Jim Saccomano

By now every Denver Broncos fan is well aware of all the changes that have been made in advance of the 2009 National Football League season.

One of the exciting things about change is that it has a dynamic all to itself. There is just so much energy around the team right now, and that bounces onto everyone who comes into contact with Josh McDaniels and the players.

We should never spend any time right now worrying about the results. The results take care of themselves, it’s the preparation that is key. Just like in a classroom setting, if the time, effort, preparation and study are focused and strong, the results usually take care of themselves.

That’s how it is in the NFL as well, and this team and coaching staff is really putting hard work into the process.

The recently concluded 2009 National Football League Draft found the Denver Broncos adding 10 new players to the team’s roster, increasing the talent level and adding to the level of competition at all positions.

But people are mistaken if they believe that the draft was the end all — the last step to adding players to Denver’s or any other team’s roster for the coming year.

The most aggressive team in free agency this year was Denver, and the Broncos jumped into the college free agent pool in a big way as well, signing 17 undrafted players in the days immediately following the draft.

These young men will get just a few lines of press in the major newspapers, their signings being perceived as far less significant than the draft choices.

However, players come from a lot of places, and building a roster never ends.

I was very impressed by the comments of Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin in his press conference on the Monday after the Super Bowl.

One of the things he said that really resonated with me was while acknowledging the great accomplishment of his Pittsburgh team in winning its sixth world championship for the franchise, he emphasized that this was the accomplishment of the 2008 team. It had no bearing on what would happen in 2009.

I was reminded of that in a recent interview which Broncos Head Coach Josh McDaniels did.

When asked to comment on the recently announced 2009 schedule, Josh said he liked it and looked forward to competing every week.

But Josh made a great comment, I thought, in noting that fans look at each year’s schedule within the mental context of what last year’s team was.

So 32 teams are being judged and evaluated with a completely new schedule, but based on what the previous year’s team was.

And that could not be more irrelevant. Last year is not this year.