Tag: Denver Broncos

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Denver Broncos

Jan 25 in Sports History: Elways finally loses the *


In 1998: 11 years to the day they were beaten by the New York Giants, the Denver Broncos won their first Super Bowl with a thrilling 31-24 victory over the Green Bay Packers in San Diego. The win was quarterback John Elway’s first in four tries. Terrell Davis was named Super Bowl XXXII MVP with 157 yards and a record three rushing touchdowns, despite almost leaving the game in the first half with a severe migraine headache. The game was historic not only for Elway’s and Davis’ feats, but it was the first time an AFC team had won the big one in 13 years. It was also the last game that aired on NBC until this season, as CBS took over coverage for the American Conference starting in 1998. Sports Illustrated called it “the greatest Super Bowl ever,” and they were right (at least up to that point) as the game see-sawed back and forth and was not decided until the final minute.

Green Bay, a heavy favorite to repeat as champs, jumped out to a quick lead. Elway, always known to fold like a cheap tent in these situations, rallied the Broncos, and Davis dominated on the ground. Tied at 24 with under two minutes left, the Broncos were near the goal line. Then Packers’ Coach Mike Holmgren made one of the biggest bonehead moves in Super Bowl history. Instead of ordering a goal line stand, he had his defense “stand down” and let Davis score. The Packers were unable to convert a fourth down on the ensuing drive and the Broncos were champs. Just to make sure his hall of fame career was complete and people would forget his previous tank jobs, Elway led the Broncos to another Super Bowl win the following year.

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Denver Broncos

Jan 11 in Sports History: The Drive


In 1987: A hilarious thing happened to the Cleveland Browns on their way to Super Bowl XXI: John Elway. Old Municipal Stadium (that’s the Mistake by the Lake to you and me) was at Armageddon decibels when Brian Brennan hauled in a 48-yard touchdown pass from Bernie Kosar to tale a 20-13 lead over the Denver Broncos with 5:43 to play in the AFC Championship game. When Denver mishandled the kickoff at the two yard line, it didn’t get much quieter. Elway stepped in, however, and marched the Broncos 98 yards, converting three third downs (including a 3rd and 18) and barely escaping Cleveland’s constant pressure. The Drive, as it would forever be known, ended with an Elway bullet that found Mark Jackson in the end zone to tie the score. Still, the Browns felt confident, as they had won three overtime games already that season (including one against the Jets a week earlier in the playoffs). The Broncos won the coin toss though, and the barefooted Rich Karlis booted a 33-yard field goal minutes later for a 23-20 victory that sent the Broncos to Pasadena, the Browns to the front nine and Elway to the Hall of Fame (or at least put him on a fast track). A friend I had from Cleveland swore to me that he was at the game and most of the crowd stuck around and cheered the team for an hour after the game. I never believed him, because if it were me, I would’ve been too busy alternating between pounding alcohol and a cinder block against my skull as to kill the memories. Of course, the laughs doubled the following year…(remember Cleveland, it got better the following year)

In 1998: Ok. It would only be fair to include another Broncos victory in an AFC Championship game that happened on the same day 11 years later. Once again, Elway went on the road and broke the hearts of the home crowd, this time beating the Pittsburgh Steelers 24-21 at Three Rivers Stadium to go to Super Bowl XXXII in San Diego. Elway had help though, this time from Steelers’ quarterback Kordell Stewart, who began showing his true postseason mettle (more like metal in the space where his brain was believed to have occupied) by throwing three interceptions (two in the Broncos end zone) and losing a fumble, and Steelers’ coach Bill Cowher (who kept relying on Stewart instead of a strong Jerome Bettis). Elway was good enough to lead the Broncos to a 10-point halftime lead which Pittsburgh could never recover from. It would be Denver’s fifth Super Bowl appearance.

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NFL General

Around the NFL: Week 13 Recap


1. Rex Grossman stinks: The Bears clinched the division title even though Rex Grossman went 6 for 19 for 34 yards, 0 TDs, and 3 INTs. At one point in the game, Rex’s passer rating was 0.0 and he had as many INTs as he had completions. The fans in Chicago must seriously be worried about their QB situation. The defense and Devin Hester can only bail you out so many times. And Brad Johnson won’t be giftwrapping 4 INTs in the playoffs. From the Chicago Tribune: “I’ve hit a little slump,” Grossman offered, which is kind of what the Titanic said to the iceberg.”

2. “Nobody celebrates like a Grammatica“: Joe Buck and Troy Aikman can make fun of Bill Grammatica all they want but Martin came up clutch against the Giants and the Cowboys now have a stranglehold on the NFC East, where they were previously 1-3. The Giants meanwhile are looking like the Raiders with their personal fouls and false starts at home. By the way, why does Tom Coughlin stare in disbelief after every single play. Yeah, Tom, it happened. Stop acting like some act of God went against your team and just focus on coaching up the next play.

3. Bush’s breakout game: Reggie Bush certainly was impressive in the Saints’ win over the Niners yesterday. He had 3 rushing and 1 receiving TD but let’s not go overboard and give him the rookie of the year award yet. He isn’t even the Rookie of the Saints. That distinction (and offensive ROY) belongs to Marques Colston with 54 catches, 869 yards and 7 TDs. While Bush’s 4 TDs in one game is impressive, Colston has been more of a consitent scoring threat this season and has been very important in Drew Brees’ stellar year and the Saints run to the playoffs.

4. So much for the Dolphins: Remember Joey Harrington’s “Why can’t we win 9 in a row?” statement? Well, Joey, because you threw an interception at the Jaguars’ 8 yard line and then you threw another interception at your own 23 yard line. Any talk of the Dolphins making a run to the playoffs with was squashed in a 24-10 loss to the Jaguars. Instead of being 6-6 and within a game of the wildcard, the Dolphins are 2 games out and behind 5 teams for the 2 wildcard slots. What if Nick Saban had gone with Drew Brees or even Joey Harrington from the get go?

5. We want Jake!: While most people agree that Jay Cutler will be a fine QB eventually, the move by Shanny to bench Plummer isn’t looking as good as Parcell’s decision to bench Bledsoe. Other than the 71 yard TD pass towards the end of the game, Cutler was completely underwhelming in his debut. The only lengthy drive that he steered was in the second quarter but that TD drive was mostly a result of a Tatum Bell 31 yard run and a 15 yard personal foul on the Seahawks. (Cutler did throw a nice ball to Stephan Alexander for the TD.) The road doesn’t get any easier as the Broncos head to San Diego next week. However, the rest of the season does include two games against JV secondaries (Arizona and SF) where Cutler can get tuned up for the playoffs.

6. BORRRRRRRRRING!: Finally, ESPN gets hosed again with another Monday Night matchup that shouldn’t be interesting to anyone not in Carolina or Philly. While NBC has been getting great games on the Sunday night broadcast, we’ve had to sit through such coma inducing games on MNF like Chargers @ Raiders, Packers @ Eagles, Patriots @ Vikings, Raiders (again?) @ Seattle, Bucs @ Panthers, and Seahawks @ Packers (again?). Why exactly were the Packers on MNF twice this season? Oh right, Theisman and Kornheiser made sure their contracts included ample opportunity to knob Brett Favre.

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New York Yankees

Oct 31 in Sports History: Byung-Hyun Kim Part I


In 2001: The Yankees gave a still-grieving New York something to cheer about in Game 4 of the World Series. Trailing in the series two games to one and 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, Tino Martinez forced extra innings with a two-run shot off Arizona Diamondbacks’ reliever Byung-Hyun Kim. The game went beyond midnight and beyond October, where Derek Jeter’s solo homerun in the bottom of the 11th inning tied the series for the Yanks and earned him the nickname “Mr. November.” If New York, Arizona and the rest of the country who bothered to stay up that late thought they saw an unbelievable, once-in-a-lifetime comeback, they had no idea what was in store the following night.
(…to be continued)

In 1988: The Hoosier Dome hosted the first-ever Monday Night game in Indianapolis between the Colts and the Broncos. In a strange, Halloween-charged atmosphere, the Colts raced out to a 45-10 halftime en route to a Monday Night record 55 points in the 55-23 victory. Eric Dickerson ran for 159 yards and tied another Monday Night record with four touchdowns while John Elway and the defending AFC champion Broncos turned the ball over six times.

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Boston Red Sox

Oct 25 in Sports History: Bill Buckner Day!


In 1986: Until 2004, the 20 most hated words in Red Sox Nation: “Little roller up along first
behind the bag! It gets through Buckner! Here comes Knight and the Mets win it!” Buckner was universally blamed for the Red Sox 6-5 defeat in Game 6 of the World Series, but it was a rickety bullpen, two other Red Sox errors, a wild pitch which scored the tying run and horrible managing by John McNamara that led to their demise. The Sox blew leads of 2-0, 3-2 and 5-3 before the Mets won what is probably the most famous World Series game in history. Boston also blew a three run lead in Game 7, as the Mets won their second World Series.

In 1964: In one of our favorite NFL Films clips ever, Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jim Marshall picked up a San Francisco fumble and rumbled 66 yards to the end zone for the score. Problem was, he ran the wrong way. Marshall is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, played 20 seasons without missing a game as an anchor of the famed “Purple People Eaters,” all the while being an average of 20 to 30 pounds smaller than his opponents. But he will mostly be remembered for taking the longest safety in NFL history. As he threw the ball into the stands after he crossed what turned out to be his own goal line, some 49ers players came up and tapped him on the helmet to say thanks. The Vikings did win the game, however, 27-22.

In 1998: Even though – much like Mike Ditka – we don’t recognize kickers as real football players, Jason Elam of the Denver Broncos tied Rick Dempsey’s record by booting a 63-yard field goal in a 37-24 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars at Mile High Stadium. Only five times in history (including this past Sunday) has a kicker converted a field goal attempt of 60 yards or more.

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College Football

Maurice Clarett is going to jail



Will Ice Cube play Clarett in the TV movie?

Well folks, the sad tale of Maurice Clarett has reached the final chapter. Sure he could turn his life around in jail but he’s just going to be another high profile athlete that wasted his potential on laziness and greed. Maurice Clarett has agreed to a plea bargain in two criminal cases and was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in jail. He will be available for parole in 3 1/2 years.

Clarett got 3 years for the aggravated robbery, 3 years for using a gun in the crime, and 1/2 years for carrying a concealed weapon.

Clarett is 22 now so if he spends his entire 3 1/2 years working out, he could be in better shape than he’s ever been by the time he’s 26. And then all the talking heads will talk about how he’s a young 26 because he’s a RB without that many miles on him. Or more likely, he’ll just fade from our conciousness and discover God.

Links:
[Buckeye Extra]: Clarett agrees to plea deal; will serve at least 3 1/2 years

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Denver Broncos

Javon Walker is talkin trash


We’re so sick of the cliches that athletes throw around that anytime someone starts talking trash, it’s … like someone stopped taking it one game at a time and only gave 97%. God bless Javon Walker for this quote in the Denver Post:


Obviously, we have a chance to be a Super Bowl team. Obviously, they have a chance to win four games.

It just made me happy to know I’m here and not dealing with that anymore. This is a winning organization, and I’m better off here.

Walker went on to say that he still had some friends on the Packers and wished them well. Oh, if only he’d added that Brett Favre was a washed up selfish prick, Walker would be our favorite WR of all time.

Links:
[Denver Post]: WR Walker glad he’s an ex-Packer

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Denver Broncos

Ashley Lelie stands to make -$500,000 this year



I’m… poor beeeyotch!

After losing his $100,000 workout bonus and getting fined $14,000 a day for missing camp, Ashley Lelie owes the Denver Broncos about $1.1M. For someone who will make $600,000 this year, that has to be the dumbest holdout in the history of the NFL.

Sometimes, those daily fines are waived when the player eventually comes into camp and signs a new contract. However, as part of the trade agreement, the Broncos made him sign an agreement that allows them to recoup that $1.1M and they are likely to do so to discourage others from such a foolish holdout.

Shanahan states that the draft pick the Broncos got in return for Lelie was secondary to the penaltieis.


It wasn’t really the pick as much as I just wanted to make sure that they knew whatever the prorated signing bonus was and whatever the fines were that that was going to be a hefty amount. That’s a lot of money to pay back. And when that was agreed to, then we talked about compensation relative to what we should get for his services and we were able to do that.

Good work, Ashley. You didn’t want to be a #3 WR so you got yourself traded to the Falcons to be a… #3 WR and now owe half a million. Genius.

Links:
[ESPN]: If Broncos demand all that’s due, Lelie may pay to play

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Denver Broncos

Do not cut Jake Plummer off in traffic



roll up bitch!

Jake Plummer has been issued a summons for a “road rage type incident” that occured on April 20th. According to the victim, Doug Stone, a man driving a gray Honda van stopped at a red light, got out and kicked the front of Stone’s truck and then got back into this car and backed up into truck for 10 seconds causing minor damage.

A witness got the license plate and reported the incident to the police. The police investigated and the owner of the gray Honda van turned out to be Jason “Jake” Plummer. First of all, why does Jake Plummer drive a Honda? And second, his real name is Jason? That’s going to be confusing when Jay Cutler steals his job. Hmmm.. that’s probably why Jake is so angry these days.

Jake claims that it was not a road rage incident but rather just a minor accident that he didn’t report because he saw no damage on his car. Road Rage or accident? We want the truth, dammit!

[Denver Post]: Broncos QB in hit-run citation