I had a really, really busy week. It was really positive for the most part. We got a win, which is always good. I was able to stand on the side during the game and do some coaching, and I was really into the game as kind of a half-fan, half-coach, just to try to help out the young guys.

A lot of people got a chance to play, and a lot of people who aren’t here any more got a chance to put their talents on film, which was really good. Hopefully some other people around the league will pick them up based on what they saw us do on Thursday. Sadly, we lost a lot more players again. But the good thing about it is we’re done cutting. So the people who are here now are your 2007 Denver Broncos, which is great.

One of the big surprises was us cutting Kyle Johnson. You can’t say enough about him as a person and we’re all sad to see him go. He’s one of the brightest guys on this team and he’s one of the hardest working. I really haven’t read the paper, but I assume that everything the coaches have said about him has been positive. I’m sure they’re not happy to have to get rid of him, but it’s a complicated game with the salary cap, and you can only keep a certain amount of players.

I think one of the things that keeps me around here is that I can fill a lot of roles on the team, and I think that one of the things that hurt Kyle was that he’s a fullback. A lot of the other guys we have playing fullback like Cecil Sapp, he’s a fullback/halfback, and now they’re making Mike Bell kind of a fullback/halfback. Versatility is the way to go, and it’s the way this league has been going. Kyle is definitely one of the top five fullbacks in the league, and unfortunately fullbacks are kind of going out of style. A lot of people are using tight ends and what they call an “H-back” system. I expect him to get picked up pretty soon and I wish him luck with the rest of his career, and I’m sure the Broncos fans will miss him and his little touchdown dance that we’ve grown accustomed to seeing.

When Karl Paymah got hurt during the game, that was really tough for a lot of us. It was amazing for the guys on the field to be able to remain focused and play again. That’s always something that’s extremely difficult to do because when you’re in the game, it’s so serious and so important. Each play is really important, and then when something like that happens, you realize the game isn’t quite as important as you thought it was.

I think Hamza Abdullah, who played with Karl in college, he was right next to him when it happened, and Hamza was really freaked out, but he managed to play a great game the rest of the way. We found out later he was better and that he was OK and it was just a concussion. You can’t really say, “It’s just a concussion,” but given what it could have been, being hit right on the top of the head like that and being out on the ground, and stretchers and not moving and all that stuff, a concussion is a welcomed injury in comparison to what could’ve happened. I’ve seen things like that go really, really bad, so we’re happy that Karl is back. I don’t know what he’s going to do this week, but it doesn’t really matter. We’re happy that he’s here walking around just like that nothing ever happened. Really happy about that.

I had a really interesting week as far as being a minor celebrity. It was kind of up and down. First, on Tuesday I was going to the mall, because I had some more friends who had some babies, so I was back in the baby store buying more baby gifts. An older lady who said she was a retired teacher came over to me, which really threw me off, and she said, “Aren’t you Domonique Foxworth, the College (in Colorado) guy?” I told her I’m actually a football player, but I’ve become really well-known for the CollegeInColorado.org commercials and campaign, which is fine with me. Her and her friend, who was also a retired teacher, were just going on and on about how great it is for the kids and it’s a positive role model, which is exactly what I set out to do.

On Wednesday, I went to this concert they had with a bunch of hip-hop artists, T.I. and Ciara and a bunch of people. A friend of mine from middle school was out here because she works for the concert, so I went to see her and I hung out backstage. So I’m hanging out backstage and there’s a bunch of kids back there grabbing autographs from T.I. and Ciara and T-Pain and all these other big hip-hop stars. I’m just hanging in the back, minding my business, and then some kids came over and wanted to take pictures with me. They were like, “It’s Domonique Foxworth!” I felt kind of cool, I have to admit. So I’m standing back there taking pictures, and T.I. is looking back there like, “Who the heck is this guy?”

But anyway, it was really cool. I ended up staying for the whole concert backstage and I was able to get a couple of my teammates in also, so we hung out and had a good time. Surprisingly though, because I feel like I’m too old to be at young kid’s hip-hop concerts. But we had a great time, it was a lot of fun.

But back to the game on Thursday. The concert was on Wednesday and the baby store stuff was on Tuesday, so I’m feeling good about my celebrity. I was like, “Ah, people really know me and respect my abilities, because I get the game off. I’ve come a long way.” So I get to the game really early, way before kickoff like I normally do. Even though I’m not playing, I treat it like a regular game, and I normally go outside with Mike Harrington and Kenny Chavez, the equipment guys, and we go out and play catch before every game.

So this game, we go out and we’re playing catch in the middle of the field, right on the 50, because the cheerleaders were out there on the sides and we try to stay out of their way. So as we’re playing catch, this guy walks up behind me with a golf club, and kind of abrasively says to me, “Hey, you can’t be here. Ball boys have to warm up on the sideline.”

And he points at me, and says, “This right here, if you want to play in the middle of the field, you better go try out for an NFL team somewhere.” So I kind of smiled at him, and I said, “Hypothetically, let’s say I was getting ready to play in a game, would you let me warm up here?” And the guy responds, “Yeah,” and then storms off.

So we just stayed in the middle of the field and kept playing catch, and he comes back about 10 minutes later as we’re walking in and he’s walking out, and he kind of angrily says, “Sorry,” and storms right past me. So I was laughing and that was the big joke I was telling everybody. I thought it was hilarious and everybody I talked to was like, “You let him talk to you like that? You should’ve told him off.” But I thought it was hilarious.

It didn’t hurt my feelings. I understand that I’m 5-11 and 175 pounds. I look like a ball boy more than I look like a football player, which is fine. That was just funny, to bring me down back to earth really quickly after my week of being a big-time celebrity.

Another thing, before the game — like I said, I was warming up out there, and the cheerleaders are always working out around us, and it was just impressive to see how hard they work. Because I wasn’t playing in this game, I was kind of taking everything in a little more, a little less focused, to be honest with you, than I normally am. But just to see how hard they work, and there’s so many people that go into making our games go well. The guy who came out with the golf club is in charge of the grounds, and I realize what he was trying to do was just keep the grounds in good shape for me, potentially. So just thinking about him and all the guys in the yellow shirts, the security guys, and the people who work concessions, there’s just tons of people.

Like I said, the cheerleaders were working really hard before the game. I don’t know how many times they practice, but you forget that they’re a team also. They work really hard, and they either have good games or bad games, just like us. I actually bumped into Keela Harris, one of the cheerleaders, after the game at Old Chicago, and she was with a bunch of her friends and we got to talk to them while we were waiting for our seats. It was just good to get their perspective on how hard they work.

And Keela has a blog, actually. So I’d recommend that everybody who reads my blog go on over and take a look. I was kind of making fun of her because my blog is a lot more popular than hers, so it would be nice if everybody gave her a little boost. Just tell her that I sent you so that she doesn’t get confident and think that her blog is on the come-up or something. She still can’t beat this blog. So yeah, check out the other blogs, but don’t stop checking out my blog.

But anyway, it was cool to be able to talk to her and about three other cheerleaders about how hard they work and how important it is to them also. They have missed assignments sometimes just like us. Just to be able to think of them and the security guys and the grounds guys and everybody as a team themselves, and Sunday (or Thursday this week) is their big day also.

Another thing — at the signing at the Helio store last weekend, I was able to meet onechocolateqt, she showed up there. It was really cool. Her name is Patricia, and she came with her sister, Sheri, and it was a really good time. It wasn’t a big turnout, which is another kick in the pants for my big celebrity, so I was able to just chill with her for about 20 minutes and just talk. It was really cool to be able to get to know her, and her mother is in the hospital and is on the recovery, so everybody say some prayers for her. But she’s doing better, which is great.

And MontanaBroncoGirl, I didn’t meet her, but I thought it was ironic that she wrote to the blog because this was the same week that a couple of my cousins, Jahad and Malik, visited me and stayed for a week, and they live in Great Falls, Montana. We had a great time with them and took them down to Nike Town and went on a little back-to-school shopping spree. They had a ball, and they were able to come to the game and take pictures with some of my teammates.

They had a really good time, but I was laughing with them kind of, because they’re from Great Falls, Montana, and they think Denver is like the biggest city ever. They were able to go to Baltimore a little bit, which is where the rest of my family is, so this wasn’t the first city they’ve been to, but it was just funny because they were like, “Wow, an Applebee’s! I see the commercials all the time, but I’ve never been to one, I’ve never seen one.” It was pretty funny.

Let’s see, a sign off for this week… we’ll go with jwlantz, he gave one that I like. We’ll end it with his quote this week:

“Success is never final, and failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts.” – Winston Churchill

It’s pretty good. A little corny, to be honest with you, but if you get into it I think it hits home on a lot of levels.

Thanks everybody for reading. All Ready.

Tags: Cecil Sapp, Cheerleaders, College in Colorado, Hamza Abdullah, Karl Paymah, Keela Harris, Kyle Johnson, Mike Bell, Montana

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