Peyton Manning chose the Denver Broncos for a number of reasons. But Head Coach John Fox isn’t looking past one of the biggest reasons — Executive Vice President of Football Operations John Elway.
“He’s definitely a legend here — he’s a legend in the NFL, but I look at his success,” Fox said of Elway. “The guy has been a winner in everything he’s done, both on and off the field. He’s extremely smart. A lot of people weren’t sure because of his lack of experience in an executive role, but I think he’s done a tremendous job, and I’m sure (he) was helpful in getting Peyton.”
Manning admitted as much during his introductory press conference, citing Elway along with Fox and Owner/CEO Pat Bowlen as determining factors.
“Certainly I have had a relationship with John and it goes back a long way, but I’ve seen John now in a different role,” he said of Elway. “I’ve always seen him as a quarterback, never had to play against him, but that’s always the role I saw him as. Now I’ve seen him as a leader of a franchise and I really like what he had to say.
“Everyone knows what kind of competitor he is as a player, and I can tell he is just as competitive in this new role. That got me excited, I know he’s going to do everything he can do to help this franchise win and it certainly helps with leadership at the top in Mr. Bowlen. Coach Fox is a guy I have known a long time. I know he’s hungry to win. I’m just looking forward to being a part of that.”
In his new role, Elway said he’s harkening back to what former Head Coach Mike Shanahan did for him late in his career and looking to do the same for Manning — “give him the best opportunity to be successful.”
That parallel wasn’t lost on Manning.
“I think certainly John knows what it’s like to play quarterback at the ages of 35 and 36, and so certainly that helps.”
Now the two quarterbacks are under one roof, and Elway said he can’t wait to help Manning see similar success late in his career.
“I just know he is going to play great football,” Elway said. “That is when I played my best football, the older I got. (When I was) 37 and 38 were the two best years we had in my career.”
GETTING TO KNOW YOU
As of his introductory press conference, Manning hadn’t met many of his new Broncos teammates. But he’s getting there.
“I met Eric Decker on my visit,” Manning said, cracking a smile. “Elvis Dumervil and Champ Bailey have been blowing up my phone — hopefully that will die down a little bit and I can get to know them in person.”
As for his new receivers, he’s excited to get to work.
“They’re young and talented,” he said. “I’ve played with guys that age before. I can tell by watching these guys on tape that they love football. They’re excited about it. That’s all rewarding to me, getting on the same page with these receivers in the offseason and seeing that come together on the playing field. I look forward to that part of it, getting together and talking football. These guys are going to have to help me too. I will lean on them. I’m the new guy here.”
Manning agreed that Demaryius Thomas is likely the tallest receiver he’s ever thrown to, which is “new and exciting.”
“He’s big,” Manning smiled. “The guy’s got a ton of talent and a ton of potential. I’m looking forward to helping him. I’m looking forward to having him help me as well.”
Will he throw with them during the offseason?
“Certainly, the rules have changed in terms of what you’re allowed to do in the NFL, so I sort of need to get some clarity on that. But I’m going to do whatever I can to get with these guys and talk with these guys.”
“The sooner we can get started on that, the better.”
-Gray Caldwell
Not related too these old boys, but happy bday to Von Miller the great, the respectful, the beast.
So excited for this season. I believe our offense will be extremely potent. If we get a speedy RB and WR in the draft, all i can say is look out. This offense has amazing potential. I can’t wait to watch some home games, it has me so amped for the season. I believe we are pretty set on defense as well. If we go DT, DT, LB, DL in the first four rounds I would be one happy camper. If we beef up the DL, this is going to be a scary good team. The secondary is already much improved with the additions of Porter and Adams, i love the pickups. So much happier we went after Porter and Adams, rather than breaking the bank for Carr or Finnegan. Our linebackers should be much improved as well. Especially with Miller fully recovered and a year of experience under his belt. I have total faith in this team, we have great young talent and I love our veterans. LETS GO DENVER!
Peyton Manning is going to do wonders with the Broncos! This is an exciting time to be a Broncos fan.
For those who are trippen heavily over signing Caleb Hanie, its a good signing. And just for the record, Hanie won`t play one snap of regular season football this year, Manning will play every snap.
Let’s go all in on the front 7 in this draft!!! Let Fox draft his RB of choice, and maybe another OL for depth.
I hope your right Strand
can we please stop losing to our division rivals at home? its getting irresponsible.
The O-line is young but talented and still developing. Now that JF has taught them to break holes for the run (something McD didnt seem capable of) they’ll develop into one of the best with Manning directing them. Just look at how they were able to adjust mid season from protecting an immoble pocket passer to the happy feet scrambler, certainly couldnt blame the OL for the sacks taken 15 seconds after the snap and at the sideline- they held up well when side stepping as the qb jumped the pocket.
I like the O-Line too, I just say we might take an OL in the draft for depth in case of injury.. We have to be well stocked at that position to protect our investment
sorry turtle………I actually do try and read as many posts as possible……..but it’s sometimes impossible when you’ve been away for a few days.
It just seemed to me that your posts were directed at when manning gets injured, like it’s destined to happen………or at least that was my observation.
But if that’s not the case then I apologize.
We should all be super pumped at the potential we now have going into the season. Our O will be so far from one dimensional that opposing D’s will not be looking forward to facing us. Man, I can just see the sick play-action plays already.
Fair Kod…
I’m not not excited… I just feel that the potential for this team was higher with TT…
Our Running game was 21st in the league with KO… Teams were stopping us without stacking a safety in the box… with TT our Run game was number 1 with the Safety playing at the line of Scrimmage…
If we only average 90 yards a game rushing like we did with KO then we will be in real trouble regardless if our QB is PM or JE…
I simply try to point out cause and affect… I think that Peyton is a Great QB, and if he can perform at his old level then we will win 8 games… Our run game will be suspect as it was before TT, and Peyton has proven he is good for about 8-10 wins on his own in the past…
I realistically believe that with this Roster, and this schedule we will win 8-9 games and miss the playoffs this season… that is if Peyton stays healthy… If Peyton goes down we could win as few as 4 games…
I am excited about the Idea of Peyton playing in Denver… I just have a bad feeling in my gut that we won’t be getting what we thought we were…
Just to play devil’s advocate……………with TT our run game was number one, but where was our passing game? lol Essentially non-existant. It’s all about balance.
And I have to disagree……..if we can average 90+ yards a game with PM under center, we’ll have a much higher chance of winning then with KO. Hell, even if we averaged 10 yards a game we’d still have a better chance with PM over KO! LMAO
I think 10 games wins the division………maybe even 9………and I feel quite confident that we’ll be right there to take the division crown again, or at least get a wild card spot.
Plus, I think our run game actually has a better chance of success than ever before cause PM will take the passing game to a whole new level, forcing D’s to play us honestly……..When teams started to stack the box against us our running game suffered.
You a gambling man Kod?
we ran against 8 man fronts almost all season with TT and still averaged almost 150 yds a game… that is far from struggling… we won games with 8 pass attempts… count’em 8…
I won’t argue that PM could, if healthy, elevate the passing game to a whole new level, but to what end… a W is a W, and they will be hard to come by next season… we have to win at least 8 games for this to be a wash… 10 to 12 for this to be better, and make it to the superbowl for the switch to be a success… You really see that happening with this Roster?
Not really……..I play poker, which I don’t consider gambling, but a game of strategy. lol
Well, I for one am glad that I won’t have to agonize through another season of Tebow football. Yeah, the wins were exciting and I’m greatful for them, but if TT had actually played even mediocre ball the rest of the game, they would’ve and should’nt have ever come down to the last few minutes as they did. Even in the victories I was like, “Yah, we won, but damn that was UGLY.”
We’ll never see eye to eye on the whole subject of TT……..and I’m fine with that.
Thanks everyone for the congrats. after sleeping and talking about things this morning were both pretty excited.
and that goes twofold………..with the tough schedule we have…….seeing TT lead this team to 8-8 would be an over-acheivement at best.
Like Champ Bailey said after one of the games
“Winning ugly is still winning and thats what the league is about”
agreed, we will never agree … I for one am saddened that we are starting over in our search for a QB… if winning is not the gold standard and statistics are then we have ourselves a Golden Goose, with the ability to Blow up a stat sheet… but if winning a Superbowl is really our goal, then we really have taken steps in the wrong direction this offseason…
Get ready for 300 yard passing days and another middle of the pack finish by our Beloved Broncos… SUCKS!!!
have you ever played in the WSOP? or any Heartland events? I love poker…
nope, one of my dreams is to play in the main event at the WSOP…….but coming up with the buy-in is a stretch at this point. lol
Used to play online quite a bit but got turned off after a while. It’s just not the same as sitting at the table and reading your opponants. I just play local games, which are still fun and semi-lucrative.
I’m a little obsessed with poker and football……..and sports in general.
I, being a patient guy (my nickname is Turtle) would have been very content to watch Tebow struggle some next season… we may have gone 6-10 but that happens… he would have gone through his sophomore year and the whole team would have been better for it…
Now we hope Peyton can play like he use to… when historically, no NFL player has ever returned to form after suffering similar injuries…
I am a gambling man, as well as a poker player… and I’m just telling you that my money is not on the Broncos next season to even win the division… literally I placed a wager on it… at Sportsbook.com
The WSOP is great!!! there are many tourney’s that have $1,000 or $1,500 buy-ins…
My best finish is in event #11 of the ’10 WSOP… I placed 187th out of 2,536 entrants…
I LOVE Poker….
I finished 72nd in POY points on the Heartland Poker Tour in ’09…
Yup, it rocks. I believe it’s about 90% skill and 10% luck, hence I don’t see it as gambling. It’s def calculated risk. But sometimes you’re bound to suck out on someone and vice versa……..that’s just the way it goes, no matter how perfectly you play the hand.
slow day
slow indeed………..and there’ll be many more of these leading up to the draft. Then there’ll be another lull til training camp starts. Just the way the cycle goes….
I wonder if we`ll sign any more FA`s this week or if thats it. I`m not sure what we`ll do. Gotta have buckaroonies for our draft picks. I wonder if the Broncos are finally strapped for cash or if we still have bucks to spend?
I enjoy playing poker too. The best I ever done was win a tourament #1 in Cripple Creek, Colorado playing 7 card stud about 10 years ago. There was only 9 tables and approxametly 80 to 90 players. but it was a blast. I just learned to play Texas Holdem 3 years ago, a different strategy compared to 7 stud kinda but similar in some aspects. I love playing poker!
BBBP: We go 12-4 next season, win the division and home field advantage right through the play-offs!!!
Jets go 7-9! LMAO
Peyton Manning is going to wear out teams when playing in Milehigh. For three quarters he`s going to be zinging the ball all over the field and tire out defenses and in the 4th quarter we`ll be playing Foxy ball running most of the time because we`ll have a commanding lead. Thats how I see it playing out when we`re at home. I foresee us winning all 8 games at home.
Timmy is such a good speaker. Wow. Now I love him even more
I want to see Tim Tebow win a SB if we are not in it. I`m rooting for you Timmy!!!
I second that notion i also hope TT wins a SB but what if we go against him in the playoffs then we will have to beat him to the punch. sorry TT
3 & Outs…
That’s where Peyton Manning improves this team instantly. With Fox ball, his strategy is to kick after every offensive possession. Whether its a punt, field goal or extra point.
If we can sustain drives, it keeps the field position in our favor. Not to mention, keeps our D on the sidelines which in turn keeps them fresh.
Another point, Manning can operate the no huddle/hurry up to perfection. We’ve all seen it. At our altitude it’s going to be advantageous for our offense.
3rd. With Peyton’s accuracy, McCoy can put the screens, slants and RB’s in the flat back into the playbook.
4th, our running game faced so many 8 man fronts…9 at times and we were still successful. There’s no reason to believe that we can’t continue that type of success when the Defenses must play us honestly.
These are just a few of the reasons I believe Manning makes this team better. Instantly.
Broncos Country Strong 2012!
I second that big time. Tim needs a Super Bowl. Did you see his speech about being a role-model? Wow what a human being. I am a Bronco fan but I am also a human and wow do we need people like Tebow in this world. We need them big time.
I agree with that MB
Peyton makes the Broncos better and Tebow makes the world better. Win/Win
Peyton running the no huddle at Mile High…. Our D stays fresh, and our opponent can’t sub in players….
Did anybody see or hear anything about Vilma from the saints? Suspension or him getting traded? I thought i saw a comment on that
Look at those feet!!!
http://blogs.denverpost.com/broncos/2012/03/26/peyton-manning-throwing-practice-session-monday-denver/12805/
Haters gonna hate… although the team has had a recent injection of talent we have taken step backs towards winning a superbowl because we found a Qb who knows how to throw the ball. PM is one of the greatest passers in history umm steps towards a SB IMO
LAX – as soon as that first 3rd and long is completed, moving the chains, I think any doubters will see the light….
LAX, Im with you my friend, what people are missing is that, TT may of won 6 in a row, he went 1-4 down the stretch, exactly how KO started out. Teams were learning how to defense him, this was the best thing our FO could of done.
Thankks fellas as much as people try to hide their true feelings with ilogical logic and the end of the day its ilogical. This is a better team now than itwas before. Who’s to say Kyle Orton doesnt have a stretch where he beats Miami Oakland San Diego Kansas City Minnesota and Cutlerless Chicago and New York???
Just saying I like working with absolutes… thats what Manning is an absolute!!!!
When will the Tebow talk stop?
OT…. Those are some nice pics of Peyton Manning!! It’s great to see him in Broncos gear throwing to Decker and Orange Julius!!
Man I can’t wait til’ the seson!!
Agreed MM15!!! I’m so excited for this season!!!
We do need to address the DT & RB positions in the draft, I fully expect that we will.. We need to be able to run the ball, and our young O-Line realy began to gel as the season went along last year.. But, we need fresh legs, and prepare for injuries IMO.. I’d love to see what Fox can draft at RB, given his track record…
http://espn.go.com/blog/afcwest/post/_/id/42101/can-denvers-defense-take-next-step
OT… Between Del Rio and Fox’s knowledge on the defensive side of the ball, and Elway’s knowledge on the offensive side, I think we are gonna have one heck of draft this year!!