and become a real professional athlete, not a politician. If you want to get into politics, quit football NOW. gO bRONCOS !!!!!!
bronncohowie settle down. has Dominique not made plays before? has he not been one of the more elite nickle backs in the league? sure he may not to practice a bit more but he is ahead of his class.
may need to practice. my bad.
Bronncohowie and others, we read losers like you comments quite a bit. All I can say as a broncos and raiders fan, is to go back and review the film. I attend all broncos home games and the raiders-broncos game in Oakland, and Fox is pretty much on his game. I like offense more, but if you check your dvd’s I bet he doesn’t have three pass interference penaltys for the year. When he’s playing the right position of CB, hes great. Maybe being out of position helping at FS/SS he might have had more, but it is still low. Also, the secondary is the best on the team right now, given champ and dre starting, fox as the 3d & nickle and paymah coming in next. I like champ on the corner because he is the best at keeping the ball from him, while they pass to others, which gives champ more room to help the defense. What games are losers like you watching? As I state all the time, I wish we had guys like Fox at Uni. of Miami, who take care of business on the field playing their position and is smart enough to read and write, which is probably not your case, loser bronncohowie- I bet you can’t run a mile, can’t lift 50lbs, don’t have a girlfriend, and use to get your butt beat on the park. So now you take it our on folks that you admire, because you’re a loser and never will be anything athletically. This whole football team has to raise the bar, including coaches also. So go back and review every game from last season, and I bet you’ll find most of the players, Fox in particular in position. He played CB, nickle, FS/SS and did a good job filling in. Can you spell college graduate in 3.5 years, male athlete of the year, All-ACC, led the broncos in PDUs in 2005. Go to the bronx website and do your homework loser. Charles1
Way to go Fox, I never hear about you doing anything bad or making glaring mistakes way out in Richmond. Guys like you make us proud. On a different note, anyone else read about Jay speaking his mind about Marshall. Someone better be paying attention, Jay can make people lots of money throwing them the ball. If the qb aint happy, aint NOBODY happy!
I think Jay, Champ and Lynch are great leaders for the team, and collectively will create a good environment. Right now I wonder if the coaching staff have a good hold on a positive environment, so players collectively can always make this work. I think Rod with his 10+ years is a soothing player who brings a lot to the table also in terms of leadership, and he speaks un-noticed, but is effective.
I agree with ncheel2. I like the leadership that Cutler is showing and Im stoked to see Foxy still with us.
Did you guys catch that Chad Johnson interview on ESPN? That was wacky!
your life give me hope in myself,the events you speak of are just cool.congrats on you being the youngest person on the board,anyways take it easy domi don’t exert yourself to much you gotta save some energy for this season I think you will do great
I’m not sure if Jay has the numbers and personality to deal with situations like he commented on Marshall. I know many broncos fans want and think he’s the next Elway, but not so yet. 9-12, 14 picks and 4 fumbles (2007) are not what makes for an effective leader. Rod, Champ, DJ and Lynch are more suitable at this point. I prefer that players get more involved than coaches at this point, for the main reason that coaches don’t seem to be well respected by players yet, so their involvement will only make things worse.
ncheel2, Rod Smith is on the Retired/Reserve List. Nalen, C. Bailey, Lynch and Hamilton probably. all experienced and have been with the team for long enough to know the city, the team, and the coaches.
The bottom line is you’re going to play quarterback you better be a leader. The last time I checked Cutler was improving on a weekly basis as well. I know one thing about the kid, he doesn’t get rattled and I EXPECT him to speak up like he did when a teammate acts like a jackass. I would also expect Foxworth to speak up if someone on defense acted in a moronic fashion, THAT’S WHAT LEADERS DO! As I learned in the service: Lead, follow or get the F$#@ OUTA MY WAY!
Bronncohowie did you do your homework and verify what you were talking about as far as Foxworth? I doubt it. Many other losers like you get on the blog and talk junk and have no stuff to back up what was said. When I was at Miami we had ratting from fans on players all the time also, and they were just sorry loser like you and didn’t have a clue about the sport. All they wanted was wins. If you are going to blog about a player, they don’t deserve such negative comments as you stated and two, have your stuff together if you decide to do so. I have never palyed football at the college level, and while I think I know what these guys should be doing, I’m out of my league to criticize players. These are professionals, and sometimes we can talk a little about about things, but not as negatively as you did. If you had a clue, you’d concentrate on the whole team and not one player. From what I see defensive line is a major issue here, and we need to have some pressure up front. Champ, Dre, Fox, Humza and the other safety will be good, (they were 9th in pass defense last year) but if there is no help up front days are long for secondaries.
The coaches need to get it together also, as some play calling put players in the wrong position and we were scramblng on offense to get the right play and players in- that seems like a coaching area.
So Bronncohowie get down with the game, just get it right and have a little courtesy. Fox is a good man for this team, and if had the smarts and athletic ability as he, I’d use it to my utmost also. Only LOSERS would not! Charles 1
Dom, do the players have any say in who the organization drafts? I really hope denver take chris williams with the 12th pick i dont know why there isnt a bigger buz about him he is one of the elite tackle prospects in my eyes and fits the denver mold of an athletic tackle who can move well in a zone blocking scheme and with the second round pick draft earl bennet if he falls so far which i doubt because i think there has been some buzz about him after his workout but i still think he might fall because he is from vanderbuilt. I think it would show cutler that the organization is trying to do the best for him to suceed and then in the 3rd round draft a DT and a safety and later on pick up a TE or K because those are some of the holes i think in denvers roster. Pick up deshard choice out of georgia who in my eyes reminds me a hell of alot of Terrel davis maybe its because they both went to a georgia school. anyway you should put up who you want the organization to draft. Your a good corner and in the game agaist pitsburg you didnt allow many plays on your side of the field it was a pretty good game over all but no picks you only have 1 pick where paymah has 2 i dont know what to tell you you need to step it up a lil and get some more picks with the time you get to play, it might be your playing time because paymah i think gets more than you being he can play the left corner spot and dre sometimes covers the slot.
good corner ireguardless of statistics and a high character guy!!!! the league could use more domonique foxworths.
allready