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Draft Can Yield Surprise Stars From Nowhere

April 1st, 2013 - 2:29pm by jim_saccomanoOther posts by

The talk of the National Football League world at this time of year is the annual player draft, coming up later this month.

Nowhere can you read more about the draft here in Denver than in the Denver Broncos website, which does a great job previewing star and wannabe stars from around the country.

But after all the bodies are measured and the stats are studied, sometimes a player still can come from relative obscurity.

Perhaps the greatest example in Broncos team history of a player coming from a really small school and going on to make it big was the late Lyle Alzado.

How he came to be a Bronco is a short story worth telling, and thanks in advance for reading it.

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Posted in Jim Saccomano | 29 Comments »

NFL Story Lines Center on Denver

March 16th, 2013 - 7:08am by jim_saccomanoOther posts by

In my four decades working in professional sports public relations, one of my favorite things is watching my team be part of “the big story,” the one that commands national attention and focuses the interest of all the newspapers, electronic media, fan sites and sports bars on Denver.
 
For fans as well, this is an exciting aspect of the games we follow.
 
For four straight NFL offseasons, the Denver Broncos have produced arguably the biggest story of the year.
 
Now, other PR people in other cities might argue this, but I think the following passes the taste test of commanding offseason storylines.
 
In 2010, the Broncos made the biggest splash in the draft with the dramatic and very much debated selection of Tim Tebow in the first round.
 
While debate has persisted from before the draft until this day–from the University of Florida to the Denver Broncos and now to the New York Jets—about his ability to pass at the standard NFL level, there can be no question whatsoever about his popularity or commitment to social values. He became an international phenomenon, and was a really big story that kept the Broncos national.
 
In 2011 the big story was not about a current player but about one of the absolute greatest players of all time. It was all about John Elway taking the gigantic step from legend on the playing field to being in command of the entire football wing of the Broncos with his appointment as Executive Vice President of Football Operations.

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A Different Measuring Stick

March 5th, 2013 - 9:50am by jim_saccomanoOther posts by

There are a lot of ways to measure success, and we all know that championships are what teams shoot for, with the Denver Broncos always setting that up as the ultimate goal.

But when you look at a team’s record from the perspective not of one season, nor even one decade, but of a generation or even two, there are a lot of ways to measure success.

Looking at the reverse image, like staring at a reflection given by a mirror within a mirror view, the Broncos have not only done a lot of winning, but our franchise has done less losing than almost any other team.

This is a blog about winning in reverse, but I think you might find a few fun facts here if you choose to read further.

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Combine Just Part of the Process

February 28th, 2013 - 7:49am by jim_saccomanoOther posts by

Coaches and scouts for the 32 National Football League teams have now returned to their respective homes and headquarters following the conclusion of the 2013 combine.

The more than 800 credentialed media continue to talk on about the prospects, where they all will fall, which teams will make the biggest selections.

This is all very good for the NFL and its television partners, as well as for the cadre of media who report on all the doings of pro football, but it is most important that we never lose sight of the fact that the combine, and even the draft itself, are just part of the process of constructing a team.

In the case of our own team, the Denver Broncos, let us take a look at the current roster.

The Broncos finished 13-3 and won the AFC West before that horrific loss to Baltimore, but there was no question that Denver was one of the absolute best teams in the NFL when last we played.

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Posted in Jim Saccomano | 19 Comments »

One Final Monday Morning Manning

February 4th, 2013 - 3:00pm by jim_saccomanoOther posts by

Before we turn the page to 2013 for the Denver Broncos and the new National Football League season, we can take one final, last blog dealing with Monday Morning Manning.

From day one with the Broncos, Peyton Manning’s accomplishments have been extreme both in terms of their high level as well as the extraordinary volume.

And the last weekend of the season was no exception to this.

Even though the Broncos were not in the NFL championship game, Manning was in New Orleans for the league Saturday night honors show, and his statistics in terms of honors are just like his stats on the playing field—absolutely dominating, and they speak volumes about his status in the game.

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Perspective Only Makes Manning Greater

January 2nd, 2013 - 1:20pm by jim_saccomanoOther posts by

When fans see or hear that quarterback Peyton Manning was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week for the final regular season week of the National Football League season, there can be some temptation to treat this as routine news.

But there is nothing routine about greatness. Just because it happens a lot, that does not diminish it in any way.

John Elway once told me that the definition of greatness for a player is to be great some of the time, but really good all the rest of the time.

Easy to say, hard to do.

The Player of the Week Award announced Wednesday is the 23rd of Manning’s brilliant (yet probably understated) career. It ties him with Tom Brady for the most ever, each with that total of 23.

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Broncos Move Ahead in Special Season

December 31st, 2012 - 11:29am by jim_saccomanoOther posts by

The Denver Broncos clinched the number one seed in the AFC with their 11th consecutive win, and all 11 wins have been by at least seven points.

The 2012 Broncos thus joined the 2005 Indianapolis Colts (13 straight) and the 1942 Chicago Bears (also 11) as the only teams to win at least 11 games in a row by a margin of seven points or more in a single season.

It has been and remains a remarkable, special season for the Broncos and our legions of fans.

I would say magical, but that was last year. When a team is playing like the Broncos, there is no magic involved, just focus, preparation, talent and real hard work.

And, of course, Peyton Manning.

But he is not the whole story here.

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Posted in Jim Saccomano | 129 Comments »

Merry Christmas to Broncos Fans

December 25th, 2012 - 11:27am by jim_saccomanoOther posts by

This being Christmas week, a very Merry Christmas to all fans of the Denver Broncos.

And what a Merry Christmas it is!!!

This week’s Monday Morning Manning stats show that Sunday against Cleveland Peyton Manning became the first quarterback in National Football League history to post nine 12-win seasons—and he is the only quarterback with more than six, the figure that Tom Brady and Brett Favre each have.

And Manning joins “The Mad Bomber,” Daryle Lamonica, in posting a 10-win season the year after joining a new team—Lamonica, by the way, was a 25th round draft choice before achieving his great success with the Oakland Raiders. Manning was the first player selected in the draft and if it is possible to say, he has had an even better career than was anticipated. The only four-time most valuable player in NFL history, he certainly is a viable candidate for that award again this year.

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Statistics Support Outstanding Record

December 18th, 2012 - 9:44am by jim_saccomanoOther posts by

This is a tremendous run on which the Denver Broncos have embarked, at once worthy of praise and perspective.

The perspective is important. This is no time to tell ourselves how special we are, because, as I have pointed out many times, when you allow circumstances to sweep you off your feet, where your wind is flat on your back, and in danger of getting trampled.

As Kenny Rogers sings in the country-western song, there’s time enough to count the winnings where the dealin’s done, and the dealin’ is not yet done in the National Football League.

So, caution and perspective.

Now to the praise.

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Otis Armstrong Gets College Hall of Fame Honor

November 27th, 2012 - 10:56am by jim_saccomanoOther posts by

Only the older generations of Denver Broncos fans can say they remember and watched Otis Armstrong play, but he was a superior NFL running back for eight years in Denver.

Next Tuesday night Otis will be inducted into the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame at a dinner at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

The connection to the dinner does not end with Otis, as the Chairman of the NFF is Archie Manning, father of Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning.

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