SB Nation User Blog: Darin H

Royally Smart

Darin H — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:06:16 -0000

I'm still on Cloud 9 this morning with our pasting of the raiders last night. Any time we can beat them down and make them give up is a great game (with respect to Justin Fargas as the only one to fight for 60 mins). There is one thing that I wanted to point out about the coming out party Eddie Royal last night. Not only is he a great route-runner and has awesome hands, he's football smart.

Before I get to Royal (with Cheese!), let me go back a couple of years ago to the Chargers/Patriots playoff game where the Chargers defense needed to stop the Patriots offense and Brady's 4th down pass was picked off by Marlon Mcree. Mcree, instead of taking a knee and ending the game, tried to run the interception back he was then stripped by Troy Brown to extend the New England tying drive. New England won the game and Marty Shottenheimer was done in San Diego. A great play by Mcree was wiped out because he didn't know where in the game he was.

Forward to last night's first game. Minnesota was trying to drive for the game winning score, Minnesota was out of timeouts and with 54 seconds left Tavaris Jackson threw an interception to Atari Bigby. Bigby was on the ground, but he got up and tried to run back the interception. Luckily for Green Bay, he wasn't stripped and the game was over with a couple of kneel downs.

These are players with several years worth of experience, but they put their own fortune over that of their team (not intentionally).

Let us now turn to rookie Eddie Royal, starting his first game in the NFL, on the road on Monday Night with the #1 WR out. Royal had zero mental mistakes. His routes were precise, his hands were solid. 9 catches for 146 yards and a touchdown, rookies starting their first game aren't supposed to do that. Alone that would be amazing, but wait, there's more! On a reverse option play (where Royal was looking to either throw a pass or run) neither was open and he didn't try to force a ball into a receiver who was covered, but then also had the awareness to throw the ball away when his running lane wasn't open. It was a small play, but it was the difference between losing 5 yards or not. Not huge in a blowout game, but a lot of games are won and lost by a couple of yards.

The second heads up play by Royal was the final kickoff return. With just over a minute and a half left, the game was over. Royal took the kickoff, ran up until the first defender and sat down. There was no need to pad his stats, no need to show off and try for a score, no need to risk injury when the game was out of hand. Smart.

Eddie Royal showed me that he isn't just a wide receiver, but a football player. And already has shown the smarts of a veteran. What a great start, let's hope it continues!

Marshall's suspension reduced to one game

Darin H — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:16:46 -0000

Several sources are confirming that Brandon Marshall's suspension has been reduced to 1 game, and he will be fined an additional game:

From the RMN:

After hearing Marshall's side, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has reduced the receiver's two- to three-game suspension for violation the league's personal-conduct policy to one game, the Broncos' season opener at Oakland on Sept. 8, an NFL source has told the Rocky Mountain News. However, the league has fined Marshall one game's pay, $26,178, plus he will lose that amount for sitting out the Raiders game.

An announcement is expected Friday.

He'll be back for the Chargers game after we stomp the heck out of the raiders.

Can a Man Will Himself Into the Hall of Fame?

Darin H — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:42:12 -0000

He was arguably the hardest working man in the NFL during his playing days. He wasn't drafted and had to work on the practice squad and special teams for the better part of 2 years before he saw meaningful playing time. He never missed an off season workout in 12 years, not a single one. He wasn't showy. He wasn't a me-first player. He played his last few years with serious hip pain (which eventually caused his retirement). He just went out and did his job and did it well. As long as the team was winning, he was happy.

Rod Smith is exactly the kind of football player that deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. He has the stats, but he also has the intangibles that should not be overlooked.

First, the stats:

His first reception in the NFL was a game winning touchdown to beat the Redskins (over Hall of Famer Darrell Green, I might add). He is only 1 of 2 wide receivers that have caught 70 passes in 9 consecutive season, The other WR to do so? Jerry Rice. Smith is the only undrafted free agent to have surpassed the 10,000-receiving-yard mark (only 24 WRs total have that). He is ranked 12th in NFL history in career receptions (849) and 16th all time in receiving yards (11,389). He has the most catches, receiving yards and touchdown receptions (68) of any undrafted wide receiver in NFL history. He had 8 seasons of at least 1,000 receiving yards. He made the Pro-Bowl 3 times and led the league in receptions in 2001. 6th player in NFL history to have 100 receptions against at least three teams. One of seven players in NFL history to record back-to-back 100-catch seasons (2000-01). All those taken together are better than most WRs in the Hall of Fame.

Oh, and he did all that on a run first team. Speaking of run first, unlike a lot of those "me-first" WRs, Rod took pride in being the best blocker he could for the team. The Team, that's all that mattered to Rod. His former teammates spoke out when his retirement was announced, and what they said speaks to the kind of football player Rod was.

Jake Plummer:

"Rod Smith was one of the best all-around players I played with in the NFL -- and I only got play with him when he was too old and too slow (laughing). He was the undisputed leader of the team, which took a lot of pressure off of me. The standard Rod set was high and he led by example. The game will miss a player like Rod Smith."

"Probably one of the most impressive things I've ever seen him do was, in my first year there, I had just gotten hurt and we didn't have a back up for a couple of days. So they had him take 7-on-7. I think he was 6-for-6. And it wasn't like he was dumping to the back or hitting the checkdown. He was throwing a skinny route, dead on. He'd throw a go-route, he threw an out-route. I was thinking, 'Good God, he'd be good enough to take my job if he spent a year working on it.' It was sick."

"Why I felt so good around him is physically he didn't look like anything. He'd walk kind of sideways. He sometimes had this high-type voice. I mean he didn't look like a professional receiver when you put him next to Terrell Owens. But the things he didn’t do well he worked on. It's hard to pick between them but Rod and Larry Centers had the two best sets of hands I've ever seen."

Keith Burns (who entered training camp with Rod in 1994):

"He knew he was willing to do anything and everything he had to do to make the team. It was a pact we made during our rookie orientation, that we were here for work. It was good to meet new guys, new friends, but when we leave here you never know what's going to happen."

John Elway:

"He was not only a great player, but a great teammate. He was a guy that was great for the city, great for the organization and a guy that worked his tail off. I mean, the guy came in as a free agent. It shows you what he's all about. He was not only a great football player, but a class act.

He was a guy you could rely on week in and week out."

Broncos owner Pat Bowlen:

"You are the greatest player next to John [Elway] to play for me. And if ever get anybody like you are like John again, I am very fortunate."

Coach Mike Shanahan:

"Rod is the only person I've been around on a consistent basis, day in, day out, that never cared about his stats. All Rod Smith talked about was winning. When you have a guy that talks about winning consistently, regardless of any number of catchers or any honors, anyone who is able to influence the locker room like he has, then you have a chance to do something special."

That statement by Coach Shanahan is why Rod probably won't get into the Hall of Fame, yet it is exactly why he deserves it. In Superbowl 32, Rod didn't have a catch, but was he angry about it afterwards? Hell no. He was happy that the team won, he was in the game, blocking and still running routes. He got his catches and yards the next year in Superbowl 33 with 5 receptions for 152 yards including an 80 catch for a TD, but he was more excited that the Broncos won again. Rod Smith, in his 11 years, had 118 wins. There is only one other player that has that many wins in an 11-year time frame, that's Hall of Fame worthy.

The Hall of Fame probably won't call his name. I am under no illusions about that. The media are the ones who decide who gets in or stays out. They are the same ones who like the soap-operas of the Terrell Owens, Randy Mosses and Chad Johnsons in the league, they value flash and style over winning. They favor the individual stats on the ultimate team game. You give me the choice of any receiver in their prime and I'm taking Rod Smith first. He'll catch, he'll block, he will never take a play off if he isn't getting thrown the ball that down, he'll play special teams if asked. And he will work as hard as he can at everything without complaint. And we will win.

NFL Draft 2008 - Broncos Reloading Thoughts

Darin H — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:27:34 -0000

Go easy on me, this is my first diary on MHR :)

First, a change in philosophy:

When we won back to back Championships, we had a lot of high character guys - Rod & Easy Ed, Elway, Davis, Neil Smith, just about the entire offensive line, Steve Atwater, and, for all of his talking, Shannon Sharpe. For most of the post Superbowl Mike Shanahan era, it seems that as long as someone could play technically sound football, they had a place on our team. Character traits were overlooked for numbers (Dale Carter, Daryl Gardener, Travis Henry – though he seems to be making a good effort to turn it around). Guys with attitude problems were welcomed if they could put up the stats (Javon). Sure, we'd like the guys who were leaders and had high character, and we'd have them on the team, but it wasn't a priority compared to their play. As those guys left, we didn't replace them with enough outspoken high character players. We weren't prepared for the leadership vacuum last year when Rod Smith and Al Wilson couldn't play anymore.

Last season, game after game, Bronco fans were saying to themselves and to each other "there were a lot of players who just gave up in the middle of that game." The two San Diego games and the Detroit game jump right to my mind. We had a bunch of guys out there that were just collecting a paycheck. This draft changes that, in fact, the entire reloading season has been about changing that. I got to thinking about this when I read through most of the pages on the guys we selected in the draft and that expanded to guys we brought in as free agents as well.

Second, The Rod Tidwell draft aka "I'm all heart":

Yeah Jerry Maguire isn't a great movie, and don't get me started on Tom Cruise's acting ability, but I love the Rod Tidwell/Cuba Gooding Jr story line (side note - I was bartending in Phoenix when the movie was filmed and met Cuba who was staying at our resort, great guy) he learns that playing for a paycheck isn't what makes a great player.

With each free agent we signed, with each draft choice we made, the Broncos are bringing in guys who all had a few things in common. Call it desire, work ethic, tenacity, or competitiveness, but it all can be boiled down into one thing - heart. Let's take a look at some of the guys we got in the draft:

Royal, WR/ST - Strong, good work ethic, high character guy
Lichensteiger, C - Lineman with a nasty streak, relentless competitor
Williams, CB - Competitive, never gives up, has a will to win
Torain, RB - Good work ethic, character
Powell, DT - Always gives 100%, competitor, always hustles, character
Larsen, LB/ST - outspoken leader, challenges others, gets in guys faces who don't give their all

It seemed like in addition to their football abilities the Denver Broncos were drafting guys who weren't going to take "no" for an answer. Guys who would fight for every yard and every inch until the whistle blows. Guys who will lead by example and speak up when others aren't pulling their weight.

Third, The free agent signings:

Losing both Rod Smith and Al Wilson left a gigantic hole on the field and in the locker room. John Lynch is a good leader for now, but doesn’t have many years left on the field and Jay Cutler is growing into that role as a quarterback needs to, but we need more than just one guy on either side of the ball to maintain accountability on our team.

We have heard that Niko Koutouvides was a team leader even though he was only a back up and a special teamer. He was a team captain in Seattle, I have a feeling that the guy is going to be something special for us for a long time, both on the field and off.

Shanahan compared Keary Colbert to Eddie Mac saying "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." I hope Colbert has the skills that Eddie Mac had, but more than that, I hope he has the drive and determination that Easy Ed had. Shanahan thinks so, so that's a good sign.

If Boss has half of the character that his brother does, he will be quite the asset as well. We know that Champ will keep him in line, but I don't think that's going to be an issue.

Conclusion:

I'm sure that we'll still take chances on talented but troubled players in the future, however, we needed to address our biggest weakness this reloading season - heart.

On that, I give the Broncos a grade A+.