The All-Decade "I Wish We Had Them Back" Team
by improv88 on Mar 19, 2010 11:17 AM MDT
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PrintAs a relief from the off-season speculation - in particular the arrival of Brady Quinn - and in homage to the departure of fan-favorite Peyton Hillis, I want to look back over the last ten years at the players the Broncos have either traded away, cut or allowed to leave via free agency. The question is simple: Who do you wish had never been allowed to leave, or wish the Broncos had fought (or paid) to keep around?
I'll leave a couple of the really obvious ones open to comment from other people, but two of mine would be Bertrand Berry and Tony Jones. Berry seemed to fall into the Broncos pattern in the first half of the decade of "Get double-digit sacks, don't get resigned" - a mentality I still scratch my head at. Jones may have been on the decline, but was released with very little class. I feel he could have made a significant impact on the next two or three seasons.
So who is your nostalgic soft spot?
This is a Fan-Created Comment on MileHighReport.com. The opinion here is not necessarily shared by the editorial staff of MHR
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he's just one of the Shanny let goes who has me scratching my head.
And now that Shanny is in one of the toughest divisions in the league, it will be interesting to see how he does with the Skins.
by bfree2bronc on Mar 19, 2010 12:02 PM MDT up reply actions
dont hate!!!
just cause shanny is not here doesnt mean you can question his greatness…when Shanahan came to the broncos the AFC west was one of the toughest divisions in the league! barnone!!!! he didnt leave he got fired,, shanny is going to do just fine over there
by EnoreBmunSyawle on Mar 19, 2010 12:06 PM MDT up reply actions
I love Shanny...
But he made a lot of questionable personnel decisions over the last years of his tenure.
if you exclude the second season for Pryce in Baltimore
Where he was injured and only played in 5 games. In the other 3 seasons since he left, he has averages of: 35 tackles, and 8 sacks a season playing as a 3-4 end.
Say what you want about Shanahan and his greatness, and whatever else….. but letting Pryce go in 2006 clearly turned out to be a bit of a mistake.
yeah I wondered why he wasn't first on that list...
Because Montana has no professional sports, I gotta support the land of my birth.
Socrates was once executed for 'trolling'.
^Needs explaining: don't call someone asking uncomfortable, slightly antagonistic questions trolls. In all odds they probably just want to learn. It's real easy to differentiate a 'Socratic' post from a trolling one (unless you're a resident of WCG).
^Needs further explaining: I have yet to post anything on WCG, don't worry, I'm not trying to rationalize anything I've done. I've just lurked over there and man, they are the model of post-peloponnesian war Athens.
X2
Trevor was my first thought, along with Bertrand. I think Trevor was a cap casualty IIRC?
Whenever they get a new CBA in place they REALLY need a rookie cap. Paying 1st rounders the kind of guaranteed money they do for dudes who’ve never played a down in the NFL is obscene, and in the context of releasing proven veterans as cap casualties makes it all the more urgent.
In reading the comments blow, I certainly agree that letting Foxy go was a mistake (IMHO), and he was a real upstanding dude and a heck of a football player.
And I always loved the Snake. I don’t know if people realize how much we lost when Kubs got his own team. He spent the entire offseason with Jake making him a much better football player and QB in ’05. The woulda coulda shouldas…What might have happened in ’06 if Kubs had stayed.
Jeff Zepp, Kittredge CO USA
by Rzeppa on Mar 19, 2010 6:27 PM MDT up reply actions 1 recs
+1
Our big slide started when Kubiak left. In addition to getting the most out of the Snake, I wonder if he kept Shanahan grounded somewhat? I like Coach McD, but I always hoped Kubes would take over from Shanny when the time came.
I know this post was about players we let go, but you’ve inspired me. I’m adding Kubiak to the list!
- Nick
"Know the enemy, know yourself, and victory is never in doubt, not in a hundred battles."
- Sun Tzu
JAKE PLUMMER
(Fire away, I’m sure I’ll take some heat for that one)
Mike Anderson
- For me, the most talented back we’ve had since TD. That rookie year was breathtaking.
Domenik Hixon
- Still hurts to watch him have big return days. Maybe he needed the move for his mental well-being though?
Peyton Hillis!
- If Quinn realizes his potential, maybe I won’t mind so much.
This post has me so excited. I’m sure I’ll be back with names a hundred times today. Thanks improv! This is a great idea!
- Nick
"Know the enemy, know yourself, and victory is never in doubt, not in a hundred battles."
- Sun Tzu
i agree with all but
we are going to have to get over the Hillis deal,, we have Moreno… the other guys we didnt have a legitimate reason to lose them or a proven back-up
by EnoreBmunSyawle on Mar 19, 2010 12:01 PM MDT up reply actions
Haven't we learned you can never have too many able-bodied backup RBs.
- Nick
"Know the enemy, know yourself, and victory is never in doubt, not in a hundred battles."
- Sun Tzu
And the whole point of this post is not to re-hash the Hillis Civil War
But simply to let fans list who they “wish” was still playing for us, if I’m reading it right. I wish I could see Hillis get the ball 20 times a game, just my personal feeling is all….
- Nick
"Know the enemy, know yourself, and victory is never in doubt, not in a hundred battles."
- Sun Tzu
Sorry, replying while on the phone can make the tone sound bad.
I do get your point, and agree mostly. While the H-train was never going to see the field anyway, the other guys didn’t have anyone PROVEN waiting to take their spots. It is an excellent point….
- Nick
"Know the enemy, know yourself, and victory is never in doubt, not in a hundred battles."
- Sun Tzu
I remember back in 07
I was watching the Giants/Pats game at the end of the regular season and Hixon returned a kickoff for a touchdown and thinking “We cut this guy because he couldn’t return kicks?”
by Broncoman27 on Mar 19, 2010 12:31 PM MDT up reply actions
To be fair
we cut him because he wasn’t returning kick, not cause he lacked the ability. The dude needed a change of scenery in the worst way, and I was always glad that he didn’t fizzle and burn out like Walker. It helps that he didn’t go the raiders to try and get right…
There's a big hard sun, beating on the big people, in the big hard world.
formerly Styg-like
by Jeremy Bolander on Mar 19, 2010 12:33 PM MDT up reply actions
That does always help
And maybe something just clicked in his mind once he got cut.
by Broncoman27 on Mar 19, 2010 12:37 PM MDT up reply actions
Yup.
The Kevin Everett incident had a pretty profound impact on Hixon. I’m glad to see him getting past it, but I wish it could’ve happened here…
- Nick
"Know the enemy, know yourself, and victory is never in doubt, not in a hundred battles."
- Sun Tzu
I'm with you all the way on Plummer.
honestly, I’m not quite over him being benched mid season. The defense was still viable, a good solid run towards the playoffs… ok I’m going to just leave it there.
I'm glad we had this talk. -- TJ Johnson
by BroncoInExile on Mar 19, 2010 12:52 PM MDT up reply actions
We are COMPLETELY on the same page...
- Nick
"Know the enemy, know yourself, and victory is never in doubt, not in a hundred battles."
- Sun Tzu
with ya on Plummer...
but Mike was more injury plagued than TD after Davis made that ill-fated attempt to try out for linebacker. Dude still has the record for longest gap between his first 1000-yard season and his second one.
Wow that really makes me realize how long it’s been since Shanny could draft. Dude cemented his legacy with that TD pick and the subsequent Anderson, Gary (kinda), Droughns (kinda), and Portis picks. Bust since then….well, looks like he stopped buttering his bread.
Because Montana has no professional sports, I gotta support the land of my birth.
Socrates was once executed for 'trolling'.
^Needs explaining: don't call someone asking uncomfortable, slightly antagonistic questions trolls. In all odds they probably just want to learn. It's real easy to differentiate a 'Socratic' post from a trolling one (unless you're a resident of WCG).
^Needs further explaining: I have yet to post anything on WCG, don't worry, I'm not trying to rationalize anything I've done. I've just lurked over there and man, they are the model of post-peloponnesian war Athens.
This is actually a great post...
If handled correctly, which it has been so far – kudos to improv!
All of the above are excellent, though Mike Anderson had some issues that I think the Broncos were aware of.
Reggie Hayward would be another on the list of Defensive Lineman, as well as, and this might be a bit of a surprise, Gerard Warren. Was he ever deserving of the #3 pick in the Draft? No, but he was a big body on a team that had no big bodies….
-TSG
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Re: Mike Anderson
I’ve always wondered about that. Was it “just” the love for marijuana, or was there something more?
- Nick
"Know the enemy, know yourself, and victory is never in doubt, not in a hundred battles."
- Sun Tzu
I was waiting to see how long it would take for Hayward to show up
Solid against the run and a good pass rusher – where was the problem?!
You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be misquoted and then used against you.
I agree
I think he belonged to the Raiders from the get-go…..but loved having his physicality over here
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
- Thomas Alva Edison
"Success is not a place at which one arrives, but rather... the spirit with which one undertakes and continues the journey."
- Alex Noble
Didn't Tony Jones retire after a year
Guys I wish I had back include Hixon and Mike Bell and Montrea Holland.
"Me fail english, that unpossible" - Ralph Wiggum
"Duffman is thrusting in the direction of the problem" - Duffman
"Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun" - Ash from Army of Darkness
"H.I., you're young and you got your health, what you want with a job?" - Evelle from Raising Arizona
"It happens sometimes. People just explode. Natural causes." - Agent Rogersz from Repoman
Tony Jones (from wikipedia)
Tony Edward Jones (born May 24, 1966 in Royston, Georgia) is a former American football offensive tackle in the National Football League who played from 1988-2000. He started Super Bowl XXXII and Super Bowl XXXIII with the Denver Broncos. He was inducted into the Franklin County Sports Hall of Fame as a charter member on July 17, 1998.
We live in an age when instant gratification isn't fast enough
by Brian Shrout on Mar 19, 2010 3:28 PM MDT up reply actions
That's not a joke for some people, I'm sure.
If Taylor Swift were to try and tackle me, I'd let her.
PS3 ID: broncomaniac6
by Troy Hufford on Mar 19, 2010 12:21 PM MDT up reply actions
Travis Henry? Ashley Lelie? They would fit in with that group. ;)
Although…if I’m being honest….I loved the combo of Plummer, Rod, and Lelie. If only Ashley would have just accepted his role…
- Nick
"Know the enemy, know yourself, and victory is never in doubt, not in a hundred battles."
- Sun Tzu
Travis Henry for sure.
If anything, we could sign a few of his kids to contracts. He’s got like a hundred of them. Odds are good that we’ll hit the jackpot on a few of them.
If Taylor Swift were to try and tackle me, I'd let her.
PS3 ID: broncomaniac6
by Troy Hufford on Mar 19, 2010 12:28 PM MDT up reply actions 1 recs
I would take Walker.....
pre-tragedy & pre-injury. Remember, his first season here he had a very decent year, but then he got hurt and Marshall started coming along.
He was a great contract negotiator...
-Stick to the fight when you are hardest hit - it's when things seem worst that you must not quit!
by BroncoSense72 on Mar 19, 2010 1:07 PM MDT up reply actions
he was excellent during his first year.
it would’ve been great if he had just been a team player… * coughtypical-shanahan-era-acquisition*cough**
by bailey disciple on Mar 19, 2010 1:34 PM MDT up reply actions
He had great hands
a pure catcher in the Chris Carter mold. We aren’t the only ones who missed out on that. All of the NFL would have benefitted from seeing what he could have been on Sundays…
There's a big hard sun, beating on the big people, in the big hard world.
formerly Styg-like
by Jeremy Bolander on Mar 19, 2010 1:58 PM MDT up reply actions
Remember the Steelers game his first year here?
He won that game almost single-handedly. Such a waste of talent…
- Nick
"Know the enemy, know yourself, and victory is never in doubt, not in a hundred battles."
- Sun Tzu
was that the game where he ran the 72-yrd reverse for the TD?
that was a sick play!!!
by bailey disciple on Mar 19, 2010 3:21 PM MDT up reply actions
This is why you're my hero TJ
Because Montana has no professional sports, I gotta support the land of my birth.
Socrates was once executed for 'trolling'.
^Needs explaining: don't call someone asking uncomfortable, slightly antagonistic questions trolls. In all odds they probably just want to learn. It's real easy to differentiate a 'Socratic' post from a trolling one (unless you're a resident of WCG).
^Needs further explaining: I have yet to post anything on WCG, don't worry, I'm not trying to rationalize anything I've done. I've just lurked over there and man, they are the model of post-peloponnesian war Athens.
Jake
though there is no way he and shanny could have continued to work together.
-Patrick Chukwurrah: I think we were on to something here.
-Elam: If he had to go anywhere, ATL works for me, but I wish he had retired that year as a Bronco. That is on him, though.
-Chris Myers: good guy, and Houston is a good place.
-Cooper Carlisle: a freakin’ raider? I get that he was just depth, but he is a starter there now. That just ain’t right.
-Patrick Hape: He was Hillis before we had Hillis. And just like with Hillis, no one else could use him the way that Shanny could…
-Dan Neil: How about this one? Chronically injured and counting against the cap, plus he could retire any day. But when he was cut, it began the PJ Alexander experiment… hardly an upgrade.
-Jed Weaver: probably the best borderline TE that Shanny brought in over the years, he ended up behind Daniel Graham and Ben Watson in NE. When he got injured there he ended up in Detroit or somewhere. Bad timing all around…
memory gets way fuzzy before this….. The DL listed already are really the biggest oversights of the past decade….
There's a big hard sun, beating on the big people, in the big hard world.
formerly Styg-like
by Jeremy Bolander on Mar 19, 2010 12:24 PM MDT reply actions
Chukwurrah wins for the name and the hair
I’d almost forgotten about Weaver entirely – bad timing indeed.
You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be misquoted and then used against you.
Chukwurrah was very good on ST, if i remember correctly.
also a very good pass rusher. how big was he? could he have been a 3-4 OLB?
by bailey disciple on Mar 19, 2010 1:37 PM MDT up reply actions
Have to agree with everyone's picks!
And I would add Nate Jackson and Jeb Putzier (if only cuz you could count on seeing Jeb get blown up at least once a game).
Chukwurrah, fo sho!
- Nick
"Know the enemy, know yourself, and victory is never in doubt, not in a hundred battles."
- Sun Tzu
my list:
Plummer (although the writing was on the wall for him, but he should have been allowed to finish out 2006)
Berry
Pryce
Heyward
Berry, Pryce, Anyone else, and Heyward would have been a force for YEARS on the D line.
by super7 on Mar 19, 2010 12:40 PM MDT reply actions 1 recs
The anyone else
Would probably be Gerard Warren. With him in the middle and Pryce jumping inside and out, Heyward and Berry coming off the edges every play….we’d be dreaming up nicknames for immortality. (Hey, I can dream.)
You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be misquoted and then used against you.
Actually, if those starting DLs had all been retained, the shanahan teams would probably have won a lot more games.
by bailey disciple on Mar 19, 2010 1:38 PM MDT up reply actions 1 recs
EXACTLY
Shanny made the same mistake TWICE with Heyward & Berry.
I don’t want to go through the torture of dredging up all of the the guys we tried to replace Berry, Heyward, and Pryce with.
Just think:
Berry, Warren, Pryce, Heyward
-or
Engleberger, Marcus Thomas, Dewayne Robertson, Ekuban
ughhhhhhhhhh
yeah
a shanahan team with those 4 up front would have been a much better shanahan team.
by bailey disciple on Mar 19, 2010 3:22 PM MDT up reply actions
Shannon Sharpe
I know he came back, but seeing him in a BAL uniform was not right.
I'm glad we had this talk. -- TJ Johnson
Damn...Just beat me out...Good job Exile!
-Stick to the fight when you are hardest hit - it's when things seem worst that you must not quit!
by BroncoSense72 on Mar 19, 2010 1:02 PM MDT up reply actions
Uh...A little love for Shannon Sharpe please...
I know…I know…We got him back, but I never could figure out why we let him get away in the first place!
-Stick to the fight when you are hardest hit - it's when things seem worst that you must not quit!
great minds...
I'm glad we had this talk. -- TJ Johnson
by BroncoInExile on Mar 19, 2010 1:22 PM MDT up reply actions
ummm... all decade? Can we say ELWAY?!?
geesh. I’m like the 50th post or so and I’m the first to mention this? lol
We never let John get awy...Thank God!!!
-Stick to the fight when you are hardest hit - it's when things seem worst that you must not quit!
by BroncoSense72 on Mar 19, 2010 1:29 PM MDT up reply actions
and he retired before the last decade
yup, all of us young buck fans are getting old… :)
There's a big hard sun, beating on the big people, in the big hard world.
formerly Styg-like
by Jeremy Bolander on Mar 19, 2010 2:00 PM MDT up reply actions
Please don't remind me Jeremy...lol
-Stick to the fight when you are hardest hit - it's when things seem worst that you must not quit!
by BroncoSense72 on Mar 19, 2010 2:02 PM MDT up reply actions
I'll sign that
along with Lynch and T Davis.
I think Hillis was liked so much because he was the underdog who reminded us of Davis. I liked Hillis too – good kid – but did not have time to showcase any real spectacular player like some of the other “greats” we’ve had!
I was about to post just that.
If wilson had never been injured, shanahan would still be our HC.
by bailey disciple on Mar 19, 2010 1:39 PM MDT up reply actions
and we would've beat the Steelers in '05
Because Montana has no professional sports, I gotta support the land of my birth.
Socrates was once executed for 'trolling'.
^Needs explaining: don't call someone asking uncomfortable, slightly antagonistic questions trolls. In all odds they probably just want to learn. It's real easy to differentiate a 'Socratic' post from a trolling one (unless you're a resident of WCG).
^Needs further explaining: I have yet to post anything on WCG, don't worry, I'm not trying to rationalize anything I've done. I've just lurked over there and man, they are the model of post-peloponnesian war Athens.
he was healthy for 05, right?
i thought it was ’06 when he had the injury in about week 13-14ish?
by bailey disciple on Mar 19, 2010 3:23 PM MDT up reply actions
The draft has me more bummed
While many of the names mentioned (Sharpe, Hayward, Pryce, etc.) are nice, nobody really bums me out. What bums me out more are the players we let get passed us in the draft. Just looking at the first rounds in the early part of the decade we could have hade Reggie Wayne instead of Willie Middlebrooks, Ed Reed instead of Ashley Lelie and Nnamdi Asomugha instead of George Foster. Some 2nd round misses include Shaun Rogers instead of Paul Toviessi, Anquan Boldin instead of Terry Pierce and Bob Sanders instead of Tatum Bell. I am sure I could go on and on, but it is too depressing seeing all those Super Bowl trophies pass us by…
Bob Sanders would be great,
if you could wrap him in bubble wrap before games.
That rug really tied the room together...
by Streams Of Whiskey on Mar 19, 2010 2:42 PM MDT up reply actions
Haha, so true.
"All by their heads, he places crowns."
"Brandon Marshall isn't as good as you think he is." - a random hobo I met
by Tempestuous Binary on Mar 19, 2010 4:20 PM MDT up reply actions
I wish we still had......
DARRENT WILLIAMS… many reasons why; he was a corner that would takle, could cover, seemed like he was learning the best under Bailey…. is it just me and my memory or was he showing potential to be very good….. And if we still had him… well then… you know RIP!
We are who we knew we were!
by bornorangenblue on Mar 19, 2010 2:41 PM MDT reply actions
RIP
Because Montana has no professional sports, I gotta support the land of my birth.
Socrates was once executed for 'trolling'.
^Needs explaining: don't call someone asking uncomfortable, slightly antagonistic questions trolls. In all odds they probably just want to learn. It's real easy to differentiate a 'Socratic' post from a trolling one (unless you're a resident of WCG).
^Needs further explaining: I have yet to post anything on WCG, don't worry, I'm not trying to rationalize anything I've done. I've just lurked over there and man, they are the model of post-peloponnesian war Athens.
he was really coming on strong the year before he was shot.
we was showing some real promise. it’s a shame it ended the way it did.
by bailey disciple on Mar 19, 2010 3:24 PM MDT up reply actions
R.I.P.
I remember one game where he got an interception, and started shouting at anyone that would hear, “Keeping picking on me! Keep picking on me!”
He was obviously referring to the fact that teams would throw at him constantly (because Bailey was on the other side), and the fact that he responded to that with an INT spoke tons about the sort of player he was (and could have been).
"All by their heads, he places crowns."
"Brandon Marshall isn't as good as you think he is." - a random hobo I met
by Tempestuous Binary on Mar 19, 2010 4:24 PM MDT up reply actions
RIP
All ready
If Taylor Swift were to try and tackle me, I'd let her.
PS3 ID: broncomaniac6
by Troy Hufford on Mar 19, 2010 8:55 PM MDT up reply actions
What about
Hamza Abdullah? I know he got hurt, but we ended up getting stuck with the Three Stooges(Manuel, McCree, and Lowry) at the safety position two years ago. If Lynch could have played one more year, if we would have been able to keep Abdullah, and if Hillis and Torain didn’t get hurt in 08, things would probably be very different around here today.
he was a beast before he got injured
and it seemed like he was loafing when he was coming back. i recall Shanny having to get after him, similar to how he rode Bmarsh in that one training camp.
Before the injury I used to refer to him as HamzaGrrrrr.
After the injury I referred to him as HamzaMehhhh. I don’t think he alsted long with Houston afterwards (if that is indeed where he went… Maybe I am thinking of Nick Ferguson)….
On this topic, and I’m thinking Steve would agree with me here, the safety position as a whole was sorely neglected at the end of Shanny’s tenure. Also his treatment of Atwater speaks to how he looked at safeties in general. Safeties are exceptionally important and good ones are rare. If you go through and look at the list of safeties that came and went from 2006-2009 (including the ones that McD had to cut) it is some sorry stuff. Bandaids when a tourniquet would barely have sufficed…
There's a big hard sun, beating on the big people, in the big hard world.
formerly Styg-like
by Jeremy Bolander on Mar 19, 2010 4:53 PM MDT up reply actions
Which is also why I loved the addition of Dawk early last year.
Huge addition for so many reasons, and symbolic of a defense that was going to start getting the attention it needed….
There's a big hard sun, beating on the big people, in the big hard world.
formerly Styg-like
by Jeremy Bolander on Mar 19, 2010 4:54 PM MDT up reply actions
How about Desmond Clark...
I don’t remember the timing, and I’m thinking mebbe he was traded and might not count, but I thought he had the makings of a dang good TE. I’m getting older and can’t remember everything as is evidenced by steve atwater being the first guy to pop into my head.
I think that
we had to cut him in 2002 because of some injury, and then he went to Miami for a year before he went to Chicago. I agree, though. I thought that he was going to be Shannon’s replacement.
Wesley Duke
Had a chance to be the Bronco version of Antonio Gates until he got hurt in NFL Europe
by frontier on Mar 19, 2010 8:11 PM MDT reply actions 1 recs
Another
TE prospect that we didn’t keep, just like Clark. Injuries KO’ed our plans with both of these guys. Also, speaking of TE’s, does anyone remember when Billy Miller played with us 11 years ago? He came in the same draft as Clark, and he looked promising as well.
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