http://test.denverpost.com/sports/ci_5475470

Barrel Man to retire

It was a tough weekend for unofficial NFL mascots as Miami's Dennis "Dolfan Denny" Sym and the Dallas Cowboys' Wilford "Crazy Ray" Jones died after long illnesses on back-to-back days.

In case this news had Broncos fans wondering, Tim "Barrel Man" McKernan is doing just fine, thank you, as he rests for what he says will be his 30th - and final - season of wearing the barrel.

"I'm probably going to go out with 30 seasons under my belt," said McKernan, who will be 67 when the 2007 season opens. "I'll still be attending the games and speaking at schools, but we'll be retiring the barrel."

McKernan had serious health issues in 2003, when an abdominal aneurysm ruptured. "I still don't have any stamina," he said.

Doctors have since restricted him to wearing his barrel for one half of games at Invesco Field, and then only when the temperature is above freezing.

Retired after 40 years as a mechanic for United Airlines, Mc- Kernan and his wife are based in Gunnison, but spend their offseasons traveling in their recreational vehicle.

Reached Monday in Indio, Calif., he had not heard of the passing of his mascot colleagues. RV living has its freedoms, but also its space restrictions, which was one reason the Barrel Man, who in 1999 beat John Elway to Canton, Ohio, as the first Bronco inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, sold his Super Bowl XXXII barrel for $30,000 last year.

The barrel, autographed by 49 Broncos from their first world championship team, was sold to a Black Hawk casino. McKernan gave 10 percent of his profits to a battered women's home in Gunnison.