I am very releived to hear this news, Thomas will be a stud this year. May have to deal with some inconsistency from the young guys on the D-line, but overall, with Moss back and Ekuban along with the addition of Robertson our D-line should border on dominant this year. A rotation of Doom, Ekuban, Crowder, and Engleberger at DE and then Thomas, and Robertson inside really excites me, especially if Powell can contribute in year one. Good news just keeps comin for the Broncos, here’s hopin it all adds up to the playoffs this year…..........Go BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here’s something to consider:

First a false positive from Henry and some sorrow and regret from that angle and now a dropped case on the cocaine charges from Thomas

I wouldn’t link the two. Both people were innocent (false test result / the drugs and gun didn’t belong to Thomas). But Henry did nothing to deserve the furor around a false positive, while Thomas foolishly went to a party where idiots were drinking (Thomas himself felt he was too drunk to drive) and was hanging out with “friends” who carry guns and drugs (he knew these guys since high school). Adults (and ones that have the rare priviledge to make so much money and play sports) shouldn’t be “partying” or going to clubs etc. They need to grow up.

If I was his agent I would be prepping him for big contracts in the years to come and making sure that he used his free time wisely. If he doesn’t have his degree he should consider working on that during the off season, just as long as he transfers to another school where he won’t be influenced by former associates.

Marcus Thomas’ agent is a man named Richard Burnoski, who was his high school coach at Mandarin High School in Jacksonville. Marcus also lived with Burnoski at times,while growing up. They have a different type of relationship than those of most players and agents. Burnoski was quoted at the time of the arrest as saying that Marcus needed to stay out of Jacksonville, and have his family come to Denver to see him, because there were a lot of pitfalls in his hometown, old friends and hangers-on who didn’t make it, etc. That’s good advice from a guy who is very new at the agent business.

...but I read a few days ago that authorities in “Colorado” dropped charges. It was just in the title, and I didn’t bother reading the story (since the reporter or editor was too lazy to even get the information right in the title). I should have focused on it and brought it here for other peole to mock. The mainstream sports media (and news media in general) can just be atrocious at times. I used to have a mental list of about six or seven sites I went to for Broncos news and articles. No more. I get everything from MHR.

Rarely I’ll go to another site to read something about football, and check on Denver while I’m there. But I haven’t found anything in months that hasn’t already been reported by MHR. We also go beyond the story with good analysis, and have great conversations in the comments threads.

It’s amazing that in all of the time I’ve been here, I STILL find myself awed by how great the site is. And it just keeps getting better!

...in my favorites list that I haven’t clicked on in months.

I don’t know of any other clients he has. I lived in Jacksonville from 1996-2002 while he was the coach at Mandarin, and several NFL players came from there. Sam Cowart (LB from Florida State) and Fred Weary (CB from Florida) also played there and went on to play in the NFL, but neither is active today. Jacksonville has a county-wide school system (since the city is incorporated with the county,) and students from all over the city can apply to attend schools which aren’t their local school.

Mandarin High is in the most affluent area of the city, and Marcus Thomas is not from there. His relationship with Burnoski was a key factor in his growth as a player and person, and Burnoski was known to keep close contact with him while he was at Florida. Jacksonville is a tremendously fertile area for college football recruiting, but a lot of talented kids end up not making it to the NFL, like Miami or Dallas or Chicago, or any other hotbed. Marcus made it, and has a good chance of having long-term success like Brian Dawkins, Lito Sheppard, Laveranues Coles, Leon Washington, Jabar Gaffney, Rashean Mathis, and a lot of others. The case of Coles is especially interesting, because he was known around Jacksonville as Trouble Coles, and now he is a respected team leader for the Jets.

With guidance from his mentor and agent, who seems like a good guy, we should have high hopes for the continued maturation of Marcus Thomas, and his continued development into the dominant player he can absolutely become.