First off, I'm back.  After taking a much-needed vacation, it feels great to be back at the helm here at MHR Headquarters.  My thanks to Styg, HoosierTeacher, Zappa, MDierk, and most importantly ALL OF YOU for keeping things moving in my absence.  It goes to show that the community here is second to none.

With that aside, I couldn't help but use my first post back to bring some positivity to both the site and the world of being a fan of the National Football League.  There's an old saying in journalism - "If it bleeds, it reads".  How true.  So much of our time each day is spent talking, reading and writing about negativity, especially in the world of the NFL.  What gets overlooked are the dozens of positive acts done by NFL players each and every day.  These acts are done selflessly, most often without a desire for the publicity they truly deserve.

The Broncos backing of the Darrent Williams Teen Center is a prime example of this, with dozens of players attending the opening ceremonies last month.  We all value our time off and NFL players are no different.  It makes me proud to be a fan of not only the Broncos, but the entire NFL when we hear or see stories such as this or the two I am going to feature below.  While neither of the players involved are Broncos, a positive story is a positive story and it matters not what colors the player may wear on Sunday when they are doing great things on the days in-between.

The first story is about Tony Gonzalez.  I am sure you have all heard the story by now.  Gonzalez was in a SoCal restaurant with his wife and young son when a man at the table next to him began to choke.  With other patrons in the restaurant watching in disbelief, Gonzalez knew he had to jump into action --

"She was screaming, 'He can't breathe, he can't breathe,'" Gonzalez said by phone from California, where he lives in the offseason. "The whole restaurant was quiet. Nobody was doing anything.

"Then I saw he was turning blue. Everybody in the restaurant was just kind of sitting there wide-eyed."

The 6-foot-5 Gonzalez, about a foot taller than Hunter, jumped out of his chair and came up behind the stricken man and began to perform the Heimlich maneuver.

"After just a few seconds, the piece of meat popped out," Hunter said. "I could breathe again. It's a good thing Tony is so tall because I had stood up -- I think."

Diana Martin, a restaurant employee, said no one else seemed to know what to do.

"He was so lucky Tony was there," Martin said. "In a situation like that, every second counts. It helped a lot that Tony's a big, strong guy because you have to be able to apply some pretty good pressure. I don't think I would have been strong enough to help him."

"She was screaming, 'He can't breathe, he can't breathe,'" Gonzalez said by phone from California, where he lives in the offseason. "The whole restaurant was quiet. Nobody was doing anything.

"Then I saw he was turning blue. Everybody in the restaurant was just kind of sitting there wide-eyed."

The 6-foot-5 Gonzalez, about a foot taller than Hunter, jumped out of his chair and came up behind the stricken man and began to perform the Heimlich maneuver.

"After just a few seconds, the piece of meat popped out," Hunter said. "I could breathe again. It's a good thing Tony is so tall because I had stood up -- I think."

Diana Martin, a restaurant employee, said no one else seemed to know what to do.

"He was so lucky Tony was there," Martin said. "In a situation like that, every second counts. It helped a lot that Tony's a big, strong guy because you have to be able to apply some pretty good pressure. I don't think I would have been strong enough to help him."

Hunter went into the restroom to clean up and didn't realize he'd been saved by a famous athlete until he came out.

The story goes on to say that Gonzalez had no intention of the story going public.  It didn't take long for Tony to realize that was all but impossible -

"The next night I had a dinner for my grandmother's 90th birthday, and people were saying, 'Why didn't you tell me about that?' I honestly don't want to make a big deal out of it. But of course it does give me a lot of satisfaction to know that I was able to help somebody."

It today's litigation age, it is good to know that when it comes down to it, people will still jump into action without fear of what could happen.  A MHR hat-tip to Tony Gonzelez.

The second story that I felt needed a bit more spotlight was part of ESPN's My Wish series.  I have been highly critical about ESPN in the past, and I feel all of it was well-deserved.  The My Wish program, however, might be the best thing they do.  For a week each summer they profile one child that is involved in the Make-a-Wish foundation, and chronicle that child's wish that comes true.  Athletes from all sports have given their time.  One story last week involved an NFL player, one that I personally not a big fan of.  Ben Roethlisberger and all of the Pittsburgh Steelers, a classy organization from Mr. Rooney on down, needs to be applauded for making the dreams of one young fan come true.

These two stories are just a small sampling of what NFL players are doing every day to help people in need.  Sadly, these stories often get overlooked because they don't sell papers or drive ratings.  As fans, however, fans with the passion we all have for the Broncos and NFL football, it is important to take some time and remember that while stories involving guys getting arrested for beating up their girlfriends are important, they pale in comparison to the stories of guys giving of themselves for the benefit of others.  For that reason I am proud to be a fan of the Broncos and of NFL football, the greatest sport in the world.

It feels great to be back!