Jim Saccomano

The buildup of excitement for the 2008 National Football League season finally comes to a head this week with the kickoff of regular season play, including the Denver Broncos’ Monday Night Football matchup at Oakland vs. the AFC West rival Raiders.

This game actually will be the second Monday night game of the opening week, and as such the Broncos draw the “three Mikes” announce team, which includes play-by-play voice Mike Greenberg along with color commentators Mike Golic and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Mike Ditka.

This is an exciting team that the Broncos will be taking into regular season play.

There is no question that Bronco followers have had a lot of new names to become familiar with during this preseason, but the excitement generated by the young players in the four preseason games was palpable.

Excitement is contagious, and there was a real energy level at that final game against the Arizona Cardinals. It was obvious whether one was watching the television broadcast, listening on the radio, or present on the sidelines at University of Phoenix Stadium.

I had gone down from the press box to the field for the last half of the fourth quarter and was standing adjacent to our bench area when rookie cornerback Jack Williams picked off that pass and took it all the way to the end zone to seal the win.

The game and score did not count for anything in the standings, but the entire bench was screaming as Williams took off on his long run, and most of the team ran a few yards toward the end zone with him, including jaded veteran players sharing this moment with a rookie beginning to make his mark.

You could see the sidleine response on the telecast as well.

This is an infectious enthusiasm, and there is real talent to go along with the verve demonstrated by these young players.

It is hard for a rookie to break into an NFL starting lineup, but the Broncos go into their opener at Oakland with two fresh starters on offense, number one draft choice Ryan Clady at left tackle and second round selection Eddie Royal at wide receiver.

Rookie punter Brett Kern led the NFL in punting this summer, the Broncos had the fewest sacks (two) and led all AFC teams in scoring this preseason.

Third-year quarterback Jay Cutler had a great preseason, and place kicker Matt Prater was among the scoring leaders in the entire league.

The future does not always automatically belong to the young, but it absolutely belongs to the young AND the talented, and these are positive signs for future development.

Outstanding drafts over the past three years and the addition of young free agent players have made their mark on the Denver roster this year.

It’s going to be an exciting season, and the Broncos are anxious to jump back into their long-accepted status as contenders in the always tough AFC West.

Some time ago I wrote a blog in which I stated that fans might not have heard of a lot of the new players, but I just asked readers to remember that everyone is unknown until he makes a name for himself.

In the garden of the National Football League, it is not much different than our own yards. If you plant the seeds and provide them with sunshine, water, fertilizer and some degree of weed control, the flowers will bloom.

Saturday night we played the Dallas Cowboys, a team that is regarded by all as one of the best in the National Football Conference and probably in the entire NFL as well.

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No matter how many National Football League seasons come and go, one continues to be amazed, and humbled by the fantastic support the Denver Broncos receive.

When the Broncos host the Dallas Cowboys in the home preseason opener this Saturday night at INVESCO Field the stands will be full as usual.

And when regular season play begins against the San Diego Chargers on September 14 it will mark the 39th consecutive sellout season for the Broncos at home.

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The Denver Broncos proudly added another member to the Pro Football Hall of Fame when tackle Gary Zimmerman took his place among the all-time greats in the 2008 induction ceremonies.

As is usually the case, the festivities were spectacular, the ceremony was long, the emotions ran high, and I was reminded once again as I was fortunate enough to watch Gary enter the Hall after being presented by Broncos owner Pat Bowlen–this never gets old.

This was the third time that I have been fortunate enough to actually attend the induction ceremony, including four years ago when John Elway became the first inductee to have played his entire career as a member of the Broncos.

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Rod Smith formally announced his retirement from professional football today, and the Denver Broncos family is a little weaker because of it.

My career has spanned 34 years in professional sports, three in baseball and 31 with the Broncos, and there have been very few players, maybe none, who have had the influence on the team and on individuals that he had.

We have had and will continue to have our share of great players, guys with ability far and away beyond that of most athletes.

But it is never a surprise when a great player plays great.

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When you work in professional sports for a number of years you cannot help but develop a second family, besides the one at home which means so much to all of us, and is in fact the basis of our entire lives.

But that second family is in a building where you spend a huge percentage of your time, working with a unified group of individuals passionate about a singular goal.

Every team can’t win every year, but that’s the goal for every team, and that is the bond that creates the second family.

Over the years in the Denver Broncos family I have been fortunate to be a part of seasons that have been mostly good, and often great.

And there have been great people as part of the extended Broncos family; I can remember when the children of Mike and Peggy Shanahan were very young, and my own son and daughter working here as summer ball boy (son) and PR office typist (daughter).

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With the Denver Broncos in the midst of their authorized off-season field workouts, it takes the memory of long time observers back to how it used to be.

It is completely different now in the NFL, and much for the better. 

Decades ago the players did not have the intense off-season training programs that exist today.

As a result, players came into training camp in July in various stages of physical fitness, some of which are not very attractive to recall today.

The off-season was for hanging out and slipping out of shape, and then many guys worked their way into shape during camp, especially the savvy veterans who knew their jobs were secure.  Some guys worked out regularly, and some not at all, sad to say.

No more.  Now the running and lifting start in early April, so the players are in tip-top shape when camp begins.

They have to be.  The competition for jobs is too great year-round for the situation to be any other way.

The other thing that is a large part of the current NFL off-season is the field work, coupled with classroom study.

All teams are able to head into July training camp with squads that are in exceptional physical condition, know their roles and assignments, and are able to compete for positions from day one.

Training camp itself then has become shorter, but also crisper, with less breakdown of the body by a steady diet of hitting.

So as a player becomes older, he is happier because his body is not beaten down during camp as much as his counterpart 30 years ago.

The rookies also are a lot happier, although they do not have any previous experience to compare with, because they have been integrated into the team concept during the post draft period and can pick things up a little faster.

The result when training camp begins is one of the greatest meritocracies in the country–the National Football League of today.

The best players play.

Regardless of draft position, salary or pre-conceived notion, the players are placed in a position on the field and in the classroom to show themselves to the best of their abilities, and the cream rises.

The resulting play is hence sharper, and that benefits coaches, franchises and the fans who watch.

This time of the year is one in which we are in the midst of four weeks of field work, first a couple of weeks of quarterback camp, then two weeks of team camp, although there are a prescribed number of maximum days that teams can spend on the field in the offseason.

And the media is busy during this time as well, getting interviews and setting the ground work for future interviews as well.

You can read and view a lot about both new and old players on this web site, of course.

The PR department is busy working with the media, coordinating where they can go, etc., but also getting much of our own work done, inclduing getting the new head shots taken for our media guide and other publications.

Veteran team photographer Eric Bakke is taking those pictures, and Eric is truly the pro’s pro–he has been my photographer for 20 years.

Rebecca Villanueva, our Media Services Manager, works with Eric in making sure every player is properly identified, has a jersey on and has no unusual clothing items underneath.

A common theme expressed by everyone in my department, including Eric and Rebecca, who have had to deal with every new guy, is that this is a great bunch of people in terms of attitude, politeness, promptness and how they treat other people.

I have had the same sense as the players are coming off the field after each workout.

This is a very likeable group of players.

While that does not automatically translate into good performance, it doesn’t hurt, either.

And it shows that the player personnel department was on top of its game in how they identified every new player who was brought into the organization.

 If you are a good guy off the field, you are probably a good one on the field as well.

And that benefits the entire organization and community.

We are in mid-camp mode at this time, so this has to be brief, but I had to pause long enough to relate my opinion via blog that this is a good bunch, and I have found that to be a very positive sign in the past.

My guess is it will prove out in 2008 as well. 

The Broncos soon will embark on the on-the-field phase of the off-season, with all the NFL teams conducting their camps.

For the Broncos, the annual quarterback camp is in the final two weeks of May, team camp the first couple of weeks of June, and then the annual mini-camp will be in July, a couple of weeks before training camp begins.

Right now it is real quiet, but it will get real busy for four weeks, then real quiet for a month or so, and then the season will essentially be underway.

And the off season will be a distant memory.

But what has happened in the winter and spring is that the Broncos have signed and drafted new players, most of them anonymous to our legions of fans. 

But if you fail to prepare, you have prepared to fail, and this team has not been preparing to fail, but to bounce back to winning.

What I want to point out to everyone, even those of us on the supposed inside, is that these players are only unknown until they are famous.

That might seem contradictory, but just think about it.

Almost no one comes into the game as a star, with greatness expected.  The John Elways are few and far between.

Everybody who follows the Orange and Blue knows who Karl Mecklenburg is, but did you, did we, before he started making big play after big play?

But I can still vividly remember the day when I brought the 1983 draftees in to meet the press, and not a single member of the press even asked Meck a question.  I do not say this as any criticism of the press at all, but merely as an indicator of how completely unknown Mecklenburg was at that time.

Eventually, I asked somebody to pretend to ask him a few questions, just so he would not feel excluded from the process.

But very soon, he became KARL MECKLENBURG!!!

Now, none of us can predict with certainty that the recently drafted players and free agent signees will go on to be big time players; but we can’t predict that they won’t, either.

Because somewhere in the NFL, somebody will.  And with the system, coaching staff and support system here in Denver, it is just as likely to happen to a young Bronco as to anyone else.

Not only does each one of these new players have record of playing ability, but each also has a character pedigree that makes the whole team better just by locker room presence.

The NFL is a great meritocracy.

The best guys play, especially for Mike Shanahan.  He once cut Anthony Miller and Mike Pritchard, both number one draft choices, and went with Ed McCaffrey and Rod Smith instead.

I can tell you, the press thought he must have been crazy.

What does everyone think now?  Does anyone in Denver think McCaffrey was a good player?  How about Rod Smith?

That’s the whole point.

Nobody is famous until he makes himself famous, and we are going to give every player in this 2008 group every opportunity to accomplish that while contributing to the only goal which the Denver Broncos ever have, which is to win now.  

So don’t worry about whether or not we know somebody by his name; let’s see what kind of name he makes for himself as time goes by. 

 A sportswriter friend long ago made the casual comment that “It’s all about the quarterback.”

I would add, it is always about the quarterback, in Denver, regardless of who he is, and all the more so if he is a big time player.

While still in the very early stages of his career, Jay Cutler certainly has demonstrated at every opportunity that he is going to be a very big time player for the Denver Broncos and in the National Football League, and he is a big time person as well.

The world at large is still getting to know Jay Cutler, but as it does so people will find what a fine individual and leader he is.

The latest and forevermore most obvious dynamic at play here is the quarterback’s recent diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes.

Like anything else in life, it is all in how one handles what comes his way, and Jay Cutler is going to not only handle it very well for himself, which is most important, and for the Broncos, which is professionally important to Cutler and of monumental importance to the leagion of fans who inhabit Broncos Country, but he also is going to take a big step forward as national represenative and spokesman for this those who work with this disease.

He did not ask for this role but he has it.

And he is going to do a great job as a very public face, which he will always be anyway as the Broncos’ QB, but even more so on the national level due to how he handles himself in the management of his condition.

There are so many people to be taught, educated, influenced, all in a potentially positive way, regarding the disease and its control, and just coming to the realization that not only can it be controlled, but that the individual who has it can not just function but thrive.

When the crown of spokesmanship is placed upon one’s head, it is impossible to remove.

Jay certainly asked for his assignment as the Broncos’ quarterback, and then quickly developed into one of the team leaders.

But that is all about football.

This is all about life, which even the most ardent Bronco fan would have to admit is a far bigger thing.

As great as his influence is going to be on the Bronco team, even greater will Jay Cutler’s positive influence be on legions of young Americans who will learn valuable lessons about the handling of life from this young gentleman.

What greater role can one have in society than to positively influence young people? 

Again, he did not ask for the role, but the graceful and professional handling of something which is suddenly thrust upon an individual is very often the measure of a man.

And Jay Cutler will measure up very well.