So after much reading over the past week in regards to the combine and players contract negotiations, it appears that I can finally write about various Broncos subjects without looking completely like the horses behind.

There is nothing worse, in my opinion then listing a bunch of ideas, pure speculative choices and basically just guessing and wasting ink from the mighty pen in regards to “who the coach will keep, won’t keep, who he will look at in the draft.

Now, if it were Mike Shanahan at the helm still, I might attempt it. We all had seen Mike draft and build over the years, so it became a bit easier to guess his next move.

Not so with Josh McDaniels.

No, Josh in his 1st season, basically broke the prior team of players and coaches down. We said we were rebuilding and Josh argued that he merely made some changes. Yeah, and painting the Great Wall of China completely blue would be just a minor cosmetic job.

I’ve been asked by some, if I thought that they would keep Brandon Marshall?

I felt that they would, but they have him tendered. If he was making a sick amount of money, say in the tune of $4 million a year, I wouldn’t be concerned. But no, it was for the amount of 2.5 million a year (one year), the same amount as Chris Kuper. Kyle Orton was for 2.6 million. Tony Scheffler was for 1.75 million

For those who may not be familiar with a player being tendered, it means that if another team wants the player, they must pay the amount that the other team was going to pay, plus depending on a players worth, a 1st rounder or even a 2nd or 3rd.

Kyle was offered the 2.6 million plus the abililiy to sacrifice himself for a 3rd rounder from the other team should they want him. All Denver has to do is meet the other teams offer and they still retain him.

Scheffler was tendered for the 1.75 million pay and a 2nd rounder.

What was irritating though is that Marshall wasn’t offered anything “special” for money and a team won’t go out of their way for him?…. Or will they?

Look at Haynesworth. Denver needs to look out and remind themselves that he is an elite player. If anybody would want him, baggage and all, it would be Detroit or the Raiders. Never bargain with the enemy.

Elvis Dumervil fared the best. If a team wants him, it will cost them a 1st and 3rd rounder. Elvis is a pretty sure bet to stay a Bronco.

I said it before, Denver is pushing Brandon’s buttons. It seems that they dwell on making him unhappy.

No word on Stokley. That in itself could be a bad thing. He’s nearing the end of his career so he won’t get a large payday. I feel that Royal will step in and McKinley will finally get his shot.

I heard that Denver was looking over an offensive lineman at the combine and I’ll talk to all of you about that in the next article. It will have a lot of bearing on what’s happening to the team, now. Call this part 1 if you like. The combine is part two.

Today was a quick “in house” sweeping. Just clearing out the cobwebs.

More testimony today in the Darrent Williams murder trial.

Daniel "Ponytail" Harris was on the stand for a second day Tuesday in Willie Clark’s trial on first-degree murder charges in the New Year’s Day 2007 shooting.

The prosecutor is trying to play Harris’ testimony as unreliable because it’s given in lew of a plea deal.I would still believe his testimony, however. So he agreed to “roll” for a lighter sentence.

He claimed that Clark reached around him and fired off the shots and the gun was right in front of his face. Yes sir, real rocket scientist’s we’re dealing with here.

Well, I will have Part 2 out on Saturday. Hope everyone is well? Didn’t hear from anyone during the “Easy Ed” story? I’m alone…. So utterly “alone.” Maybe I need to come up with a draft contest for a Broncos prize?

If all else fails, simply resort to bribery.

Dynamicdave

dthew@fanhuddle.com 

No, unfortunately, in order to gain these pleasures in life, you must strive to have a goal and then work diligently to obtain it.

This will happen to a handful of people out of approximately every 20.

Is it preordained by the cosmos or is it just a matter of blind luck? Is it handed down to you by a wealthy family or is it earned by a solid upbringing and simply a matter of making the correct life choices, regardless of the bad influences around you?

In truth, it’s a matter of all of the above, with perhaps the exception of “being born into a wealthy family.”

To give you an example of what I’m trying to get across, I give you a young lad, born in a “then small town,” of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. It was on the 17th of August in the summer of ‘68′ that Edward Thomas McCaffrey blessed his family and later, the football world with his arrival.

Just for the record, before I continue, please understand, I did an extensive search to get the name of his mother and father, as well as some more personal information on his family upbringing, but had no luck. I will still attempt in my own simple way, to try to humanize this great individual with what information I could find.

I can tell you that Ed is one of 5 kids. He has 2 brothers and 2 sisters. Two of them you may have heard of, Billy McCaffrey, who played basketball for Duke and Vanderbilt, as well as, was the assistant coach for St. Bonaventure University and also the University of Maine.

His sister, Monica, played basketball for the Georgetown University Women’s Team. 

Waynesboro had a very small population at the time of his birth of about 10,000 people. It’s primary source of employment is small factory’s that manufacture tools and other types of machinery (boilers, engines, etc.).

It had and still has it’s days of hardships, as shown by the population in 1940 as being that of 10,231, yet the last census taken in 2000 showed the population at 9,614.

Supply and demand.

Engines not being in large demand has hurt the industry. Also, much of the population now consists of the elderly.

The town is a middle class to upper lower class community. Like the normal populated society of America, they live on a budget. But when the factories close down and things get even more desperate, life in a small town can become a daily struggle not to appear like they are living in another depression.

You know the kids have no future there and yet money is extremely tight and college is your child’s only salvation. How to manage that on a fixed income is a dilemma.  

Many, if not nearly all of the younger generation grew up and went  to colleges elsewhere to earn an education and a higher paying market than this small, middle class town could offer.

Edward McCaffrey would be no different.

Through hard work and good grades Ed went to Stanford after playing high school ball at Allentown Central Catholic High School. He competed in the East Penn Conference which is now known as the Lehigh Valley Conference.

Ed was then off to Palo Alto, CA to play ball at Stanford, a college, as most know, spawned a great player by the name of John Elway.

He did well at Stanford, earning All American in 1991. He also earned a Bachelor of Science degree in economics and a Master of Science degree in organizational behavior while attending. He didn’t just use his football ability to earn a free ticket, which I’m sorry to say, many players in the game today, have done.

Draft day in the NFL arrived in 1991 and Ed was drafted by the Giants in the 3rd round (83rd overall). He played for the Giants for 3 years (91-93).

He then went to the San Francisco 49er’s in 1994 where he played under an offensive coach named Mike Shanahan.

That year, Ed earned his 1st ring in Super Bowl XXIX.

Mike Shanahan then got his big break and went to coach the Denver Broncos in 1995. He wasn’t leaving San Francisco without some support. He took McCaffrey along with him and Bill Romanowski, as well as, much of the staff.

Mike knew he needed a wide receiver who had good hands and could hang on to the ball.

They don’t get much more reliable then Ed.

He would take a hit that would make the average fan cringe. Ed would simply get up, shrug and roll his shoulders with his trademark move (he did that deliberately to irritate the other team and to make something of a statement, like, “can’t touch this”).

He was the 3rd wideout (Rod Smith being the primary) but a very often used wide receiver. As a matter of fact, he and Rod Smith were the only two wide receivers in the NFL to both have over 100 catches in a season (2000), other than Herman Moore and Brett Perriman. Ed had 101 catches that year.

But I digress. In 1997, Shanahan led the Broncos to Super Bowl XXXII where Ed earned his 2nd ring.

Ditto for 1998 and Super Bowl XXXIII. He also made a Pro Bowl appearance.

Things took a bad turn in 2001 when he suffered a broken leg in the 1st game of the season against his former team, the New York Giants. I remember watching that game and the entire bar went quiet. I recall being able to actually hear the break.

Not sure if any of you recall it, but he broke his leg taking a hit while catching the ball.

He caught it.

He didn’t drop it.

1st down.

Many players would call that a career ending injury. Not Ed. He came back in 2002 to catch 69 balls for 903 yards. Many other players would have given up, but Ed had more in the tank and knew that nothing comes easy.

After that year, however, 2003 turned bad for him. He was hampered by injuries and had a less than fulfilling season and in February of 2004, hung up the #87 jersey.

He had a career 565 catches for 7,422 yards with 55 touchdowns.

It was time to put that college education to work.

Ed was already selling his own brand of mustard while still playing for the Broncos. He was involved in several community activities.

He helped to promote health foods and resorts, to name a couple. He started the McCaffrey Family Foundation which works with children to help improve their lives and also has a football camp each year for the kids.

He does many, many motivational speeches throughout the year, each and every year. Things to help give the everyday person who wants to better themselves, strength and direction.

He wants to show them that nothing in life is handed to you, but if you want something to call your own, you have to go out and earn it.

Nothing in life is easy, not even if they gave you the nickname “Easy Ed.”

Dynamicdave

dthew@fanhuddle.com

So it seems a lot of rumors, as usual, are floating around the press.

How many of those rumors do you put credibility to? I don’t know about you but I’ve often said and still stand by it, the saying, “Believe half of what you see and nothing of what you hear and remember that 3 billion Chinese can’t all be Wong.”

Case in point; it seems that the rumors spread that the Denver Broncos are being considered as to being put on the auction block. Yes, someone spread the sickly rumor of the Broncos to being sold.

1st off, there is a little matter of a stadium that was built in order to guarantee that our Broncos remain in Denver. But just reading the story in itself is enough to make me laugh.

There is basically nobody to actually quote as saying that this foul deed may occur. No, rather there is a writer who is bored and trying to play detective and form his own opinion with nothing really to back it. Pure speculation.

This type of press is an irritant.

Another fine example, McNabb and Kolb being considered as to be traded to Denver. Ridiculous assumption, especially since the Eagles said they are not up for consideration. So why and where did this ridiculous rumor come from?

Another writer with too much time on his hands. Better to write for a scandal magazine.

Now, there are rumors that are written that are handled properly, case in point, the possibility of a strike if the collective bargaining agreement isn’t fixed. I liked the way that the writer presented this story. He made no pretense to suggest that “this or that” will happen. Instead he layed out what could happen, the illogical idiocy of it if it does happen and ways to see to it that it doesn’t happen.

Good journalism.

Now for things of a more important nature (in my books, anyhow).

The trial for accused murderer Willie Clark in the death of Darrent Williams
(may he RIP) is nearing and several Bronco players may be called in to testify as to any knowledge or insight they may have in this case.

Players such as Brandon Marshall, Elvis Dumervil, D.J. Williams are named. Of course, former Broncos player Javon Walker is one of the group that you know will be there to testify.

Jury selection begins Monday.

It appears that a Broncos player has gone under the knife.

Darrel Reid, our Special Teams player and back up linebacker has gone in for knee surgery this week. He will miss all of the offseason program but is hopefully going to be ready for the regular season.

Reid showed leadership in the locker room, especially towards the ST unit. That, in my opinion, is something the Broncos need to have to keep this team focused for the season to come.

And that’s it for any Bronco talk for the time being. I still had hopes to get my Easy Ed article out with more info into the early years of Ed and his family but alas, as of this date, have had no response (I wasn’t really expecting one, but one must try, musn’t one?).

Therefore, I will finish the article and present it to you this Monday. Please be gentle, as there is not much to go off of except for stats and I didn’t want to drown all of you in numbers. Boring….

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. Till next time Broncos fans…..

Dynamicdave

dthew@fanhuddle.com

So the football season is behind us and the withdrawals begin.

I know it has already started for me. Here we are, only 6 days after the Super Bowl and I’m missing the Broncos. My palms are sweating and my hands are shaking. Just a 15 minute scrimmage, That’s all I ask for. Just a taste.

Okay, okay, maybe it’s not as bad as a heroin addict needing his next fix, but it’s pretty darn serious.

So before we start talking about the draft, I think it’s important to 1st try to get into the heads of Pat Bowlen and Josh McDaniels.

It was written in an interview with Josh, that he wants Brandon Marshall to stay.

Said McDaniels, when asked about what it takes to make the Broncos successful, "If you only have really talented players but your system is very simple and average, it can’t adjust to beat somebody else.  Ultimately you’re going to run into somebody who has got some talented players of their own, with a great system. Then they out-game plan you, they out-coach you. Now you end up losing the game."

He went on to say that it takes great players and a great system.

Does Brandon fit in that "system?"

"Certainly. I mean he had a great year, a Pro Bowl year. Brandon and I got along fine and I know we’ve had some differences of opinion and some other things that have happened, but he’s a very good player, obviously, one of the elite receivers in this league. Our goal is to try to keep all of our good players and he’s certainly one of them," said Josh.

Lets hope the Broncos can afford him? I will talk more about that later. 1st, lets talk about the "double talk," the "white man speak with forked tongue."

Form your own conclusions and get back to me. Tell me if I’m wrong. I’m always open to a different take/opinion in this cross talk.

Pat Bowlen also did an interview and said this in regards to the Marshall issue. He stated he would like star receiver Brandon Marshall to remain with the Broncos, but wouldn’t block a trade if rookie coach Josh McDaniels feels it would benefit the team.

Now why would he even stir the pot with that type of talk, casting doubts in the air after Josh said he wants Brandon to stay a Bronco? Why not say that he will trust Josh in whatever he chooses and then leave it at that? Stop with the Al Davis talk.

That was one.

Bowlen revealed the plan is for Kyle Orton to remain the Broncos’ quarterback, but the team hopes to select another quarterback in the upcoming draft.

Why say that? Say that you will trust in McDaniels decisions and leave it at that? Nobody wants to know their own future. 2-3 years, you’re history?

Again, neither Josh nor Pat are on the same page. They need to rehearse their responses.

That’s two.

I’m seeing a pattern here.

He said it was fine for Josh to bench Marshall and Scheffler to show his authority.

Hmmmm.

Okay, so it’s alright to throw away the final game and a chance at the playoffs by benching your best WR and TE? So the fans are nothing to either of you? Well, Pat was already rich so he may not care, but we, as fans, are far from that tree. We help to keep the NFL on it’s feet. We get rewarded by upper staff and the owner by putting the fans concerns last.

You may know football, but it seems there is a ways to go in regards to people skills.

This was nothing more than a chance to flex your muscle. A testosterone playground.

Thanks a lot.

That’s three.

I may still support you as a staff but that doesn’t mean I have to agree with everything you say and do. I’m not a Stepford wife.

Correct me if I’m wrong but why is it that every time I hear the two of you speak, I feel like I’m listening to politicians?

You said a lot, yet told us nothing.

McDaniels said that he doesn’t favor his choices in players over the ones that we already had before his arrival?

Hmmmm.

Is that why you took our 2nd best WR, Eddie Royal, and practically gelded him the entire season? I mean, a man who in his rookie season, catches almost 100 passes for just shy of 1000 yards, needs to be played. But we hear the coach tell the public that "I just wish I could have used him more in our system." Clearly he needs to reevaluate his "system." He said "great players in a great system," correct?

Did I miss something here?

That’s four.

So what I’m trying to say here, is that if you want us to back you as a staff, then stop with the double talk, the playing on words. Say what you mean and mean what you say, or just don’t say it at all.

I do.

Dynamicdave

dthew@fanhuddle.com

You know me, always take some good out of my error.

I was correct that the Colts would jump to an early lead….

I was correct that the Saints would have to play “catch up.”

That was about it. The Saints not only caught up, but passed up and beat up as well, the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV, 31-17.

The Colts started out strong, but killed themselves in crucial downs with moronic penalties. I began to flashback and for a moment I thought I was watching our Broncos from some of their games this year.

But, I will take nothing away from the Saints. They did just as they have all year long. They played 4 quarters.

The Colts were up 10-0 in the 1st quarter. Peyton Manning was looking sharp as usual. He was 31-45 for 333 yards, 2 touchdowns and unfortunately the 1 and only interception that sealed the win for the Saints.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

In the 2nd quarter the Saints magically played the clock to their own advantage and where it looked like they would go into the half with a goose egg, instead got a field goal with 6:02  left in the 1st half helped of course by the efficient passing of Drew Brees (32-39 for 288 yards and 2 touchdowns). The 32 completions tied the record of QB’s Tom Brady and Brees made it look like just “a day in the life” (for you Beatles fans).

Okay, 10-3 at the half, right?

Wrong.

As I said, brilliant clock management by Sean Payton and a tightening defense by the Saints, allowed them to once again shut down Manning and get the ball back and move it downfield for yet another field goal with :35 seconds left on the clock.

10-6 looks “a heckuva lot bedder den 10 to nuh-ting, I tell you. It make-uh jack rabbit slappa duh bear, yes-sir-ree.” 

The Colts looked non-existent in the 2nd quarter. Momentum had changed. I saw it, you saw it and I’m sure that the Colts saw it.

Things have to get better for the Colts, right?

Wrong.

The Saints were playing for keeps and not afraid to take chances. They took the Colts by utter surprise by starting the 3rd quarter with an onside kick. The Saints recovered and the Colts from that point on, never did. They limped into the 4th quarter with only 7 more points for their effort.

The Saints scored 10 more. So the Saints were only down 1 point, but showing dominance and control of the tempo of the game. Time to go for the kill.

Somewhere in the background (or maybe I just imagined it) I could hear Rob Schneider yelling “You can do it.”

The 4th quarter was all Drew Brees and company. The defense was on to Peyton and the Colts “secret to success” and were having none of it.

The Saints needed to shut Peyton down just once to ensure a victory and they didn’t disappoint. The defense intercepted Peyton and ran it back for a touchdown.

Somewhere in the background I could hear “Dandy Don” singing (or maybe I just imagine that, as well),  ”Turn out the lights, the party’s over and all good things must come to an end.”

The Saints won, 31-17 and New Orleans got their Championship. Somewhere in the background I could hear Jiminee Cricket singing (or maybe I just imag…, oh, you know the deal…), “When you wish upon a star.”

I honestly thought the Colts would win. I wanted the Saints to win in my heart but my head told me that Peyton would be too much for the Saints. I’m actually happy to say I was wrong.

I’ve spent time during my stint as a truck driver, delivering pipe to Fourchon (Foo-shawn), LA (the end of the world) and Venice, LA, (the other “end of the world”).

I’ve had time to sit and “party down” with the Cajun clans on several occasions. As crazy as they sometimes seem, they also have a straight forward, no-nonsense, honest approach about living and surviving in the bayou with all of the alligators, the hurricanes, the dipping economy and yes, the losing drought of the Saints.

But, like the Saints, they keep on fighting.

I can hear the Cajuns singing and partying and saying to one another in the background (and this time it’s not in my head), “Dat one heckuva game.”

Dynamicdave

dthew@fanhuddle.com

I saved the draft and I emailed “Easy Ed” with a request to email me or call me to get some basic “growing up” info.

I feel in order to do an article about a quality person, I need the artical to be the same. I will finish the article when hopefully, Ed gets back to me. I will do something else for tommorow.

Also, yes, once again, my computer picked up a virus. A very nasty one. My Pittsburgh Steelers friend, came over and we went to town on my computer to try and fix it.

Alas, no luck. Not even “Highjack This” could get rid of it. So, we reformatted from disc and I also purchased a quality Security system.

I just got back on line this late afternoon. Still a few more “tweaks” in the system and I’m  through.

The virus disabled the system severely. It’s running beautiful now and I hope, with crossed fingers, that the new security system will make me proud.

Unfortunately, another ex-Broncos player made the news. 

Does anybody remember the name, Billy Jenkins?

Billy was a defensive back who won a Championship Ring while playing for the Rams in 1999. He then played for our Denver Broncos in 2000 and 2001.

Well, in 2008 the authorities in Aurora, CO, say that Jenkins crashed his SUV into Tracy Gill while Gill was at a stop light in the Denver suburb of Aurora.

Gill, age 51, was riding a motor scooter at the time. Upon impact,  was thrown from his scooter and died at the scene.

It was then reported that Jenkins fled the scene which in turn, now became a “hit and run.”

But things were still to unfold. Jenkins was also reported to have been drunk at the time of the accident. After returning to the scene minutes later after he initially ran away, he was arrested and booked.

Jenkins’ sentencing is set for April 26.

I can tell you for a fact that things do not look good for him in this situation. It was bad enough to kill a man while drunk driving, but to run from the scene, even if bit for a few minutes will at least double a sentence.

My heart goes out to the Gill family.

Such a shame that a player who had it all, threw away such a good feeling life/history with the NFL in a one bad judgement decision. Now, unfortunately for Jenkins, he will have plenty of time to contemplate that one poor judgement call.

It’s much more than Tracy Gill will have…

In other parts of the NFL world:

We all know that the Colts might have to play this Sundays game without Dwight Freeny. It also seems that the Colts are planning their game as if he won’t play.

He missed all 4 practices last week.

“He hasn’t been practicing, so if he’s not practicing, we are preparing to not have him,” Coach Jim Caldwell told reporters after arriving in South Florida. “If he can’t go, we’ll do some rotations, and Raheem (Brock) will be a big part of that.”

The Colts say that Freeney has a sprained right ankle, not a torn ligament, but Freeney on Tuesday said “it’s a torn ligament in the outside part of my ankle.”

Freeney said he is still “in a lot of pain,” but did not count himself out of Sunday’s game. He said by Friday or Saturday he should know “exactly where I’m at,” or how much he will play, if he plays at all.

On a personal note, I would hate to see him do more harm to himself. I think the Colts can do just fine without him. Rest Freeny. Don’t risk further injury. Your team has many other weapons.

I recall that Jerry Rice of the 49ers tried to come back from an injury too fast and was put back on the injury list during a game against our Broncos. He aggravated it and re-injured himself. Sometimes an athlete will downplay the severity of an injury out of pride and stubbornness. I hope this isn’t one of those times.

Dynamicdave

dthew@fanhuddle.com

It appears there are some new developments in the Broncos world.

After Mike Nolan resigned, there was a sudden vacancy spot for a new Defensive Coordinator. The front runners were Don Martindale (our defensive linebackers coach) and Dean Pees, a former Patriots Defensive Coordinator.

Well, Pees signed with the Ravens which meant the obvious.

Yes, say hello to our new D-coach, Don Martindale. For a quick background on Don, he was the former linebackers coach for the Raiders from 2004-2008. That was one of the Raiders strong points during that time.

Does that mean that we will bring some “nastiness” to the Broncos D? I hope it does, minus the cheap shots and dirty play that used to always accompany (and still does) the Raiders. I look on this as I always do, with an open mind and a “lets wait and see” attitude.

Good luck Don, and lets tear it up on the defensive side of the ball.

Other news around the league that I found of interest…

Eric Green, 27, formally of the San Fransisco 49ers (which is fitting for this story, as you will soon find out) is being sued by Angelina Mavillia, age 38, a transgender for $10 million dollars for allegedly “forcibly sodomizing” her.

The documents state they met at a casino in Arizona in 2009 and went  back to his condo where the alleged incident occurred.

Mavillia was also in the headlines in 2008 for accusing the police officers in Manhattan of abusing and humiliating her in a trespassing incident. She is suing them in a separate lawsuit.

I guess business is slow in her line of work. Sounds like a dead end job. (I know, but I couldn’t resist).

As for Green, he, of course, denies it ever happened.

And a final note:

Steven Jackson of the Rams is accused of beating his 9 month pregnant girlfriend.

Supriya Harris, of Mableton, GA filed a complaint with my own hometown police, here in Las Vegas this week. It alleges that Jackson repeatedly pushed her to the ground in March of 2009 and bloodied her hip.

Copies of the report were posted online by CBS Sports.

The police report was initially filed in LaPlace, LA and had not been forwarded to Las Vegas as of yet.

No investigation is currently underway with the Las Vegas police at this time.

In the report, Harris said Jackson “flung” her against a door until Jackson’s nephew interceded. She told police Jackson later urged her to say she was injured during a fall in the shower.

Jackson called the accusations “untrue” and “hurtful” in a statement issued by one of his agents, Tom Savage of U.S. Sports Advisors.

The rams are aware of the situation but are unable to speculate as to the truth of the situation, although they are “concerned” when it involves one of their own.

That, my friends, wraps up todays humerous and some “not-so-humerous” bits and pieces.

Have a great weekend.

Many are of the mindset that the Indianapolis Colts are in the spotlight, “much too much.”

Yet, if the truth be known, they have been to only three SuperBowls (in which they lost once/won once as Baltimore and than won again as Indianapolis) and have been denied ever since.

Yet everyone seems to think that they are over-hyped. Too much press and too much attention…

Wrong.

The Colts have earned every bit of their stardom. Their respect, due.

Even though they have only won one SuperBowl under Peyton, they have been contenders and right in the thick of it ever since. Yet, people are tired of hearing about them? Why? Are we not all about wanting the competition? Do we want to see our team, whoever it may be, cakewalk to the SuperBowl?

Not me. I want my Broncos, for instance, earn their way to the big show. That’s what makes the game so much fun.

That’s why I feel that as long as the Colts have Peyton Manning behind the helm, he will continue to set standards for the rest of the NFL to try to follow. He will make every other team play harder to get what they seek.

When the Colts were still the “Baltimore Colts”, they had a record that was none to brag about. True, in 1975 till 77′, the Colts won 3 divisional titles in a row but then went on a severe dry spell.

The year of the strike was upon us and the Baltimore Colts went 0-8-1. That led to a 1st pick in the draft. Well, it went from bad to worse, because for those who don’t remember, they chose John Elway.

John said “No way, Elway, will play, for the Colts.” Sorry, couldn’t resist. Actually though, he did say that he will play baseball before he goes to the Colts. So the trades were made (Denver gave up OT Chris Hinton, QB Mark Hermann and it’s D1 84th pick in 1983) and Elway went on to play for our beloved Broncos.

The Colts, well, they went on to earn a 7-9 record (a fast turn-around for a team that hadn’t won a game the year before) and also went on to become the Indianapolis Colts.

In 1985, they went 5-11. In 1987 they won the divisional title with a 9-7 record before falling to Cleveland, 38-21.

They also had this guy they acquired in a trade named Eric Dickerson, to help pave the way.

As great as things were for them to have Eric as a running back, the SuperBowl was still not to be.

In 1998 things were going to change. Even with Marshall Faulk now carrying the rock, they needed a talented QB to “man the helm.”

Enter Peyton Manning.

His rookie season, he was 326-575 for 3,739 and 26 touchdowns. That broke all rookie records. Still the team finished 3-13.

In 1999 he turned 3-13 into 13-3. They went to the playoffs, but fell to the Titans, 19-16.

But they wouldn’t stop there.

The playoffs were once again theirs, as a Wild Card. Again, though, they lost to Miami in overtime, 23-17.

See the pattern? Now they were a team to be taken serious. Not quite good enough to get to the SB, but good enough to push the other team to play their best or sit at home.

2002, Wild Card again. Lost to the Jets, 41-0. Don’t even try to put rhyme or reason to that one. It’ still has me scratching my head.

Oh, Tony Dungy was the head coach at that time, his 1st year.

2003, won the AFC South at 12-4. Lost to New England, 24-14.

Manning had thrown for his 5th consecutive 4,000 yard season.

In 2004, The Colts went 14-2. They then pounded our Broncos 49-24 in the Wild Card before once again falling to the Patriots 20-3.

Manning had 49 TD passes that year and 121.1 rating.

In 2005 they went on to win 14 more games but lose in the playoffs to Pittsburgh (who went on to beat our Broncos).

2006 would be different though. They had broken darn near every club and NFL records. Time for it to pay off.

In 2006 the Colts finished 13-3. They finally got that camel off their back and beat the Patriots to go on to win the SuperBowl against the Chicago Bears, 29-17.

The following years after, they were once again contenders but falling short to the “hack” Chargers. Sorry, something caught in my throat.

Do things look better for the Colts this year? History says yes. Get to the show and show what you got. With Manning leading them, that is a lot.

Therefore, even though I am happy for what the Saints have overcome and accomplished, I pick the Colts to defeat the Saints, 36-34.

Hard to go against a team with Manning at the helm.

Some of you may not be old enough top clearly remember the days of “The Aint’s?” I remember it clearly.

“Aint no playoffs, aint no fame, da’ New Orleans Aint’s got no game.”

Yes, it was a miserable dry spell (like since the day they entered the league) for this bayou team. Although the team is filled with transplants from around the U.S., the boys will and should be looked at as a group of ragin’ cajun’s.

They never stopped believing in themselves and continued fighting. They continued marching on.

How far they will go is still to be decided. They have one more game to go to make this Cinderella story complete.

They have the Colts.

Led behind Peyton Manning, the Saints have their work cut out for them.

But, the City of New Orleans has weathered more than this in their recent past. They had Hurricane Katrina.

We, as a nation, saw the devastation that hurricane has, and still is, inflicting upon the city. Oh, much of the mainstream portions of the city has been repaired, but many are still without their homes that were totally destroyed by that merciless storm.

The one thing they had to hold this city together as a group was their football team. Their New Orleans Saints.

Even if but for a brief weekend, they had a team to watch on a weekend. Something to briefly take their minds off of the personal struggles that each of these brave citizens had to endure.

To most Americans, football is nothing more than a game. To the fans of New Orleans, it was much more than that. It was a representation of the struggles that these people as a group, went through.

To fight, when it looks like you’re down. To survive the best that is thrown at you and to come out winners when everyone else has counted you out.

Heck, even I picked the Vikings to beat the Saints. Yep, guilty as charged. I would have never believed that the Saints would persevere. I believed Favre was destined one more ring.

I was wrong. Crow is sometimes not so bad when you look at the whole picture. I forgot for a moment the obstacles that the Saints had to go through to get to where they are now. 

The years of watching the fans wear the paper bags over their heads, too ashamed of their team to show their own faces. Over 20 straight years of a losing season. 1980 was the epitome  of it all when the bags were in full force.

I admit freely, I was in stitches, laughing, as I’m sure many of us Broncos fans were. We had after-all, gone to the SuperBowl in 1977. True, we lost, but we were there. 

The Saints were in some kind of “other dimension”, of which their was no escape. Destined to repeat the same scenario, year after year after haunting year.

Denver would see many more SuperBowls. We even won a couple. That was enough to sustain us. What did New Orleans have?

And now we are in a new era.

Denver is struggling to even look respectable while the Saints are now showing the true meaning “To endeavor to persevere.”  

Denver had blizzards and severe thunderstorms, but nothing even close to the magnitude of Katrina. This team played in other stadiums in which they had to call “home field advantage.” They struggled on, kept their chins up, their hopes up, and their mission clear. Win it for the city. Win it for the people.

Now, as I stated before, there comes the Colts.

I won’t go into detail about them. They are my next project that I will begin and yes, complete, by this Friday afternoon (incredible as it sounds). I will also include my pick as to who will come out on top.

For those unaware, I have been, unfortunately, very ill. Enough, that between trying to heal and still having to take care of my responsibilities to my household, zapped all my energy. I am slowly rebounding and although not 100%, I needed to get this article out to my fellow Broncos fans. My tolerance/resistance is low and I seem to be picking up any virus that feels the urge to visit. Apologies have seemed to become a common practice and for that, I apologize (see what I mean, ha, ha).

So, I dedicate this article to a city that has shown far more strength than I have displayed over this past week. This team seems to be focused and determined as they march right on into Florida.

No paper bags to be found….