ProFootballTalk turned us onto this little tidbit – ESPN has yet to reveal (or decide) the announcing crew for the 2nd Monday Night game on September 8, between the Raiders and Broncos. Last year, three Mikes called the second game, and the one who doesn’t host an insanely popular morning radio talk show was caught adjusting his, well, self.

In other words, expect Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg to be joined by someone else for the Broncos game – personally, I couldn’t be more thrilled that Kornheiser will be nowhere near the booth.

The 2008 preseason schedule has materialized without specific dates being locked in yet. Here is what it’s going to look like.

• Weekend of Aug 9-10 @Houston Texans
  
• Weekend of Aug 15-16 Dallas Cowboys (the Cowboys will be practicing with the Broncos for two days at Dove Valley leading up to this game)
• Weekend of Aug 23-24 Green Bay Packers
• Either Aug 28th, or 29th @ Arizona Cardinals

Nice well rounded AFC/NFC mix this go around. I’m getting a little tired of seeing Arizona in the preseason, but I can understand why they agree to it being closer travel wise, I bet Kyle doesn’t mind though. I’m really hoping to be at the Cowboys game with a relative who is a huge “boys” fan, but the birth of my first born is going to throw a serious wrench in my game attendance this season (I could not be happier though).

“The regular season schedule is expected to be released by the league within two weeks.”

Rocky Mountain News Release

A few people e-mailed and asked for video on this site (I assume their work/school/wife filters prevent them from viewing sites like NFL.com and DenverBroncos.com). Here ya go.

Note: The video was taken down by the Denver Post, and they no longer feature the option to embed videos from other sites. The video can now be found here.

• More material from Shanahan about the state of the team and why certain moves were made. [Denver Post]
• Shanahan reminds everyone that the Chargers are still the class of the AFC West. *Vomits in mouth involuntarily.* [Rocky Mountain News]
• Jay Cutler‘s remarks went beyond Brandon Marshall… including being lost in a locker room of new faces, the loss of Jason Elam, and the left tackle situation. [Denver Post]
• Shanahan says the deal is off… yet the Denver Post reports that three sources have confirmed continued, steady talks in the Dewayne Robertson race. [Denver Post]
• The official site does a nice job of spinning the Jay Cutler – Brandon Marshall media frenzy (and for the record, their take is the most accurate anyway). [DenverBroncos.com]

AFC West

• The Chargers gained a 2008 5th round compensatory draft pick, lower than they were anticipating after losing LB Donnie Edwards last year. [San Diego Union Tribune]

NFL

• The Broncos need to get some more of that bling bling. [NY Daily News]
• Detroit GM fan favorite Matt Millen has a league proposal – he thinks trading with the Broncos should be banned. [SideLion Report]

Denver Sports

• Avalanche clinch a postseason berth with their 4-2 victory over the Canucks.  [Yahoo! Sports]
• Colorado uses the rain-out to fix a messy game. Rockies 2, Cardinals 1. [Yahoo! Sports]
• I’m a Suns fan myself, so I’m not happy to report that the Nuggets survived Phoenix 126-120 last night. [Yahoo! Sports]

We’ve been keeping you up to date with any rumors around DT Dewayne Robertson for what feels like forever. Well, straight from the horse’s mouth (pun intended), there’s very little chance a trade would take place.

In a quick discussion from the owner’s meetings, head coach Mike Shanahan said that there has been “almost no talk” in recent weeks, and that Robertson did indeed fail a physical with the Broncos, as had been speculated.

“And whenever a guy fails your physical, it’s never good. He’s a guy that, if you do take, there’s going to be some question marks. Because you take a look at his knees — he still played 80 percent of his games — but you are taking a risk.”

The Jets are now likely out of options and will have to cut their former first round pick, whose huge price tag would force their hand. The Broncos would pounce on Robertson upon his release, but other teams like the Bengals and Panthers have been involved in trade talks for Robertson as well.

Thank God. How do you justify trading for an overpriced, injured DT who is going to be released anyway?

Trading picks to get DT Robertson unlikely for Broncos [Rocky Mountain News]

As draft day approaches, BroncoTalk will be giving you game tape highlights of some of the bigger (and smaller) names around the draft. Today’s (second) installment: Dan Connor, linebacker out of Penn State.

Second video – after the jump – shows Connor breaking cleanly through the opposing offensive line and making an easy sack: Click here to read the rest of this entry »

“He’s not my favorite person right now,” said young Jay Cutler, speaking of teammate Brandon Marshall at the Broncos’ Dove Valley complex earlier today. Cutler had a mouthful to say about Marshall, whose most recent off-field incident has seemingly struck a nerve with his friend and practice buddy over the past three months.

“Going into his third year, coming off a big year last year, it’s disappointing. With Jeremy Bates taking over the passing game we wanted to get a lot of work in this summer and obviously he was going to be a big part of that. And now it’s up in the air when he’s going to come back.”

Full video [DenverBroncos.com]

After watching the video it doesn’t seem as bad as the local papers are spinning it.  He makes sure he says how much love he has for Brandon several times, but most his quotes seem to be coming out of frustration.  He had big plans for this offseason to work on the new passing system, and Marshall’s off-field crap threw a wrench in it.

Honestly, I love the leadership he’s showing.  We’ve been waiting for Cutler to take a step from “young, rookie-type” to the leader of the locker room.  This might be that very step.

It’s April 1st, and with that comes hilarious little pieces like this one at scout.com. I got a good chuckle out of this so lets have some fun with it.

“With renovations at One Arrowhead Drive well underway, it will be months before the Chiefs’ stadium resembles its final form. But one piece of the puzzle is already complete – the new name.”

“Monday the Chiefs sold the naming rights to their stadium, which will no longer be known as Arrowhead. Elway’s Steakhouse, a popular restaurant in Colorado owned by former Broncos quarterback John Elway, placed the winning bid for the rights this past weekend.

The deal will pay KC’s franchise $1 million per year for the next 10 years.”

Thanks to MHR for the tip.

The best way to prepare for the 2008 NFL Draft isn’t measuring 40-times or bench presses… it’s watching film. BroncoTalk has got you covered. Over the month of April we’ll be digging up and finding various videos of some of the top prospects, and we’re kicking things off with the guy who tops our board – Boise State OT Ryan Clady.

Extra:

BroncoTalk’s profile of Ryan Clady

DenverBroncos.com’s video of Ryan Clady talking to the press (~14 mins)

Mike Shanahan has broken his offseason silence of three months, announcing the reasons behind several moves this offseason while giving fans a glimpse of what they can expect from their team’s lineup in 2008. In a quick discussion at the Owner’s Meetings, Shanahan talked about the future of the team’s linebackers, wide receivers, and offensive line, among others:

• First, Shanny said firing Ted Sundquist was “a very tough decision.” He felt it was necessary for the team to move on after two poor seasons.
• No surprise here, but Brandon Marshall should be good to go.
• As many speculated (sorry Jonathan), D.J. Williams will slide back to his weak side linebacker spot. Niko Koutouvides will fill in at Mike, and Boss Bailey will play Sam.
• Shanahan said that newly acquired WR Keary Colbert reminds him of Ed McCaffrey, and expects him to start in the Broncos offense. “I like the type of person he is, you could see the way he played in the running game and the passing game, that’s what we look for in a player.”  Click here to read the rest of this entry »