Day 2 of QB Camp came and went, and judging by most of the articles written by the MSM it appears Rod Smith was the major story. It is kind of funny to me, how you can tell who and what reporters are given access to by all the similar articles that are written for the next day.
Here are some links to some of the pieces --
Lee Rasizer of the Rocky Mountain News describes the pain Rod Smith has been dealing with for the past three seasons.
Tom Kensler of the Denver Post tells us Rod Smith is preparing to be a major force in 2007, or he'll simply walk away.
Andrew Mason also took good notes for his BLOG
Photo Courtesy to Andrew Mason's Blog
Smith has been a true warrior for the Broncos and one of the great success stories. If you take a look at his career stats, Rod Smith is damn close to the promised land of Canton, OH --
There is no doubt that Smith is close. He may have enough already. My opinion is he needs a little more. If Smith can stay healthy, and say, average 75 catches and 800 yards for the next two seasons, he'd be right at 1000 catches and 13000 yards. Doing so would place Smith well inside the Top-10 ALL-TIME in both categories, and very close to the Top-5. That would be enough. I am not saying he isn't worthy of the Hall right now, especially considering the fact he was an undrafted free agent, but if you want to be "sure" those numbers would be enough.
If anyone can come back from the type of injury and surgery Rod is trying to come back form it's Rod. But in my attempt to NOT look at things through Bronco colored glasses I have to be realistic. Even Rod talks about the prospects of him not being able to make it back to the level he expects to play at.
"My thing is to make plays. I realized how much it limited me after I looked back at it. It was putting way too much strain on my body to make the routine plays I was used to making. I'll be a lot smarter about my decision to go back on the football field. If I can't be productive - they don't have to fire me. I'm going to leave, on my own, I'll be happy with it either way. But I honestly think I can get back to my 2005 form (85 catches, six TDs), not 2006 (52 catches, three TDs)."
No matter what, Rod Smith has been a class act, and one of the best Broncos ever, on and off the field. Nothing that happens here on out will ever change that...