DeMarcus Ware's leadership helped rookie Heuerman During injury

DeMarcus Ware's impact on the field since he arrived in Denver is obvious. But, Ware's other invaluable contribution has been in building relationships with his teammates and his leadership in the locker room.

It has been well documented the impact Ware has had on Von Miller and the relationship that those two share. Ware is probably one of the biggest reasons we're talking about making Von the highest paid defensive player and not him being suspended for a year for substance abuse.

We've also covered how Ware has recently taken Demaryius Thomas under his wing. Additionally, Ware was one of the captains to give a speech before the Super Bowl, along with Peyton Manning. Teammates and coaches point to those speeches as the point at which they felt pretty confident they would win the Super Bowl, based on the players' reactions to the heartfelt words from Manning and Ware.

But Ware did something else during Super Bowl week. Troy Renck wrote an article about tight end Jeff Heuerman and his recovery from his ACL injury he suffered one week after he was drafted. In it, Heuerman talks about how he was very down and discouraged during the Super Bowl week because he was healthy at that point but could not contribute due to being on injured reserve.

"At the Super Bowl, it kind of hit me hard. I was down. And DeMarcus lifted me up. He said, 'You need to look at this week like you are the starting tight end because you may never get back,'" Heuerman recalled. "It was obviously his first time in the game, and he wasn't taking anything for granted. From that moment, I was able to embrace the experience and enjoy it."

Gary Kubiak has expressed they are expecting great things from Heuerman, and John Elway echoed those sentiments as well.

He should be healthy and ready to contribute in a big way this year, and it seems like he will have a great attitude and the right frame of mind, thanks to Ware.