Super Bowl 2014 Six Pack: Denver Broncos haunted by 2009 trade with Seattle Seahawks

On Tuesday, the NFL announced the officials for Super Bowl XLVIII. The game between the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks will be refereed by Terry McAulay, who worked two Denver games this season.

McAulay was on hand when the Broncos knocked off the Dallas Cowboys on the road in Week 5 and again when they defeated the Kansas City Chiefs on the road in Week 11. He has been an NFL official for sixteen seasons.

Now, for today's Six-Pack...

1. Oh, Joshy.

Believe it or not, Josh McDaniels did some good things while in Denver. He drafted players including Knowshon Moreno, Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, and Zane Beadles and even defeated the New England Patriots in 2009. Everything that McDaniels did right, however, seems to be overshadowed by things he did wrong.

Exhibit A: During the 2009 NFL Draft, the Broncos were holding a pair of second round draft picks after selecting Moreno and defensive end Robert Ayers in the first round. When the Seahawks came on the clock with the 37th overall selection, Denver traded up to Seattle's spot.

Amazingly, Denver opted to not trade either of their second round picks to trade up and instead traded their 2010 first round selection and used the 37th pick to draft cornerback Alphonso Smith. One year later, Denver traded Smith to the Detroit Lions for tight end Dan Gronkowski (he was released one year later).

Gronkowski has been out of the NFL since 2009 and Smith hasn't played since the 2012 season. The first round pick that Seattle acquired from Denver, however, has made the Pro Bowl in each of the past three seasons—Earl Thomas.

That trade is one that will haunt Denver for years to come.

2. Broncos will arrive in New York on Sunday.

The Broncos will arrive at Newark Liberty International Airport at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday evening. The Seahawks will fly into the same airport at 7:00 p.m. ET.

This week, the team will practice on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

3. People are still talking about Wes Welker.

Last week, New England head coach Bill Belichick stated that Welker deliberately targeted cornerback Aqib Talib in the AFC Championship game. One of Talib's teammates, Andre Carter, seems to agree.

"It looked like it was intentional, but the NFL will review it and, hopefully, Talib will just heal and get ready for the following season," Carter said, via ProFootballTalk.com.

Thankfully, Talib suffered "no structural damage" to his knee on the play and was simply banged up.

Still, Broncos coach John Fox doesn't like seeing accusations thrown at Welker.

"I haven't seen the tape, I haven't seen his comments," Fox said, per ESPN, "(but) I know that Wes Welker is a great player, high integrity. We were not doing anything with intent."

4. Thanks, Indianapolis.

5. Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

It may not snow on February 2nd, but the elements have been in full swing this week.

The NFL has been clearing snow from MetLife Stadium this week and went ahead and ordered a boatload of hand-warmers for the fans and media attending the game.

6. John Elway knows what it takes to win.

The Broncos are about to play in the Super Bowl and Elway is scouting players for the upcoming NFL Draft. That epitomizes the attitude Elway has established since arriving in Denver. To achieve excellence, you must work for it. Denver's front office is doing it right.

Speaking of the Senior Bowl, Dan Kadar has his Day 2 Senior Bowl practice report here, along with a feature on Derek Carr. Additionally, Cincy Jungle has a multitude of Senior Bowl links here.

Extra Points

Some folks in Denver weren't overly impressed by Richard Sherman's post-game interview last week:

Speaking of Sherman, Denver has the perfect response:

(DrewLitton.com)

Denver's Super Bowl patches are beautiful:

That's all we have for today, folks! Did we miss something notable? Share it in the comments below or shoot me an email so it can be included in tomorrow's Six-Pack!