Sunday morning at the Super Bowl, and I have just enough time before heading to the stadium for an 18-hiour day to pen a few notes about the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection.
Very disappointing about Shannon Sharpe, and there is no time like now, but he made the final 10, and every candidate who has ever made the final 10 has gotten in sooner or later and Shannon likely will make it sooner, as in very soon.
Had a chance to visit the green room (since I set up the facilities at the media center I knew where all the green rooms were, and who was in which one) as soon as Floyd’s name was called.
Joe Ellis, our COO, had come over to the press conference, and we were very nervous waiting in the back of the room with Tom Mackie, who wrote Floyd’s book a couple of years ago.
When his name was called Joe and I made a dash for the green room and we could hear the uproar before we completed the short 20-yard dash.
Floyd was on the ground when I ran in, overcome with joy and emotion and surrounded by his wife, children, and their spouses.
His outpouring of passionate happiness over the next few minutes would have warmed the hearts of every Denver Broncos fan, particularly those–like me–who had tickets back in the day and watched him run with the weight of an entire time zone on his back.
There was cheering and screaming and crying and kissing, all as real as could be imagined, all captured by NFL network cameras, with Hall of Fame officials at the ready to take Floyd into his press introduction as a Hall of Famer.
Alfred Williams came by for congratulations, as did a couple of Denver reporters, and I was honored to be able to share some deep hugs and heart to heart moments with Floyd personally.
We go back a long way, to when I was a young radio announcer before beginning my 32-year career with the Broncos, to a time when he was … well … still Floyd.
Always Floyd.
A great player, filled with class and the kind of representation that every organization dreams of.
It brought back a lot of memories.
I did not let any press into the green room, but they smiled ear to ear from the door way watching Floyd with his family.
And when he walked out that door, and into the press conference, he walked like he never has before – as an official, forever and ever member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
His passion and tears were as real as Floyd Little himself has always been, and Bronco fans had a great day at Super Bowl XLIV.
44 at 44, and selector Jeff Legwold, whose passionate and well prepared presentation was cited to me by more than one member of the selection committee, gave me the opinion that there has never been a happier inductee.
Or one more deserving.
Congratulations, Franchise.
Tags: Floyd, Hall of Fame, Little
Just reaf he is Doom’s back up.
Haggan and Davis need to be replaced or step up their game. really disapointed in both their preformances in the second half of the season.
anybody know if Boss Bailey is available. Maybe he can coach our LB’s lmao. Just kidding!!!
You can include the entire team, and their perfromance in the second half. I though we got back on track Thanksgiving night, but the loss to Oakland is what killed us and our chances.
Forgot one. Resign Orton or get a replacement in draft or FA.
DJ- played Jack. Davis-Mike and the rest were basically Sam and Will.
But we can play Doom and Ayers at Sam & Will interchangably, get McClain to back up Davis. And we can all rest a little easier
See im used to different terminology where jack is the Blitzing LB.
Its a pretty safe bet Orton will be resigned. He is our best option. Now, this is where it all gets confusing. If Marshall is traded, then we will need a Franchise caliber QB. Clausen, Bradford or McCoy. Tebow, maybe. Though I thought McD was a QB guru, so anything is possible. I could see him getting McNabb if he feels like he has to win to save his job. Orton put up career numbers and he is only going to progress. Ive always been a fan and think he can do better. But we also need to open that AWESOME playbook. Is it March 5th yet?
In a traditional 3-4 thats the case. But McD/Nolan gave him that reign. To make the tackles or freelance as McD called it. At least thats what I read from this site!!!
McD likes the coverage schemes. Thats what makes his jack so versatile. And DJ is the perfect fit for it!
Our LBs are good enough,if we can bulk up the D-line and keep the other teams O-line off of our LBs,then they can shoot the gaps and make bigger plays.We really need a big physical NT(like Williams) and at least 1 big physical DE(like Peppers).IMO
Go Redskins
Deadskins SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Im glad olap gave us his well informed, very unique perspective on things. Look forward to hearing more of his thoughts!!!
Do other fans really come here and say “Go Redskins” to get a response from people?
Go to a redskins site and say go redskins…… db
Where is the Bronco Blog Authority when you need em!
Or could it be a Mike Shannahan fan who is now following. McD better get this team together. I cant recall so much fan division EVER.
olap2009 has been on this blog for a long time, usually unhappy with the direction we have gone, obviously loved the old way and will follow the Redskins, good for him, doesn’t bother me a bit, he just says something to let some steam off and goes away, he doesn’t linger in his negativity. Harmless.
Baylin,a lot of the BroncoCountry are wanting NT Dan Williams with our 1st pick,glad to see people jumping on the bandwagon,just hope McD is one of them.LOL
Anybody know if Pouncey C Florida is projected to go in 1st or 2nd round,like to see us get Williams 1st pick,and Pouncey 2nd pick.
Lefevour 3rd pick.
BFE92, yeah I can say Woody Paige, you and I are the ones who really started this Williams thing as our 1st pick if we don’t get a NT in FA.
Pouncey is projected as a high second, ours might not be high enough.
As for the 3rd I’d probably go Gerhart and LeFevour in the 4th.
I agree 100% if we could get Williams 1st,OG or C 2ND,Gerhart 3rd,Lefevour 4th,I would be f***ing amazed,shocked,but very,very HAPPY.LOL
I think if we could get a shot at Pouncey,even if we have to trade a little to move up,he’d be a great NFL Center for a long time.Walton from Baylor is projected as the 2nd best OL in the draft,he supposidly can play C or OG,might be a better fit for us anyway,if we can’t find an OG in FA.
Yeah, the reason I would go Gerhart before LeFevour is they are both projected to go the same spot, 3rd to 4th round, so if we miss out on one I rather it’d be LeFevour because Orton and Brandsatter can handle it in my mind, but I know Moreno will not be to handle it on his own as Buckhalter can’t be counted on health and age wise and Hillis is as good as gone, because even if he is not traded, he won’t get to play RB, he’ll just be the FB, and don’t get me started about Jordan, LOL.
Earlier in the blog, I talked about J.D.walton, I saw him in the Senior bowl and he held is own at center, big Texas kid over 300lbs.
Anyway, with trades we might end up with another 1st or another 2nd and even another 3rd, so imagine what we could do with that! Of course we might end up using some of these acquired picks to get FA of our own.
It makes your head spin, like a kid at christmas, except Christmas for grown ups is March 5th this year, LOL.
Yeah,but who is Santa?McD?????bad Santa.LOL
All I want for Christmas is a NT,OG,C,RB,DE,QB…LOL
And Marshall, right? LOL.
Well,alright that was going to be my birthday gift.LOL
It’s kind of strange we haven’t hired a LB coach to replace Martindale yet, no way Martindale is going to do both, that would be weird.
They will probably give Roman Phifer a promotion from Assistant LB coach to LB coach. He is an old N-E LB afterall, LOL.
I wonder who is at the top of the list as LB coach?
Hey we could bring in an old Bronco LB to coach,maybe Tom Jackson,or Al Wilson,or Romanowski.LOL
Never mind they didn’t play for NE so MCd probably wouldn’t want them.LOL
Think we might do some trading with Washington in the off season,considering we have in the past,and the fact that they have Shanny now?
Well guys, I definitely think this next year we should get us a big power running back, either hillis, which I love, or Gerhardt, and improve our line. I miss seeing TD running people over and hitting them in the mouth every time he ran the ball. That is exactly the style that Hillis and Gerhardt uses. Which round does everyone think Gerhardt will fall and could any of you see us picking him up???
It seems as if there is excitement on MHR about this guy for center (this is from sportsillustrated/cnn):
Eugene Amano, OG
This could be the unheralded steal of the free agency market, presuming the Titans do not extend the 6-3, 310-pounder. Although veteran Kevin Mawae was the headliner on Chris Johnson’s offensive line and will be on most free agent lists, he doesn’t make this one. Amano does. He is consistent and still just 27 in his sixth NFL season. He is a natural center, too, so his versatility could fit any number of teams. Amano has been the regular starter at left guard for the Titans the past two seasons.
And we need both a center and a LG, talk about a guy who could fill a need (needs)! And he is a UFA, at least from my lists.
For people who expect blind loyality to the Broncos, you sure are critical of fans who maintain loyality to the greatest coach of the Broncos to this date , coach Shannahan. It doesn’t mean we don’t love the Broncos, it means we love Shanny for the respectibilty he brought to this team, always a contender under his coaching. McD has yet to earn his strips and to many of us who call a spade a spade, is responsible for the performance of this team. Even for those who don’t like the coach , we still cheer for the players and the organization every time they take the field. Seeing our star players leave only to be replaced by average performers causes us concern. Don’t throw stats at us unless your talking wins and loses. That’s the bottom line, wins is what we all want for our players and organization. Anyone who is content with last years performance and doesn’t put the blame where is belongs, on the head coach, is no true fan. I hope learned a lot last season and I for one will require an exceptional performance from him in the coming season or off with his head. No excuses. Go Broncos!
imready, hope you noticed I stuck out for the guy, kind of, LOL. Anyhow, the Shanahan you are refering to is the Shanahan of the nineties, let’s not forget in his last ten, TEN, years, here he only won one, ONE, playoff game. And in his last three years here (24-24 record) he was no better than the 8-8 McD got in just his first, FIRST, year in the NFL as a HC, just saying. A little objectivity needs to go both ways. However I do agree that this up coming year is a must year for McD to produce, I say at least one playoff win, which would equal what Shanahan did here in his last ten, TEN, years. Then, maybe then, he may get a little respect from the Shanny guys? I doubt it.
Shanahan was kept around even after his 8-8 start as the Broncos head coach. Look what he did after that some really good things. However McD went 8-8 his first season and everyone wants him fired. I’m confused, were there people calling for Shanahan’s head after his first season as head coach?
Hope you enjoyed the fact that all I threw out there is wins and losses, as per your request.
Instead of chanting here “Go Redskins”, may I recommend “Go to the Redskins”? LOL.
I am a little late to the dance but here it goes.
Mawae is 39…why would we want him?
How about we trade Scheffler to the Redskins for their 2nd round pick and either nab Pouncey there or trade both of our second rounds to someone deep in the first to nab Pouncey there. Trade Marshall to the Dolphins for their 1st rounder and a 3rd. Then we can do this
#10/#11 – McClain
#12 – Williams
Late first or Redskins 2nd from earlier suggestion – Pouncey
Our 3rd – Gerhart
Dolphins 3rd – LeFevour
Also, I agree with baylin about promoting Phifer. Actually I posted that well back in blog history. If you search long enough you will find it!
Goodness, after reading that, those picks made me happier than a pig in mud. Now McD will probably do something like this:
#10/#11 – Dez Bryant
#12 – Tebow
late first/2nd rounder – McCoy
3rd rounder – Bag of footballs from the Saints thinking their voodoo magic will help win
LOL
Cody, only problem with your board Bowlen will never want to pay for a #10/11 and a 12 in the same year. Even if we get another one, I bet we would trade down, because we need lots of help, not just a few good ones.
another one, meaning another 1st round pick.
I would like us to end up with our first and a couple of 2nd and a couple of 3rd round picks, that’s where the best values are, not top dollar money for near top of the board talent, IMO.
You are probably right but you cant tell me that everyone would be happy with a draft that saw us taking McClain, Williams, Pouncey, Gerhart, and LeFevour
In a perfect world for the draft I would add Brandon Graham to your list, #55 for the North at the Senior Bowl who was an absolute terror and would be awesome opposite of Doom as a DE/OLB.
But all that is a moot point right now because the list will have to be adjusted to make up for who we aquire in FA.