Posted Mon Jun 16th by hercules rockefeller
Since 1995, the Broncos have had a top 5 rushing attack 9 times. Cue Ed Rooney. 9 times. Doesn’t matter who it is toting the rock. Everyone from superstars like Terrell Davis and Clinton Portis to relative nobodies like Olandis Gary and Mike Anderson have succeed here. 9 times. With that in mind, why doesn’t every single free agent running back have Denver as their preferred destination? Why don’t they say to their agents, “I don’t care what it takes, if the contract is comparable, I want to be a part of that team.” Poor to average RB’s (Gary, Tatum Bell) are pretty good here. Good RB’s (Anderson) are great here. Great RB’s (Davis, Portis) are otherworldly.
Why would a guy in his prime, Edgerrin James for example, want to go to Arizona, stutter-step into every clogged running lane and fall forward for a 3 yards per carry average, when Denver is in the mix? Because they offered an extra year or an extra couple of million? I don’t understand that notion. I do understand that the NFL is a business, but wouldn’t you give up some dough (you’re already a multi-millionaire anyway, right?) for a chance at being one of THE greats?
Michael Pittman on the other hand, totally gets me.
“You get a chance to come here and, I mean, this is like a running back’s dream. Of course I want it to be me, it’s why I came here.”
Denver is not averse to giving out big contracts to big name free agent running backs. That might not be the case anymore, thanks to the nightmarish signing of Travis Henry. However, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that they’ll talk to the next big time guy. That guy would be wise to consider Denver.
Punters and Kickers also have no excuse to go anywhere else. How could you not want to kick at 5280 for half your games? Imagine Darren Bennett blasting 80 yarders here 8 games a year instead of just 1.
Kyle here. Thanks again to Herc, who will be guest blogging here from time to time. When he’s not adding his two cents at BroncoTalk, you can find him at the hilarious Denver Broncos blog Orange Bucksnorts.
Published on 06/16/2008 at Mon Jun 16 12:00.
Tagged: Arizona Cardinals,Clinton Portis,Darren Bennett,Edgerrin James,Michael Pittman,Mike Anderson,Olandis Gary,Tautm Bell,Terrell Davis,Travis Henry.