SB Nation User Blog: Jezru

Josh McDaniels: Building Bronco's History

Jezru — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:32:40 -0000

It's an exciting time to be a Bronco fan.

With the exception of the couple years we had our brains bashed in by Indy in the first rounds of the playoffs and perhaps the AFC Championship run of 2005, our reflections of season's past at this point in the season have been to wistfully look back on the times when greater fortunes had befallen our beloved franchise. Looking back there is much to be proud of - The Drive, The Fumble, The Drive II, XXXII, XXXIII - even diving into the history books and learning about the '77 season... Nevermind the individual achievements of the greats that have made watching fun....

For the last decade we have all sat back and pointed to our dusty Superbowl and AFC Championship trophies and said to one another - "we were a great football team.... Man, we were something...." Then when our (pre-McD) franchise put a watered down version of greatness on the field we still reveled in our cursory connection to greatness - noting each step of the way as we lost players from our Superbowl runs.... Sharpe, Rod, McCaffrey, Elam (etc).... Until we suddenly looked around and the greatness was gone and all we had left was a man who had not only lost his fire, but his team as well. The last three seasons were agony because we were a sub-par team wearing the uniforms of a once great team. We were happy to reflect on the Elway (and Morton) SB years to ease the pain of being a tragically flawed football team. What had our great team done lately? Nothing.

We were alarmed, but not surprised when Mr. B pulled the plug on Shanny... We were crushed when the boy wonder was shipped out of town to Chi... We were confused by the draft that heralded a running back with our first pick overall - a running back? The handling of B Marsh being a whiny malcontent.... The institutions we'd grown accostomed to - a rocket armed QB, 15 scripted plays to begin the game, the naked bootleg bomb, were being stripped away before our very eyes by this young secretive New Englander (New England!? I F'n hate New England!!!)... This for sure was not going to go well...

It only seems fitting that in the first game of the new coach's career was to get a name - The Immaculate Deflection. Then the pasting of Cleveland and Oakland... Then the incredible victories against Dallas and now New England. We are 5-0! Commentators and some on this very site have noted that when the Broncos are 5-0 we go to the Superbowl. Could it be that a new coach, new players, new schemes all add up to what we've been waiting for all this time? Sure Superbowls and AFC Championships are what I'm talking about, but in the bigger picture what we're looking for is "NEW LORE". New things to toss in the face of Raider and Charger fan. New highlights akin to Atwater stopping Okoye to pull up on YouTube... New exciting points in our history that we can look back on like all those dusty trophies.

What Bowlen saw when he looked at our 8-8 Broncos was a conglomeration of people content to look backward and not forward - led by Mike Shannahan. He lacked the hunger... The drive to do whatever it took to get back to where we needed to be. Hubris interfered and we lost some really great players along the way - Trevor Pryce, Bert Berry, Jason Elam.... The Mastermind was fine to get rid of these stars because who was anyone to question him - he brought greatness to our franchise.

McD was 23 years old when Elway won his first Superbowl... Many of our rookies weren't even old enough to see a PG-13 movie. Those days are in the distant past now. What we have is firey young coach who's dedicated to building his own storied legacy with players who enthusiastically share the same goal. Let's still enjoy our great times and the glory of our younger years, but let's look to the rest of this season and revel in it's unexpected awesomeness. For the first time in a more than decade the Broncos are building new history lore - pushing to re-establish themselves as the premier franchise that we all remember them to be and had hoped they would be. What's next? Who's going to write the next page in the hallowed book of Denver Broncos lore?

It's an exciting time to be a broncos fan.

Spencer Larson... Hmmmm.....

Jezru — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:43:22 -0000

I was just discussing the Broncos injury situation with my buddy the Packers fan and I was telling him about Spencer Larson. On the surface, his injury sounds harmless enough - the dude slipped in the shower and injured himself. My buddy laughed and asked me, "what the hell was he doing in the shower BEFORE the game?" If you think about it, it really doesn't make much sense... What athelete hops in for a quick rinse moments before they're about to get incredibly filthy and sweaty playing the game? Right? Kind of odd.... Does this strike anyone else as really weird? There has to be something more to this, right?

Perhaps he stepped in pee pee or something...

Help Floyd Little get in the HOF - What you need to do before August 25th!

Jezru — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:54:47 -0000

Floyd's getting in the Hall, that's what's happening!

(To see our most recent update on Floyd Little posted earlier today - Click here. Also, if you haven't already read it, check out firstfan's letter to the senior committee here.)

With the HOF proceedings now in the rear-view mirror, the heated HOFdebates we all engage in start to die down and are put on the back burner with the approaching football season. We as the HOF Committee are committed to keeping our very deserving players on the forefront of the Hall of Fame debate until all those that are hall worthy are there. To that end, we have a very important deadline approaching:

On August 25th, the Senior Committee is meeting to determine which two players are going to be their nominees. From the responses we've gotten from these selectors, we know that for sure Floyd in is the mix of their discussions. Now is the time for all Bronco fans to rise up and let our voice be heard loud as rocky mountain thunder. We've got 15 days until things are decided and we've got little time to waste. What follows are suggestions, guidelines, resources, and email templates so that we may let the Seniors Committee know with all our collective might that Floyd's getting in the Hall, that's what's happening!

Who should you contact?

The following are the email addresses for the Senior Selection Committee. Only one of them, as far as we can tell, has a twitter account and that's included as well.

Dan Pompei - dpompei@tribune.com

Rick Gosselin - rgosselin@dallasnews.com

John McClain - john.mcclain@chron.com

Edwin Pope - epope@herald.com

Ron Borges - rborges@bostonherald.com and info@ronborges.com

John Czarnecki - john.czarnecki@foxsports.com

Dave Goldberg - dgoldberg@ap.org and http://twitter.com/deegle84

Ira Miller - imiller@sportsxchange.com

Len Shapiro - badgerlen@aol.com

EMAIL TEMPLATES:

Below are three samples that you can use to create your emails to the voters. While the act of sending out these emails is noble indeed, putting your own personal touch on them is greatly encouraged. (In other words don't directly cut, paste and send the templates below. We don't want to dillute our important message by inundating the voters with two hundred of the same email over and over.)

Mr. Sportswriter,

I am emailing you today asking you to please include Floyd Little in the Seniors Committee final 2 nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His impact on the city of Denver and the Broncos franchise cannot be understated. As a humanitarian and as a player, he affected the Broncos and the community, winning several community service awards while become a 5-time pro bowler. Floyd means the world to the Broncos and their fans, as can be seen here: http://www.littleinthehalloffame.com/addyourname.html, and I hope you can help us in letting the world know what a great player he was and what a great man he is.

Thanks,

My Name

Mr. Sportswriter,

I'm a Denver Broncos fan and it hurts me to see that there are absolutely no Hall of Famers representing the franchises first 25 years of existence. Nobody from the AFL days, the post-merger years, or even the Orange Crush era. Of all of the Broncos that played in that time period, there is one player that really meant the world to the franchise and the fans: Floyd Little. Floyd came into the NFL bearing that fabled #44 from Syracuse and continued to play well in orange while in Denver. Floyd retired as the 7th leader rushing of all-time after playing for some terrible Denver teams, which is very impressive considering he was often the team's only option. As one longtime fan puts it: "Denver's offense was Little left, Little right, try a pass, then punt".

Thanks,

My name

Mr. Sportswriter,

As a Pro Football Hall of Fame senior committee voter, I am writing you today on behalf of not only Denver Bronco fans, but more specifically fans of Floyd Little. In 1967 this exceptional Running Back was the first ever 1st round draft pick the Broncos were able to sign. His exceptional and important contributions to the game of football earned him the moniker of “The Franchise”. I could cut and paste his stats and the stats of Hall of Fame members into the body of this email to show you his qualifications, but stats don’t show his most important contribution to the NFL. Simply put, Floyd Little was a special player that was instrumental in taking the Broncos from the second rate second class mountain franchise to the perennial contender it’s been for the last thirty-five years. Since Little’s window has closed with the traditional selection committee, I am urging you to reassess and re-evaluate Little for Hall of Fame consideration when next the Senior Selection Committee meets. It’s his time. He needs to be acknowledged for what he’s done for the NFL.

Thanks,

My Name

Suggestions, Guidelines and Things to Keep in Mind.

The voters are human too, and many of them are very nice people. Please treat them with respect and they will be respectful back and more likely to listen or respond.

When you send an email, you represent all Broncos fans, just remember that.

Spellcheck!

Have your wife, girlfriend, daughter, boyfriend, or mom read your letter over. Another pair of eyes can do nothing but help.

Don't mention MHR sent you. We might be organizing this here, but this is a Bronco fan campaign, not an MHR campaign. This is a 'grassroots' movement to mobilize, not a spam campaign from a sports blog.

Draw the connection to his importance to the NFL overall and not just the Broncos.

Mention the landscape of the Broncos/NFL before he got there and after he left.

Don’t be contemptuous, angry or acknowledge any real or perceived anti-Broncos conspiracy.

Be cordial, polite, enthusiastic and convincing.

While important to the debate, don't over inundate the voters with a litany of stats.

Put your heart into these letters. Emotion and conviction may be the just be the difference maker!

Other Resources and Sites:

http://www.littleinthehalloffame.com/
Sign the the petition!!! http://www.littleinthehalloffame.com/addyourname.html
Look at his stats: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/L/LittFl00.htm

You've got the tools, now get down to business! Feel free to share this post/information with any and all Broncos fans you know. Floyd needs all the support he can get and we got to give it to him. There's a lot of important work do and we all need to come together to get the message out there! Floyd's getting in the Hall, that's what's happening!

P. S. Don't worry, we haven't lost sight of Shannon Sharpe. When his deadlines start to loom, we'll do the same for him! Also, please rec this so this fanpost information will remain up for a few days.

Ten Commandments of Bronco Fanship

Jezru — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:26:05 -0000

As a fun diversion from the training camp addiction I'm managing, I thought it would be fun to put together a list of 10 Commandments for Broncos Fans. Of course, if you have any that you think I missed perhaps these commandments could and should be added to and/or amended.

1. The greatest QB ever to play in the NFL was John Elway. (That shalt not worship false idols)

2. The Raiders must always lose - even if it helps us. The only good Raider fan is a sad one.

3. The Barrel Man shall always represent the unattainable fandom that we all must strive for day in and day out.

4. Thou shalt not miss Broncos games unless there is a damn good reason (Births, weddings, power outage, locusts, etc.)

5. Thou shalt have the keyword Broncos programmed into the DVR in first position in case of such unavoidable instances.

6. Thou shalt revere Mike Shannahan as the back-to-back Superbowl winning coach he once was and not the türd drafter he would later become.

7. Thou shalt not refer to it simply as "Invesco". One must always at least include the words "Mile High" or soley refer to it as such.

8. Thou shalt harbor a high degree of disgust for the Hall of Fame (At least until the Broncos are justfully represented).

9. Thou shalt root for the city, colors and team; not individual players that have departed (Exceptions being Dominic Foxworth and Jason Elam).

10. Thou shalt enter each and every season with the expectation of not only making the playoffs, but the Superbowl as well.

Any suggestions?

Critique: Denverbroncos.com

Jezru — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 08:19:53 -0000

For those of you who have clicked around, Denverbroncos.com is without a doubt a premiere NFL official team site. I've wandered over to other team sites and ones that are on par with "ours" (lest we confuse it with the awesomeness of MHR) are hard to find. I gotta say that I LOVE the Broncos TV features, especially the recaps of each day of training camp....

Having graduated film school oh so many years ago, I would like to impart a peice of criticism that I recieved back in those carefree days (of back to back Bronco Superbowls)... You can't have so many things tacked on to your "feature presentation" that it usurps what you're trying to say. What am I saying? I'm saying that I can't handle the two minute Comcast commercial for something I can't get here in LA anyway only to be followed by the 1 minute opening guitar rock highlight thing that's done (it's great, but not every time I load a video). By the time I burn through the three+ minutes of opening crap to get to the Training Camp Day 2 Highlights, I'm more than halfway through the length of the broadcast media and I feel robbed.

Denverbroncos.com - you're doing great work. Andrew Mason had the charisma of a cantelope and you done good there (I was nervous he was dismissed at first, but things seems to run smoother in the AV department these many months since). I urge you DB.com... Please... Figure something out to make your peices as long as the useless ads/intro that you place in front of them. Times have changed, you can put larger format peices on there. I know you're capable and now that you've got our attention, do more with it!!!

P. S. CBS4 - You need to put more of your material online too. I got the text alert (what I affectionately call the 66247 communique) about some half hour training camp show being broadcast in Denver... What's say you put at least a portion of it online for those of us who represent the home team away from home. The fact that there's not even one clip from these specials is just a travesty. As the Denver affiliate, I'm expecting you to do better.... Oh... and while I'm at it... more Gary Miller and less Vic Lombardi - I watch you on the DirectTV sports package and I get the feeling that Lombardi is the type of guy that's trying to score with your sister. Yeah, it's that kind of smarmy - I rock the tanning bed three times a week - vibe I get from him... eew.

Holy Cow! A look back at two of many reasons Shanny was canned and Jay was shipped.

Jezru — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:54:46 -0000

On my way back from a wedding in Georgia, I picked up this years Sporting News Pro Football Preview (a yearly ritual that I look forward to). As usaual I thumbed first to the Broncos preview and looked at our record from 2008. Holy Cow! Our first loss was a beat down by two touchdowns by the Chiefs at Arrowhead. Now I know we never win at arrowhead (kind of like we never beat the Dolphins), but if you step back and look at this disaster for what it was, you can't help but sympathize with Bolwlen tossing all of Shanny's stuff into the yard and locking the door behind Mike when he went to retrieve it. While the box score shows that we lost by two touchdowns (33-19), it was never really that close.

Though we gained more yards and first downs we could not get into the end zone. The Chiefs did everything in their power to give us the game committing 45 yards in penalties. We committed 4 turnovers, two ducks by Chicago's golden boy. Between the 20s Cutler and Shanny were great, but when it came time to finish the job neither had it in them to get it into the endzone. Sure, the receivers were of no help turning it over once apiece, but kicking 4 fieldgoals in once game is ridiculous and scoring just one touchdown is inexcusable. For the record, I am certain that Orton could easily have completed the 16yd TD that Cutler did. Cutler's passing percentage was 59%. Simply put, the Chiefs had been there and done that with our schemes before and capitalized on a poor gameplan and poor QB play (okay and the defense too geez) to best us.

But what really stings about that loss was that that one game comprised 50% of the Chief's victories for the year. The Chiefs only won two games in 2008, one against the Broncos and one against the Raiders. I don't care how many pro-bowls you gone to or how many HOF QBs you've coached, you can't allow a team that awful... that wretched... that division rival of yours who is on the floor pounding on the life alert pendant gasping for air to not only beat you, but to embarass you by only allowing one touchdown. They only won 2 games all year!

Then! Later in the year the Broncos did the same thing only worse to the Raiders! We lost to the Raiders at home 31-10. AT HOME! Once again we led in virtually ever stat category and yet we could not even make it look close. Nope, not even a garbage touchdown for us. Cutler was stellar with a 43% passing percentage and committing two turnovers, a fumble and interception. Special teams and defense were totally lacking in this beat down. Shannahan's failure to gameplan for Johnny Lee Higgins and Darren McFadden is one thing, but to allow former Eddie Quitterson Award winner Ashlie Lelie to score a TD against us is insult to catastrophic injury.

Simply put, our coach put the onus of winning the game on the back of Jay Cutler and when he did Cutler buckled under the pressure and failed to deliver anything substantial. Sure, it won us a few games, close games (and an awesome not so close one against the Raiders to start off the year and get our hopes up), but it lost us more than a few games and we lost them bad. I didn't even bring up the Carolina or second San Diego game.

So Shanny is out and Cutler is in Chicago. Shanny, I love ya and you were the greatest when we were winning and the worst when we were losing (Devin Hester jamming us up twice in one game) and now I'm happy for the change. This year may be rough, but I have high hopes and know the change was necessary. Cutler? Well, my friend... You're leaving a team where you had difficulty making things happening with a hyper productive reciever corps and an iron clad(y) line for a team with no receivers and a line that's going to have you running for your life. Further, his inability to perform in critical division games against inferior opponents will not help him against a stacked Vikings team and a tough Green Bay team. The Lions shouldn't give them too much trouble... but then... they were just two wins away from being the Chiefs. Good luck Jay! See you on August 30that Mile High wearing your jersey and and baby bonnet with a diaper. I'm praying to see something like this...

I am pumped for this year. It's gonna be excitng. It's gonna be fun. Go Broncos...

...and Rod Bless.

#4,958

Jezru — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:30:42 -0000

That's me! #4,958! Just called the season ticket office for my yearly tradition of finding out where I am on the waiting list for my tickets. I joined the waiting list probably nine or ten years ago and have been patiently waiting for my number to be called for the seats. Last year I was #7,000 something...

So with all the off season turmoil and economic decline I ascended on the waiting list around 2,000+ slots. I am estimating that within two to three years (assuming the broncos do well, which I always do this time of year) those tickets will be mine! Of course I know that when I am finally given those tickets, they'll be nosebleeds in the corner of the endzone, but they'll finally be my seats... at least until I can get better ones.

Where are you on the list? How many years out are you? Don't know? Here's the number - 720-258-3333.

Thank you and Rod bless.

What happens next and when? (Offseason Calendar)

Jezru — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:37:22 -0000

I borrowed this off of a Blazer site. Print it our and put it next to your Birdman and Chauncy photos there on your desk for quick reference.

July 1 2009: Free agency begins, though teams cannot officially sign until the final cap numbers are announced. Last year the signing moratorium lasted until July 11, though I haven't seen a date yet for 2009. The moratorium runs through July 7, so signings can officially begin on July 8.

July 10-19: Las Vegas Summer League

July 22-25, 2009: Team USA Trains in Vegas

September 7-20, 2009: EuroBasket tournament

September 8, 2009: Spain vs. Great Britain

September 30th, 2009:
Training camp begins (for the Blazers anyway -- I couldn't find the start for the Nuggies.... Around this date...)

October 28th, 2009:
'09/'10 Season begins.

Two Things I Would Like To See Happen at (Invesco Field at) Mile High Before I Die

Jezru — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:42:07 -0000

Seeing Colorado Kitten's post of her tour of (Invesco Field at) Mile High caused me to again ruminate on two things that I would very much like to see happen at (IFA) Mile High before I die. Being the sentimental and history loving fan that I am, I hope that others may be inclined to throw support behind these things and maybe get them done... someday... preferably before I die. Of course I have little or no plan on how to proceed, but I thought I'd just toss these out there.

1. Old Mile High -

Having grown up in Colorado I attended everything from motocross to Zephyrs games to Bronco Alumni games to Rockies games to whatever you can think of at Mile High. It was a fantastic, if not totally imperfect, venue and it just broke my heart when the old gal came down. I've since been to a game at the new stadium (I no longer live in Denver) and I stopped by to check it out prior to that time. I've got to say that whenever I've been in the area, my eyes wander to the adjacent parking lot where you can still almost imagine the field. Heck those stairs there in the corner of the parking lot lead to where home plate was when I went to baseball games there. How many corner of the endzone tippy toe catches occurred in that corner?

The first item I'd like to see Happen at (IFA) Mile High would be to simply paint in green the outline of where the field was. Maybe paint in white where Home Plate was too.... So much awesomeness occured on this little plot of land I would like to see some memorialization of it. I'm a sentimental fan, I know... But it would be nice to see a token something special done for those that have fond memories.

2. The Barrel Man

Tim McKernan wore the barrel rain or shine for just about every home game since 1977. An icon of the team, he was the first "Bronco" inducted into the Hall of Fame (in their fan section a few years before John Elway). In 2007 he hung up the barrel for good, but still attends games. This passionate Bronco fan was an icon to all of us and it's just too sad to see that he's no longer roaming the aisles. The thing I would like to see happen at (IFA) Mile High before I die is to have a bronze statue of this superfan erected somewhere in the stadium - preferably somewhere facing the field. His fandom was legendary and we can't let history forget a man who came to every game for 30 years in his underwear - that's just not fair.

Call me crazy, call me nuts... But these are two things I would like to see happen at (IFA) Mile High before I die.

Nuggets' Jones given flagrant foul after tripping Kobe

Jezru — Tue, 26 May 2009 22:14:32 -0000

Nuggets' Jones given flagrant foul after tripping Kobe

No mention of suspension