When free agency began, Joe Mays admits he had doubts he would end up back in Denver.
“I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, just not knowing what to expect, not knowing what direction the team wanted to go in,” he said Thursday.
So the linebacker began visiting other teams. Fresh off a trip to New Orleans, he hopped on a plane headed to Washington before connecting to Indianapolis.
Mays, who typically turns off his phone as soon as he gets on a plane — “I usually do that and follow directions,” he smiled — kept it on this time.
And it rang.
“My agent…called me and just asked me how I was doing, just regular conversation,” Mays recalled. “I’m like, ‘Well, I’m on a flight — the flight that you booked for me.’”
“I was like, ‘What’s up?’ He just said, ‘Well, get off the flight, we just agreed to a deal.’”
The Broncos had agreed to terms to re-sign the veteran linebacker, who played all 16 games (12 starts) for the team in 2011 and ranked third on the club with 74 tackles.
So Mays spent the next few minutes figuring out what to do next before grabbing his bags and getting off the plane prior to its departure.
“At the end of the day it all worked out, because I was able to get off and we had a guy on standby that was able to get on,” Mays laughed. “I was excited. I knew he was excited to get to his destination, as well, but I was excited to hear that I’m coming back here. I couldn’t have asked for a better place to be.”
The standby passenger couldn’t have asked for a better place to be either, as he took over Mays’ first-class seat.
But all joking aside, Mays said he was thrilled to be able to rejoin the Broncos.
“They made me the offer, and I wanted to be here, my family wanted to be here — It was easy for me to say yes,” he said. “Just the fact that they offered me, they believe in me, they want me to come in and do better than I did last year, and you know what, I’m just going to make sure I keep my end of the bargain and do whatever it takes.”
-Gray Caldwell
Tags: 2012 Free Agency, Joe Mays
LAME
Yea he doesnt want to leave Philly
http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/dish/201204/accountant-play-football-miami-dolphins
LAX funny thing Les Brown played High School ball with my cousin and was his best man lol
Oh crap haha 240 4.3 speed man
Hes fast dude and i can vouch that he has pretty great hands too.
Hey FTR bro,thanks for having my back,won’t do any good to tell bd to keep his religion to himself,done tried that,it won’t work,that’s why I didn’t answer his post,only fuels his fire,I did like the comment about this not being a pulpit to preach to us tho!
(But then again you did use some big words and maybe I did not Get It?? I am just a Broncos Fan from North Denver!!)LMFAO!!!!!!
I am just a backwoods redneck from East Tennessee,whadda I know???
“You’re a BUZZ KILL!!”LMFAO!!!!!
That’s why I posted the story about my beer run,it’s my right to express myself,but I’m sure somebody will twist it around and say it is not football related,the same as the religion debate,all I was doing was trying to bring a little fun to a boring blog last night,lol.
ILMSDB
FTR…..KEEP ON KEEPIN’ ON BRO!!!!
BFE
Oh yeah…….T.G.I.F.
Can’t wait to crack open an ice cold beer later,I look forward all week to drinkin’ a cold beer on the weekends.Probably build a bonfire with my bro this evening and kick out the jams in the backwoods!
If you drink a cold one this evening think about your old buddy BFE!
btw,I done killed 4 copperheads this year,this is gonna be a bad year for snakes,looking forward to catching a rattlesnake tho,lol.
Oh yeah,I would love to have Asante Samuels on our team at the right price,he is stilL a beast CB,but we can do without him too!
Turtle…sorry about your loss bro!
BTW,in the Beadles blog,I never read one word he said remotely connecting him to anything religous…but hey whatever makes you feel good!
Bottom line is,if I wanna be told the gospel,I have many churches close to where I live,I choose not to go,I have a giant family Bible handed down to me from my mom,I choose not to read it….then I get preached to on here,whether I like it or not,but hey whatever,I’m over it,but hey don’t be offended by my rants,because I’m offended by religion that is forced down my throat everyday.
One last thing,if you are so religious and so close to God,why are you putting down your fellow man,that’s a big no no,so says the bible!!!!!
It’s called being a hypocrite brother!!!!
I guess my rant is over,I feel better!
Have a nice Friday and weekend Broncos Country!
BFE
TGIF!
Looking forward to the weekend coming finally…………it’s been a long week. Not a lot planned…….just mostly getting at the never-ending honey-do list…..and watching the NHL playoffs. Might try to watch the UFC fight too, but it doesn’t even start here til like 11:30 at night which makes for a late evening. It’s a fight I really wanna see though…………there’s gonna be tons of fireworks in this, even though I think all the anamosity between them is somewhat staged to hype the fight. I think Jones keeps his belt with a ref stoppage in the 2nd round.
Less than a week to the draft! I think I’ll actually attempt the draft contest………..even if my picks might be laughable……since I haven’t the slightest clue on college players.
Tide – clearly you are NOT the one who needs to be censored around here, but we could certainly use a muzzle for some…. Oy vey!
I’m somewhat happy we didn’t acquire Samuel. Not that he’s not a good player or anything, and I know we need to breed a CB or two to replace Champ, but we have Champ, Porter, Harris, and Squid. I know we’re always looking for depth but I think those are pretty decent CBs. Harris and Squid have a long ways to go but I mean, Harris was a huge surprise for me last season in his performance. Plus I think EFX have done good with the FA and re-signings, but they’d moved away from their slogan of “getting better in the draft” if they start trading away picks for players.
yeah, I’m not overly torn up that we didn’t get samuel. I think he would’ve cost us too much at this point and we need more help in other areas. I think with another year under champ, harris and squid can really improve their game.
I think the fact that we showed interest in Samuel is a great sign for us Broncos fans. Whether we get him or not, to me, it shows just how serious our FO is about doing whatever it takes. It also shows how open minded we are, and draft day should a TON of fun, as the phones will be ringing and every team is looking to make moves. Can’t wait!!!
Even though I know McD reached on Alphonso Smith, I think keeping him would’ve been a good idea…oh well.
I know this isn’t fooball related but RIP Dick Clark! New Year’s just won’t be the same without him.
The front office is doing whatever it take to make sure this whole Manning thing pans out. They’re doing everything to save face. If they acquire talent around Manning and he fails, they can blame it on his neck. If they acquire talent and are successful, they take all the credit. If they wouldn’t have acquired anyone to help Manning then they’d look like goats. While I know the ultimate goal is to win SBs, they’re also doing it strategically. Could you imagine the fan backlash if we end up worse than we did last season..but then everyone would blame it on the tough schedule too.
I know one thing………I’m glad we have PM leading us into this tough schedule, and not TT, otherwise I think we’d be looking at a high draft pick next year. I know anything can happen, but I just feel more confident with our current QB situation.
Former CSU TE Joel Dreessen happy to be back home…
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_20438147/joel-dreessen-lives-out-dream-by-playing-tight
Call me naive, but I think the FO is simply fulfilling the promise they made to Manning, bringing in the pieces to give us the best shot, which was what convinced him to come to Denver in the first place.
Oy vey, indeed, OT.
On a lighter note, does RGIII remind anyone here of Eddie Murphy when he was younger? Every time I see a picture of RGIII, for some reason I hear Eddie Murphy’s laugh.
Can’t post but one link at a time, but here’s an EM photo:
http://www.biography.com/people/eddie-murphy-9418676
yeah tide………and washington will soon be known as Mr. Griffin’s Neighbourhood! lol
RGIII:
http://i.usatoday.net/communitymanager/_photos/the-huddle/2012/04/19/rg3x-large.jpg
LOL, KK.
Old news and I’m sure most have read Mike Klis article on DP re: Asante Samuel, but here it is for those that haven’t…..
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_20438104/broncos-now-chasing-cb-asante-samuel-sources-say
Lmfao Tide!
Btw, those articles about Manning working on the no huddle offense with the team, really has got me excited.. Talk about home field advantage, not letting the defense make substitutions in the thin Colorado air..
I dont’ doubt that as well, OrangeTsunami. But if there is one thing we can all agree on is that beneath every move, every phone call, every thought, of EFX there is a secondary motive. That’s all I’m saying. I’m happy with the acquisitions and I really hope we do great. We just need to remember that in every great business the top always distance themselves by taking the necessary precautions to be able to pass the blame when things fail…and football is nothing more than a business.
not only is it great for our offense OT……….our D will also benefot from it bigtime and help with their conditioning as well………a win/win situation all round. Manning is really stepping up as the leader of this team and seems to be ready to be the hardest working guy on our team……..which will rub off on everyone.
LOVE IT!
Good point OT – it’s going to be tough for those Teams coming up from sea level… (Chargers, Raiders) sucking wind in the high altitude !!
Tide… did you see the updated info that showed Brady Renegotiated contract…
he’s slated for less than 1m… and his new deal free’d over 7m in Cap space!!!
Good to see you BTW!!!
Today is 420 all day so BONG ON Brothers and Sisters!!!!
BT…………that’s just basically fudging the numbers for cap space………Brady will still get paid all that he’s owed in other years.
Basically it’s allowing his team to sign two more Premium Pieces…
so he can go to his 6th Superbowl…
BT………in Vancouver BC, at 4:20pm on April 20th, thousands of people gather at the art gallery and light up. Hundreds of police officers surround the place to keep the peace, but they never arrest anyone for sparking up. It’s quite the spectacle to take part in……….to see that massive puff of smoke up in the air. I’ve gone to 4 of them. lol
yes, I understand that………..but it’s still just a fudging of the numbers………we will still get paid his money in other years……from what I read it’s like over 20 million next year.
I hear ya Brian, but I don’t think our FO has a hidden agenda. Their number one objective is to win, as that alone is ultimately how they will be judged. No matter what they do from now on, if something goes wrong with PM, there will be tough questions to answer. IMO, all of their moves right now are being made with the objective to win, not cover themselves, b/c they have already gone all in
KK… that’s sounds like fun! In Brady’s world he wants that fourth Trophy so they can say things like Brady and Montana etc etc…
After winning 3 SB’s then losing 2 to the same QB I imagine this will be another crazy Season for TB!!!
Btw, I really think the signings of Dreessen, Tamme, Caldwell, and Stokley were brilliant. May not be star power, but that why I like it. All four guys have a workman like attitude, and are not Prima Donna’s, and beside Stokley, all are young. It will allow our two youngs studs in Decker and Thomas to continue to develop and be front and center, and not create any locker issues.
*locker room issues
Turtle – perhaps they are scared in NE, now that we got PM…..
Asante Samuel reportedly targeted by Denver Broncos in trade
kod…. take a look at walterfootball and other mock draft websites to gather some information to submit your mock draft. It’s a crap shoot for all of us. All in fun!
I agree OrangeTsunami, those signings seem like they’ll all be “blue collar” guys. I know Stokley is already, and Manning is the definition of “blue collar” so I think we’re going to have an awesome team of hard workers and it will really show.
OT – curious to see your mock draft entry…. did I miss it?
I hope that was a sad attempt at Humor OT… cause you and I both know that Brady and Belichek are not afraid of Peyton Manning… even when he was healthy!!!
And What up Greatness! Wish I could stay and chat but I’m bouncing in and out before I go up the mountain to fence…
rbf1 – I haven’t submitted a mock yet. I love the draft, and enjoy following it, but I really haven’t drawn up a mock before, but I guess I’ll give it a shot.
BT – I may have been trying to be funny, but I do think that the whole league has taken notice, and eventhough we have to install a new offense, opposing defenses have no idea what we’re gonna roll out on the field. I’m excited, get on board brother!
You’re well informed OT and have some great insight you share with us here. Look forward to seeing your enty !
Just a quick post, i hear often people say how tough our schedule is gonna be. Last year our schedule going in was supposed to be pretty brutal. It all depends on how the season unfolds, there are always random risers and fallers. But ill agree, it does look like a uphill battle but many teams are an injury or two away from being nightmares or pushovers. No matter who we play, just gotta come with it every sunday.
TGIF folks. Later days, TRB out…
ps: I wonder if TGIF can be considered religious … afterall … God is involved in that statement. Wish we can just all get along. Some identify themselves by their religion, their drinking, their hobbies, their family, jobs, etc. We all bring different things to the table and talk about things not directly broncos related all the time. If you don’t like the post or the poster or start reading a post headed in a direction u are not comfortable with … feel free to skip it. Much like America we are one country, Broncos Country, lets not be divided by our differences but rather be united by what we share in common. Broncos.