You said “want to” and “heart”, and another comment, from Jim Goodman, that stuck with me, was when he was talking about scouting players and he noted that the hardest things to scout is “drive to be the best”.

All different ways of looking at the same phenomenon I think: beings of self-made souls.

has been added, so thanks to whoever took care of that.

I hope this is the season that we get it back too, and good catch noting that despite our advancements in many areas, this isn’t something that we can sign or draft.

Character is a great thing to scout for as far as bringing a free agent onto the team because it is one of the most obvious indicators that a player has the pride I am talking about. But something I didn’t really mention in the article is that this team can work together to ressurect the entire team’s pride in their work. Think of it as “Bronco’s Pride”. It was something that existed in all facets of the team for a while and really came together under the Shanny-Elway era to bear superbowl fruit, but it has been awhile since it was a teamwide phenomenon. It has been in the hearts of individual players here and there, but consistently drowned out by the lesser wills. We have definitely harvested a bumper crop of the right kind of vessels for this spirit this year, between our free agents and our rookies. Now we just have to fill them to the brim.

but a team needs that swager, that attitude, and that maturity to become World Champions. I’m willing to give this team a year to get to know each other and start to gel. I still think they go 13-3 and lose in the playoffs, but if Guru is right and I am wrong then this team might end up going 8-8 and next year would be the year they take off. Be wrong Guru! Be Wrong! lol

To is always about the Super Bowl. I do agree with the points of the post. But I think that with the hunger and drive of the leaders on down should make this a better team than last year. I do believe they will get that swagger back and dominate again, especially at home. One of my reasons is that Clady is a beast with a mean streak that has been missing for about 2 years or so. I also believe that is infectious for the Broncos. The running game will dominate again and JC will show he was the best QB of 2006.

Plus with the NFL the way it is anymore, its not out of the realm of possibilty that Denver cant win the super bowl this year.

and thanks for the compliment. I would be remiss if I didn’t note that even if the SuperBowl doesn’t actually ever get realized, the real goal is to be a SuperBowl worthy team, and for them and us to know and believe that. And not in a “fan” type of way, but to really feel like you are supporting a winner.

When you know in your heart that you are good and worthy, that is an untouchable part of you. The Broncos DO NOT have that yet. Even Shanny seems to feel the weight of self-doubt, in the way he fell on his sword last year, though that can be explained many ways. Like Guru said, the first step is for this group of guys, with the 36 new faces, to create a fraternity of values so that they can move forward in the coming season and the seasons that follow without having so much goldarned turnover!!

your use of “hard-nosed” and Guru’s description of the missing bad-assery are a reminder that of the many manifestations of this kind of Pride, the one that is the most congruent to the BATTLE that is football has to be the steel-eyed determination to

TAKE what belongs to you

and to NEVER give an inch.

That Shanahan goal is to win the Super Bowl EVERY year. It is not unrealistic in this day and age of the NFL to go from5-11 to the World Champs. Ask the Patriots (2001). Ask yourself would you be more satisfied if the goal was repsectability or a championship. This team was 13-3 just TWO years ago. To Shanahans credit in 2006 he knew he could not win a Super Bowl with who he had at QB, and other positons and devcided to change during the season. They could and maybe should have made the playoffs that year but, fell short. Last year was a rough but an experience building year. 7-9 isnt the best record, however if I do recall, the current World Champions were only 8-8 the tear prior. Do you think their goal was respectabilty??

I would rather shoot for the stars than to hope or pray to get better. Then again Shanahan is not the current Al Davis or Peterson. He gambles but wins a lot more than he loses.

we don’t condone vandalism or inciting road rage. Besides, you are no good to anyone in jail and I doubt you want your insurance rates sky high.

I do condone random acts of crime. It’s your jail term, not mine! :D

I was born in San Diego and moved back there for a spell in the mid to late 90’s. I went to a game in 98, the Chargers were like 1-10 and the Broncos were like 11-0….slaughter even though Elway threw like 5 INTs.

I will address the idea of points again below with Mr. B. Billy, but I will say here that my concrete concern for the season is scoring TDs in the redzone, not necessarily points, and I only touched on it briefly as a way of A)Giving a little breathing room to the reader in a largely abstract discussion, and B) To try and show the process that I reasoned through to come up with Pride as my ultimate goal for The Quest.

Not to badger the defensive guys, but I will say this: If you don’t score any points, you will not be the winner after 60 minutes of football.

I don’t come across as hatin’ on defense with this points discussion, because I love all aspects of football, but I really wanted to clarify my thinking on a few points:

1. I don’t believe points are primarily a measure of offense, just like I don’t believe that a shutout is primarily a measure of defense. The two sides complement eachother and rely on eachother so much that I can’t separate the notion of points out amongst them. For example, an offense can’t score points (outside of winning a toin coss) without the defense getting them an opportunity with the ball. Likewise, a defense can’t reasonably hold an opponent scoreless unless the offense can control the clock or score enough times to limit the opponents offensive options. I don’t believe that the exceptions to either case invalidate the principles behind them.

2. I think it is a mistake to think of points in the same light as we think of statistics. Statistics describe actions, preferably virtuous actions like catching the ball or tackling the ballcarrier. Points describe values. The difference is that virtues are actions you take to acquire values, and values are things you require for survival, or in the case of football, winning. I personally would never assign points as the perogative of the offense, because points are too fundamentally valuable to every player on the team. Each to the best of his abiltiy and capacity are trying to earn points. Likewise with preventing points.

3. This is really the heart of what you are saying, so I will treat it carefully: I don’t feel that i omitted the concept of holding the opposition from scoring points, but I did omit the FEWER points part. I DID explicitly advocate scoring points in the redzone, which is entirely on the offense, but that part is just my opinion of our greatest weakness, and I appreciate opinions to the contrary. However, the more abstract element of the article that dealt with points was meant to address scoring points as the height of football productivity (which I probably didn’t do very well). It is my understanding that by advocating this I would be implicitly advocating the opponent NOT scoring. Specifically, I would be saying that if we are scoring a TD, then the opponent cannot also be scoring a TD at the same time. Within the context of the events of a game, hwoever, you are right, the concept of FEWER points is very important.

This last is adressed to the defensophiliacs in the crowd: Is it ever proper to refer to the defense as having STOPPED the opposing offense from scoring points, while during a game? Offhand, and not counting the physics notion of physically stopping or redirecting momentum, I would say that the only thing that can truly stop an offense, or more accurately a team, from scoring, is the clock counting down to 00:00. In other words, the offense and defense are extensions of eachother, both charged with the same fundamental task, but different opportunities for accomplishing it…. I must be getting tired…I’m begining to wonder if ANY of this makes sense… :)

And before I forget, thank you very much for the kind words. They are definitely appreciated.

The blitzing scheme can backfire, AKA the 2005 AFC title game. I would rather have an effective pass rush speedy LB’s and our secndary. Champ takes away half the field but teams will attack Bly. I am not a fan of the blitz. I think with the running game getting back to one back dominating. I know they have ALWAYS been in the 10 rushing since 1995, but I want the play action to work and get our passing back into the top 10 as well. I think with Marshall and who ever is #2 and Stokley in the slot it can happen. Look when the Broncos played Tenessee last year that was on of the games where I could see the awesome potenetial of JC and a dominate running attack

of defensive players who could fit the role you are talking about.

We have so many quiet leaders like DJ, DOOOM and Champ. Bly is also quietly confident, as is Foxy, who is also in perhaps too limited of a a roll to be a leader. Boss doesn’t strike me as the type to take ownership, and none of the safeties, except Lynch seem ready to take on a role like that.

Lynch has the right makeup, but even Atwater, the fiercest Bronco’s safety I have ever seen, wasn’t really the vocal leader that I think you are talking about, and i think it has to do with the responsibilities inherent in the safety position, but I’m not really sure about that.

K2 is in the ideal position, but it isn’t fair to him to expect it, and frankly, until he is quite clearly a true blue-and-orange Bronco, heart and soul, game in and game out, i don’t know if i could really rally around him. I can’t wait to find out though. :)

Here’s a thought: DOOM, Moss and Crowder talked a little about wanting to put their stamp on the Broncos this year. If they could successfully bookend this line, there is a good chance that they would end up being the tonesetters of the defense, much like Strahan was in New York. I would have zero problem with the Broncos defensive Identity being wrapped up in productive edge rushers who make opposing offenses ineffective and their QBs msierable….

Re: Lynch’s shoulder.

To my knowledge he has never suffered through an injury plagued season like 2007. The neck injury I think could be classified differently than most injuries, since it was freak and threatened to end his career with its severity. His comments recently about wanting to prove something, accompanied by his reinvigorated training routine tells me that he learned a valuable lesson this year, when despite his desire to bring everything he had, his body failed him.

He is addressing his physical status with new workouts, and I expect that it could give him an edge performance wise next year, possibly allowing him to earn back the respect that will keep him on the field for a greater variety of plays.

On a side note, regarding lynch, I ahve been thinking about hsi comments that he felt there were “some within the organization who probably didn’t want him back”. This is profoundly disturbing to me, as the only guy I can think of who might feel this way, who has any significance, is Slowik. On the other hand, i thought Slowik was really a fan of all his DBs, but maybe Lynch isn’t one of his favorites? I will leave the conjecture at that, before it gets out of hand…

Following up on spock’s comment, I think we are missing a running back with that “I will … not... be stopped” attitude. A guy who wants and expects the ball repeatedly in the red zone even if it is first and goal from the 9; a guy who will make sure he fights forward for the extra inches on third and short; a guy who will grind out first downs to run out the clock in the fourth quarter. Since Mike Anderson left, we have not had that guy. I am willing to give Travis Henry a mulligan since he was banged up last year, but if he doesn’t step up this year then someone else on the team needs to (Torain or Hills?)

Is this the one you were talking about?

I’m headed out to Katmai in June for two weeks. Want some bear pics? (not as close as yr avatar!)