I had expected this had happened earlier and am glad to hear I didn’t miss it.  I hope NBC does the classy thing and carries the ceremony, letting Broncos fans across the country honor the families of our fallen players.

“Yeah, there are times where you’re on that last sprint and you’re not sure if you want to push, but then you say ‘hey, I know a couple of guys that would love to be here, but don’t have that opportunity.’”

– John Lynch 7/9/07

“I’m still out there with D. And I’m still out there with Damien, because they’re a part of me.”

– Rod Smoth 7/9/07

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJSfQ7gBbtM]

Honoring Those Fallen

Photo Courtesy – Andrew Mason’s Blog

The Broncos revealed their admittedly first method of honoring fallen team members Darrent Williams and Damien Nash – the helmet decals you see in the image above. Thanks to the Official Denver Broncos blog by Andrew Mason for the images in this post.

Also, players’ new numbers were announced, and it appears that no one has taken either 27 or 29. I understand Pat Bowlen says that it would take some incredible contribution to the team to get their jersey number retired, something as big as the effect #7 has had on our team. So it’s unlikely either number will be retired. But at least for this year, the numbers should be temporarily retired, in honor of our fallen comrades. Roderick Rogers, an UDFA Safety, hasn’t chosen a number yet. He wore 22 in college, Domonique Foxworth‘s current number, so he’s the only one out there who could possibly take one of these guys’ numbers. I don’t know if that’s the issue behind him not choosing or not, but if it is – do the right thing, Rod – show the proper respect and select a different number.

Golden Boy with Big Expectations

Everyone’s still impressed/amazed with Jay Cutler‘s big arm, and the coaches are celebrating by dusting off the “long bomb” section of the playbook. Ever since Jake Plummer donned #16 for Denver, the big plays have been toned down in favor of bootlegs and scrambles. Now that we have someone that rememinds everyone of ole 7, the big plays will return.

It was interesting to hear John Lynch‘s take on the whole thing, because it’s similar to mine. He feels bad for Jay and all the pressure he’s getting – I mean, how can anyone live up to John Elway? I sure as hell haven’t crowned Cutler yet – I mean, he’s done everything you want a quarterback to do except for the most important thing – win. He’s broken a record or two. He has great stats. He scores and is on the mark on deep passes. But he is yet to be a winner – and nothing is more important to Broncos fans than winning. Jake Plummer won 70% of our games – if Cutler can’t match that over the next few years, can we really say it was a good move, no matter what the stats and highlight reels say? I hope the media eases off our young QB and let him play – I’m not saying I don’t have faith, but as Dennis Green would say, I haven’t crowned him yet either.

Comeback Player of the Year?

Photo Courtesy

Here is my early nomination for Rod Smith for Comeback Player of the Year. Huh? What’s that you say? We haven’t played any games yet so hold my horses? Nah, not in the mood. Nothing pained me more last year than seeing Rod’s game falling off after so many consecutive 1000-yard seasons. After news broke out that he was having major hip surgery, the pieces seemed to fall into place. And frankly, nothing excites me more this season than to hopefully see Rod come back and perform to that level – more than our defensive changes, more than our running game, and more than Cutler’s untapped potential. I want to see Rod succeed.

Talking out on it, it seems that Rod is set to do just that. He talked about his surgery and his rehab, how he’s ditched the crutches and is working harder than he ever has. Apparently this injury has been rattling him since 2004, and being the trooper that he is, he’s been fighting it ever since.

I want Rod to be healthy, and hopefully he will be, but if not, we Broncos fans must have faith in Brandon Marshall and Brandon Stokley to catch the rock as our second and third receivers.

The season can’t come soon enough for addicts like me, and reading up on all the news makes it only harder. There’s tons more to be read – just check out the links on the sidebar to the right – as we get ready for our 2007 campaign.

Marshall was the only member of the Broncos to be present at both the night club last visited by Darrent Williams on News Year’s Eve and the charity basketball event that Damien Nash organized and participated in prior to his death. For many, it seemed like Marshall’s off-season couldn’t get any worse — but then it did. On March 26th, Brandon was arrested on a false-imprisonment charge following a verbal altercation with his girlfriend. With the league clamping down on bad behavior, it seemed a very untimely situation.

Now, however, Marshall must put all of that behind him so that he can concentrate on scoring the #2 wide receiver spot across from Javon Walker. Marshall doesn’t plan to forget either his fallen teammates or his brush with the law. Rather he must learn from them and move on.

“I’ve definitely grown up. It’s sad to say, but sometimes you have to bump your head or go through some things to actually learn. So I’m glad that it happened now rather than down the road in my career. And I can guarantee that I’ll be on top of everything from here on out.”

–Brandon Marshall 5/17/07

Rocky Mountain New Story

LongmontFYI.com Story

“Their memory is going to stay here for a long time. We’re going to embrace it and not be afraid to talk about it. They were two young guys that meant a lot to this organization that died at an early age. We don’t understand why. But their memories are with us.”

– Mike Shanahan 5/16/07

Complete Denver Post Story