Now I know coming on to a Denver Broncos Blog and Asking if Thee, Rod Smith should be in the Hall of Fame is like asking someone if they wanted a free car...Of Course. Let me preface this by saying Rod Smith is one of my 5 Favorite players in NFL history and sometimes my thoughts get clouded on players who are etched into that List. I bring this topic up because there's been some talk about Rod and the Hall lately, spurned on after Rod was elected to the Broncos Ring of Honor. A Yahoo contributing writer recently wrote an article saying that "Rod Smith has NO chance at the NFL Hall of fame" My first thought was...NO Chance, huh? I was shocked to be honest. I'm a Huge stat guy, I love em. Numbers Never Lie, They don't always tell the whole story but they never Lie. So lets take a look at some:

Rod Smith---183 Games.....849 Rec....11389Yds....13.4Y/R...68TD's (3 Time Pro Bowler/2Time All Pro...2 Super Bowl Rings)

John Stallworth-- 165 Games..537 Rec...8723Yds....16.2 Y/R...63TD's (4 Time Pro Bowler/ 1Time All Pro...4 Super Bowl Rings) HOF

Michael Irvin----- 159 Games.....750Rec.....11904Yds...15.9Y/R....65TD's (5 Time Pro Bowler/ 2 Time All Pro...3 Super Bowl Rings) HOF

Charlie Joiner-----239 Games.....750Rec.....12146 Yds....16.2Y/R...65TD"s (3 Time Pro Bowler/ 1 Time All Pro...0 Super Bowl Appearances) HOF

Lynn Swann------115 Games.......336 Rec......5462 Yds......16.3Y/R....51 TD's (3 Time Pro Bowler/ 1 Time All Pro...4 Super Bowl Rings) HOF

Being a Numbers guy I'm looking at these and Rod Smith looks pretty dang good in comparison. The Hall of Fame is a tricky thing, Sometimes Super Bowls mean everything (Stallworth/Swann) sometimes they mean nothing (Joiner). If it were all about stats wouldn't Cris Carter be in by now? My point is I think Rod Smith would fit right in with his peers in the Hall of Fame and I'm not just saying that as a Bronco fan but as a Football fan. He played the game the way it should be played and it's nice when players like that are reward. Rod Smith...Hall of Famer.

------ @ShakeNBake33

Short and sweet people.... short and sweet. This is my attempt at a guess who the final 53 will be, including the Practice Squad. As it stands now, we need to figure something out with Ty Warren (c'mon big fella... you're enough of a vet to know you have to earn your keep).... and we HAVE to make Matt "the Clutch Cannon" Prater happy. I couldn't picture our Broncs without him. Anyways.... after the jump is my guess at the 53 man roster. If you can't already tell... this is one of the slowest times in the Bronco year.... so, why not?

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why 3 u ask because things change and i have not got my hands on any Preseason mags yet part 2 mid-july Part 3 late Aug after the SF preseason game
AFC East 1 NE 2 BUFF 3 NYJ 4 MIA proj Records later in mid july AFC North 1 Pitt 2 Ciny 3 Balt 4 Cle Afc South 1 Hou 2 Tenn 3 Jac 4 Indy Afc West 1 Den 2 Kc 3 SD 4 Oak AFC Playoffs NE 1 SEED Den 2 SEED Pitt 3 SEED Hou 4 Seed Ciny 5 SEED Balt 6 Seed Wild Card Pitt over Balt Ciny over Hou Div round DEN Over pitt NE Over Ciny AFC Champ game NE over Den NFC East 1 Nyg 2 Dal 3 Wash 4 Philly NFC North 1 GB 2 Det 3 CHI 4 minn Nfc South 1 Car 2 ATL 3 NO 4 TB NFC West 1 SF 2 SEA 3 STL 4 ZONA

NFC Playoffs 1 SF 2 GB 3 NYG 4 CAR 5 DET 6 DAL NFC Wild Card NYG Over DAL DET Over Car Div round GB OVER NYG SF OVER DET NFC Champ game SF OVER GB SB 46 SF 24 NE 21 POWER POLL 1-32 1 SF 2 GB 3 NYG 4 NE 5 DEN 6 PITT 7 DET 8 HOU 9 CINY 10 BALT 11 CAR 12 DAL 13 ATL 14 BUFF 15 TENN 16 CHI 17 NO 18 KC 19 SD 20 SEA 21 NYJ 22 WASH 23 PHILLY 24 STL 25 JAX 26 TB 27 ZONA 28 CLE 29 MIA 30 MINN 31 INDY 32 OAK

"If you made a plan B, you planned to fail." "Why did you need a plan B? All that should have been included in plan A". "If everything is included in plan A, why not just call it 'The Master Plan?'" I think that is what John meant when he said there was no plan B! They have a master plan!

A lot of talk has been flying around about the "doubts" as to whether Peyton Manning can stay healthy, whether or not one hit will re-injure his neck and put him out for the season.

I had read a lot of what the physicians involved, and others, had said about that issue, but I had misunderstood a few things. My main misunderstanding was why he had stem cell therapy done.

I have now done a great deal more research into the matter, and found out that the therapy was to help his damaged nerves to regenerate. I had erroneously believed that it was the bones that were the concern. Take a look at the typical problem below.

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Then head on over to Mocking the Draft and sign up. The NFL season is over three months from starting anyway, so I thought this would be a good/fun way to kill some time. If you're interested, sign up. There are still five spots available. Okay, technically there are six, but I'll be taking the last spot that's not taken by all the other competitors, so it's really five. Here's the link if you're interested:


All-Time NFL Mock Draft

3 X 80 = ???

No it does not equal 240 in Bronco land.

A little over a year ago MHR did an article on "Denver Broncos Greats ... By The Numbers". Brian Shrout did a really great piece on those Broncos that wore the #80 jersey. There were three excellent players who stood out in that article and while living in Denver, so many years ago, I had the good fortune to watch all three of those players live and in action in Denver.

The first was Rick Upchurch (75 - 83), next was Mark Jackson of the "Three Amigos" fame (86 - 94) and of course Rod Smith who took the # 80 to new heights. Take a minute to refresh your memories by looking over Brian's article at:

http://www.milehighreport.com/2011/6/21/2232431/denver-broncos-greats-by-the-numbers-80

Go Broncos!

Welcome to the maelstrom that only the glorious sport of football could ever dream to produce. The horse gallops on the ferocious waves, and the vortex below is ever threatening. There is no plan B. Either the horse stays afloat or it falls victim to the turmoil. Victory is the only method of survival. And at this moment, that horse is looking as strong as ever.

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So I have heard that with the new defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio, there should be no major changes in the look of the defense. Fox had talked earlier though about the need for some changes after last season. And that there were going to be changes even if Dennis Allen was still the DC. So my ? for anyone willing to answer is, what do you expect out of the defense scheme wise. I can t say I really know what the scheme was last year with Dennis Allen. So what did they run primarily last year and what do you expect this year?

I honestly have a few concerns that I hope are not legitimate. From what I hear about Del Rio I see a lot of similarities in the style and defense that was run for years in Indy with the 4-3 Tampa-2. They favored speed over size, and a conservative bend dont break mentality. And I read a little from the HoosierTeacher archives that Metalman so kindly made available. It put into words some of the reasons why I dont really like the scheme in a some situations. One thing he pointed out was that the defense was designed against the West Coast Offense and very effectively counteracted it. But he did mention how teams can exploit it with, among a few other things, good tight ends. The things he mentioned were exactly what the Patriots strengths are on offense. The Patriots really expoited the Colts defense. The Bears run the same scheme with better players, but The Pats ate them alive two years ago in Chicago. Teams that man up against them and find ways to get pressure cause them the most trouble... I also dont like the defense with Peyton Manning as the QB. Why? Well What do teams want to do when they are playing Manning or another good qb? They want to keep it out of his hands. The Tampa 2 seems to play into teams gameplan, as they can be patient. If they effectively run the ball, and have a solid qb who can find the holes of the zone, they can milk clock and keep the ball out of Peytons hands.. I think with a more aggressive mentality, you may get burned sometimes, but you will also make plays. And Manning will get the ball more. I would much rather Brady throw an 80 yard pass to Welker, then methodically take a 14 play drive and tons of time off the clock, with the same resulting touchdown....

I just dont want the Broncos D to be too similar to the Colts D. When I look at the players that were drafted this year, and some of the players on the roster, it seems like the Broncos favor speed over size. For example, They passed on a big LB, Alabama's Hightower and traded back to get a smaller sized DT, but faster more energized Derek Wolfe. That in itself could a good move. But again my concern is that as a whole the defense will be simliar to the Colts of the last decade. They get a bunch of defenders who are undersized. They are fast to the football, but can get outmuscled by bigger, more physical teams.

As far as strength in personnel, there are similarities. The Colts had some good pash rushers like the Broncos do. They had Freeney and Mathis; Broncos have Dumervil and Miller. The Colts had Bob Sanders in there secondary(when he was rarely healthy) the Broncos have Champ Bailey.

With all of that being said, I am optimistic that this defense will be better. The Broncos seemed to switch things up last year from game to game. The Colts never changed there defense, and rarely did they blitz and get aggressive. I think that the Broncos have some versatile guys that they can use in different ways. And overall, they seem to have more quality players than the Colts really did.

Thanks for letting me yap a little, and any thoughts and insight on what the defense will look like would be appreciated!

Hello folks, hope everyone had a great weekend! I was contacted the other day by one of my former students who asked me for some help, and I figured since we're a football loving community---that you guys may be able to help as well. Let me get right to the point.

My student was selected to take part in this years Down Under Bowl in Austrailia. He was one of only eight students to be selected from the state of Arizona to participate. Basically the program gives high school students the opportunity to go down under to participate in a football camp with other students selected nationally and internationally, and at the end of the practices, they play a couple of games to determine the champions. Here is a quote taken directly from the website:

The Down Under Bowl was inaugurated in 1989 and was established to promote gridiron to the people of New Zealand and Australia. Prior standouts of the Down Under Bowl include Jake "The Snake" Plummer - former quarterback for the Denver Broncos, Ahman Green - running back for the Green Bay Packers, and Rob Morris - 2007 Super Bowl Champ with the Indianapolis Colts. Many top universities have Down Under Bowl alumni.

The Down Under Bowl is in its 23rd year of competition with teams from the United States, Australia, and New Zealand invited to participate. Teams are divided into brackets of four, with each team playing in two games. Games are played according to High School Federation Rules. Game time consists of four 12-minute quarters, with a minute between quarters. Half time is 15 minutes. Officials are from the United States and Australia.

Here is also a link to the website as well: Down Under Sports

Fernando Herrera

If anyone deserves a chance to experience something like this---which is a once in a lifetime opportunity--- it's "Dino". I was a teacher in the small town of Patagonia, AZ from 2008-2011. It is a very small community, Bradfather can attest because I think he did some missionary work in this region back when. The town itself spans the distance of mile marker 22 to mile marker 18 on Highway 82.

Dino was one of the students I had the privilege of teaching during that time. He is the epitome of hard work and high character. I got to know Dino really well during the course of two classes. The first was a weightlifting class I was asked to teach. It was here that I learned of Dino's love for football. Every class we would talk about the NFL and the past weekends games. It also became common for us to engage in friendly smack talk as Dino is a Bears fan (this was around the time of the Cutler trade). Strength and lifting is one thing, but you can learn a lot about a student from the way they deal with adversity in a real class setting.

The following year, one of the classes I monitored was a study hall that Dino was in. He came to me early on and was struggling with Algebra. So day after day we worked at it. And I started to get him to think about it in terms of football and use stats in a way to explain the numbers and relationships. I was so proud of the way he came through the process, it's one thing to have courage and a positive attitude when things are good, it's another to have these things when you're struggling, and I really think that is Dino's best quality.

Dino's a worker, he's a person you can count on to be straight with you, he's someone you can count on to be there for his teammates and friends.

I vouch for him, and can promise that he would make the most out of this opportunity if given a chance. I also know that where he comes from, the world is a very small place and that this truly is a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience something beyond the confines of Patagonia.

So how can you help?

Well folks, as with most things in life, there is a price. Even though my student was selected, he still has to pony up the majority of the funds to be able to attend, and as you can imagine it is expensive. Folks from this town have been helping with small donations here and there. Dino's grandmother has even been setting aside $300-$400 a month for several months to help him out. Dino has been working odd jobs on weekends and doing fundraising car washes during the week to help raise funds. At this point, he is about $4000 short of what he needs to make the trip.

So I'm asking my MHR friends to pitch in if you can. Anything helps---whether it be $10-$20. You can send the checks directly to the school (made out to Fernando Herrera). Here is the address:

Thelma Valenzuela (she is the schools' athletic director)

Patagonia Public Schools

P.O. Box 254

200 Naugle Avenue

Patagonia, Arizona 85624

You can also give Thelma a call for more details if you would like: Phone: 520-394-3004

Hey, I'm thankful for anything you guys can do to help this young man out. I don't ever do this, but please rec so it goes to the top, and please tweet this out so we can get this information out. Thanks for your time and if you have any questions, just post them in the comments.

Is Nuts. Too nuts really. Champ Bailey, Tracy Porter, Chris Harris, Tony Carter, Omar Bolden(Rook), Drayton Florence, Cassius Vaughn, Syd'Quan Thompson and Josh Moore. Their stacked. But that begs the question...Who starts and who gets cut because they can't keep all these guys, there's too many. Bailey starts with probably Tracy Porter. Now after that who know how they work these guys into the lineup. They must be planning on a ton of nickel sets this season and a few cuts. Chris Harris is gonna be on the MaxSports show on KaoticRadio.com from at 8pm Eastern tomorrow so maybe we'll get little insight into what's its like being stuck in this competition

SNB