Sylvester Williams', Kayvon Webster's departures closed book on Broncos' 2013 draft class By Jeff LegwoldESPN.comMarch 20, 2017

Now that Sylvester Williams has signed with the Tennessee Titans and Kayvon Webster has signed with the Los Angeles Rams since free agency officially opened last week, the Denver Broncos' class of 2013 has officially moved on or been sent on its way.

The Broncos now have none of the seven players they selected in the 2013 draft on their roster.

Williams was the team’s first-round pick that year -- 28th overall -- and Webster was the Broncos’ third-round pick (90th overall). Those two played for Broncos teams that won three division titles, made two Super Bowl trips and won Super Bowl 50, but that empty year now leaves a bit of a developmental hole in the Broncos' depth chart since none of those players made it to a second contract with the team.

Overall, Williams started 48 games for the Broncos in his four seasons and played in all but four games in those years. Webster was always caught behind Chris Harris Jr., Aqib Talib and Bradley Roby on the depth chart at cornerback but was the team’s special teams captain this past season.

It was a good run for the Broncos and those two players. However, the remainder of that draft class was little more than a disappointment. Running back Montee Ball was the second-round pick and lasted just two seasons with the team as he was supplanted by C.J. Anderson, who made the roster as an undrafted rookie in '13, and Ronnie Hillman.

Ball rushed for 559 yards at 4.7 yards per carry on a Super Bowl team as a rookie in '13, but was injured and looked sluggish when he was in the lineup the following year, rushing for 3.1 yards per carry. Ball has not played in a regular-season game since the 2014 season and has had some off-the-field issues, including two arrests in 2016.

Quanterus Smith (fifth round), a pass-rusher who had a three-sack game against Alabama in his final season at Western Kentucky, never escaped knee troubles that began when he tore an ACL in his final college season. Smith has, since he was waived by the Broncos, spent time with the Jaguars, Jets and Lions. Wide receiver Tavarres King (fifth round) was cut in his first training camp and is currently with the New York Giants, while tackle Vinston Painter (sixth round) spent time on the Broncos' practice squad as well as the active roster in the 2014 postseason.

Painter spent most of the 2016 season on the Washington Redskins’ roster and was recently re-signed by the team.

Quarterback Zac Dysert (seventh round) was on the Broncos' roster as a rookie, behind Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler, as well as the practice squad in 2014. He has since spent time with the Bears, Texans, Bills and Dolphins. Dysert is currently with the Arizona Cardinals.

That puts five of the seven players in the draft class still on NFL rosters -- Ball and Smith are not -- but none with the Broncos. That’s not the kind of draft performance John Elway has hoped for, even with the team’s binge in free agency in 2014 when it signed Talib, T.J. Ward, DeMarcus Ware and Emmanuel Sanders.

But the Broncos certainly weren’t alone in 2013 as that year's draft was not a grand endeavor for many teams in the league. Ten players selected in the first round alone that year, including Williams, have signed with new teams since free agency opened March 9.

The 2013 draft is the only one during Elway’s tenure -- he was hired as the team’s chief football decision-maker in 2011 -- that does not have at least one player still on the roster. Defensive end Derek Wolfe is the only player from the team’s 2012 draft while Von Miller and Virgil Green remain from 2011.

Twenty two players remain from the 2014, 2015 and 2016 draft classes combined.

The Broncos have gleaned plenty of starters from those six drafts for teams that won five division titles and made two Super Bowl trips, but Pro Bowl selections have not been plentiful. Among the picks, only Miller both remains on the roster and has been named to a Pro Bowl -- Anderson, an undrafted rookie in '13, has also been to a Pro Bowl.

A Mystery Mammoth must emerge for the Denver Broncos By Woody Paige Colorado Springs GazetteMarch 20, 2017

During a span of a quarter of a century, the Broncos had Four Horsemen at left tackle. Now, they don't even have a steed to start there.

Thus far, 19 miscellaneous nominees have been mentioned as the Broncos' potential left tackle next season.

Living Legend John Elway reacted agitatedly, but truthfully, a few days ago: "We feel like we have some different options. We're not done yet. Last time I heard we don't go to camp until July, so we don't have to have that (position) fixed just yet. But we'll figure out how to get that done."

Therefore it's possible that, in another 115 days, a dozen more players could be added to the list.

Last year's starter, Russell Okung, has signed with the Santa Rosa Chargers, and 2015 starter Ryan Harris recently announced his retirement. Ryan Clady, who started all 16 regular-season games for the Broncos from 2008-2012 and again in 2014, is available.

The Broncos - and Elway specifically - were very fortunate at that vital "blind side" spot for a protracted period. Since Claudie Minor and I arrived in Denver in 1974, four players manned left tackle - with time off for injury or at right tackle - for a majority of those seasons, a feat rarely achieved in the NFL.

Minor was a major at left tackle after being selected in the third round. He didn't miss a game for six consecutive seasons - four at left tackle sandwiched around two on the right side. His streak ended with a one-game injury absence in 1980. He started 13 in '81 and retired after being out seven games in 1982.

Dave Studdard, drafted ninth by the Baltimore Colts in 1978, was cut and joined the Broncos the following season. He started every game at right tackle across from Minor. In 1983 Studdard transferred to left tackle to support a rookie quarterback - Elway.

For the next seven seasons Studdard was one of Elway's closest friends on and off the field. He played all but three games until a 1988 knee injury ended his career.

Elway was blessed with another great left tackle in 1993 after the Broncos acquired Gary Zimmerman from the Vikings. Zimmerman safeguarded the quarterback and opened holes for running back Terrell Davis until the Broncos won their first Super Bowl. All three have been voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Clady was selected 12th overall in the 2008 draft and started all 16 games in his first season. He played in 80 straight, made four Pro Bowls and was named the league's No. 1 offensive tackle.

In September 2013, Clady was placed on season-ending injured reserve because of a Lisfranc injury. He returned in 2014, sat out '15 with a torn ACL, and was traded to the Jets before last season. He tore a rotator cuff in November and didn't play again. The Jets declined to pick up his $10 million contract option.

Clady's possible return to the Broncos is being debated publicly, but the team has expressed no interest (and he interviewed with the Seahawks Friday).

The Broncos' roster currently is comprised of 13 offensive linemen - with left guard Ron Leary and right tackle Menelik Watson signing as free agents - and no definitive starting left tackle.

The Broncos were considered candidates for free agents such as Andrew Whitworth, Kelvin Beachum, Riley Reiff and Matt Kalil, but there was no action. They wanted to downsize Okung's contract and bring him back, but he chose the Chargers.

The cupboard is as bare as Mother Hubbard's.

The princes have disappeared, but King Dunlap, who played for Mike McCoy and new Broncos offensive line coach (and former Broncos starting left tackle) Jeff Davidson in San Diego, is a fresh candidate. There is some sentiment for the Broncos to rethink a trade for the Browns' Joe Thomas or a deal for the 49ers' Joe Staley.

The Broncos still possess those four underachieving offensive linemen they drafted in rounds 2, 3, 4 and 5 in 2014-15-16 - Michael Scofield, Ty Sambrailo, Max Garcia and Connor McGovern. They must get up or get out this year. Only center Matt Paradis has been a remarkable discovery as a sixth rounder in '14.

And the Broncos can pick a left tackle at No. 20 from Ryan Ramcyzk (who is recovering from a torn labrum, and the choice of the mock draft crowd), Garett Bolles (the Mormon on a mission to Colorado Springs, and my preference) or Alabama's Cam Robinson.

A Mystery Mammoth must materialize, as Elway says, by July when the Broncos try to figure out the right left tackle.

Growing trend of professional players coaching preps gives local lacrosse more momentum By Kyle Newman Denver PostMarch 20, 2017

Imagine Von Miller roaming the sidelines with a headset on fall Friday nights, or Nolan Arenado watching keenly from the top step of the dugout during a spring high school baseball game.

And then imagine them both setting aside their coaching notes to go to work, Miller as the Broncos’ defensive lynchpin and Arenado as the face of the Rockies.

Pie in the sky notions, right? Not in local high school boys lacrosse, where current and former professional athletes are infiltrating the prep coaching ranks across metro Denver.

In Class 5A, retired Colorado Mammoth defenseman John Gallant coaches No. 5 Rock Canyon, while current Denver Outlaws defenseman Matt Bocklet leads No. 9 Highlands Ranch and former Outlaws defenseman Sean McCarthy leads Denver East. And in Class 4A, Mammoth legend John Grant Jr. is in charge of defending champion Valor Christian.

“Having quality coaches across the board really raises the quality of play, and the game of lacrosse is obviously growing extensively here in Colorado,” said Gallant, the Mammoth’s all-time leader in games played. “All of these professional players going back to the high school level are only going to help our game continue to grow and compete with the teams on the East Coast and the teams in California.”

And beyond head coaching roles, assistant jobs are being headlined by notable current and former professionals, too. Outlaws players Nick Ossello (Wheat Ridge), Brent Adams (Valor Christian), Brian Kormondy (Valor Christian) and Mammoth star goalie Dillon Ward (Rock Canyon) and defenseman Dan Coates (Regis Jesuit) are all coaching, as are recently retired lacrosse standouts such as Brian Langtry (Highlands Ranch), Ken Clausen (Wheat Ridge) and Jamie Shewchuk (Rock Canyon).

It’s a trend that speaks to the grassroots nature of the sport, as well as to the professional players’ desire for the game to continue to grow locally, where two professional teams, a perennial powerhouse collegiate program at Denver University and an ever-burgeoning high school scene have made Denver one of the lacrosse hotbeds of the West.

“I think most pros are extremely happy with the life they’ve received through lacrosse — the full scholarships, playing in different stadiums, getting to live their dream,” John Grant Jr. said. “For the most part, they all want to give that back, and you’re seeing that around Denver.”

Grant said the flexible nature of playing professional lacrosse continues to open the door to more pros agreeing to coach at the high school level.

“That’s the beauty of being a pro lacrosse player — you’ve got to train during the week, but you literally practice on Fridays and play on Saturdays,” Grant said. “So I’ll schedule the Valor games around that,

and we don’t do much on the weekends so we have the opportunity to have these great pro coaches available during the week.”

And with professionals at the controls, high school players get a firsthand education in the minutiae of the sport. It’s greatness breeding greatness, with the 31 Division I players signed in the Class of 2017 only the latest wave of homegrown lacrosse talent to come out of Colorado.

“Since I’m still playing and training, I work out with my players and put them through similar year-round training that I do as a professional player,” Matt Bocklet said. “Because where we can really help these local high school players is to let them see what it takes to play at the next level, and to help them prepare mentally and physically for that transition from high school to college.”

Dwight Clark Has ALS By Peter King MMQBMarch 20, 2017

There’s a pall over the Bay Area this morning. The weekend seemed to be setting up for a piece of football euphoria—Marshawn Lynch perhaps coming out of retirement to play for the Raiders in the hometown he loves, a bolt out of the blue that could help make the Raiders the closest NFL contender to the mighty Patriots.

Then came the Tweet from “DwightC87” at 9:03 p.m. Sunday. (I didn’t know the man who made “The Catch” was on Twitter.)

“Those words are still very hard for me to say,” Clark said in a statement released Sunday night.

The Marshawn Lynch news, and every other piece of news from the week, will have to wait. The NFL has a bout of March sadness this morning.

* * *

July 1979. The 32-year-old owner of the 49ers, Eddie DeBartolo Jr., and his friend and adviser Carmen Policy (later to be club president) flew to California for training camp. The new crop of rookies was on hand to try to rejuvenate a sad franchise. Immediately the third-round pick, quarterback Joe Montana from Notre Dame, and 10th-round longshot receiver Dwight Clark stood out. They were drop-dead handsome, first of all, and just as confident. Years later, Policy recalled seeing Clark and Montana together that first summer. “You wanted to be them,” Policy said. “So handsome, so ready for this moment. Looking at them, they seemed indestructible.”

* * *

Clark was inclined to try to fight the disease privately, a friend said, until Sunday afternoon. While at a sports memorabilia show in Chicago, Clark ran into Jim Kelly, and Clark shared the news. Kelly posted a photo of the two of them on Instagram at 4:54 p.m. Kelly asked his followers to pray for Clark, who was suffering from ALS. That sent Clark’s statement into motion.

He said he began to feel symptoms of muscle weakness in 2015. I’m told he was told with finality he had ALS in the middle of 2016. Said Clark: “I can’t run, play golf or walk any distances. Picking up anything over 30 pounds is a chore. The one piece of good news is that the disease seems to be progressing more slowly than in some patients.”

And he said: “I’ve been asked if playing football caused this. I don’t know for sure. But I certainly suspect it did. And I encourage the NFLPA and the NFL to continue working together in their efforts to make the game of football safer, especially as it relates to head trauma.”

They always will be intertwined, Clark and Montana. Both 60. Both transplanted Californians—Clark from North Carolina, Montana from south of Pittsburgh. In their third season, 1981, Montana rolled right in the NFC Championship Game, down six as the final minute ticked down, pumped once and then again and then threw a highball to Clark in the back of the end zone. Clark caught it with his fingertips. “The Catch” sent the Niners to their first of five Super Bowls over the next 15 years. The 49ers won them all.

That’s why the Bay Area will be in the dumps for a while. The region loves Montana dearly, and loves his decades-long sidekick almost as much. This will hit hard.

And it will put some pressure on the league to address ALS more aggressively than it has. Clark becomes at least the fifth former player in the past 10 years to be diagnosed with this incurable disease that gradually shuts down every muscle in the body. Former Patriots and Eagles running back Kevin Turner had ALS and died in 2016. Saints special-teamer Steve Gleason, who turned 40 on Sunday, lives with it and has become a tireless advocate for funding to try to find a cure. Former Tennessee linebacker Tim Shaw also has the disease and is an advocate for a cure. Former Raiders fullback Steve Smith suffers from it as well. In 2012, the American Academy of Neurology published a study of 3,500 former players that said pro football players were four times as likely to die from ALS or Alzheimer’s Disease as the general population.

As Clark said in his statement, it’s incumbent on the stewards of the game to press for as safe a sport as possible. Clark’s case is just another clarion call for the people who run the sport to make the equipment safer, and to spend generously to study the effect of brain trauma on post-football life for players. You can be sure that though there’s no indisputable evidence linking football with long-term brain injuries and devastating diseases like ALS, more and more parents of young people will question at what age—if ever—they’ll allow their children to play tackle football. And rightfully so.

* * *

The Marshawn Lynch-Oakland Deal Makes Sense

This Lynch-to-the-Raiders story, birthed by ESPN, is real. Late Saturday night, I talked to an excellent West Coast source on this story. “He [Lynch] really wants to play for the Raiders,” the source said. “He also wants to do good things for his foundation in the area. This is a great chance to accomplish both things.”

It could happen one of two ways. Seattle could trade Lynch—likely for a conditional 2018 draft choice, since Oakland wouldn’t be eager to give anything this year, not knowing if the rusty Lynch would be worth it. Or Seattle could release him, which would declare his contract void.

It’s easy to say the Seahawks should try to get something for Lynch. And logical. But let’s say the Raiders want Lynch—and I hear they do, at the right price. The price is not going to be for an existing contract cost of $9 million in 2017. The Raiders would more likely want Lynch at a more reasonable number, plus incentives, by signing him to a deal after he’s cut from the Seahawks. I don’t think Seattle will stand in

his way. Lynch left Seattle with the front office and coaching staff grinding its teeth over him because Lynch was often times a handful. But he was loved by most of his teammates, and there’s no way the club would stand in his way and risk the rancor of the locker room, seeing that Lynch has so many close friends still in the room. It’s a complicated dynamic, but in the end, Seattle’s probably going to have to release him. Interestingly, the only team I think Seattle would do a release for is Oakland … as a favor to Lynch, and a nod to the fact that the Raiders wouldn’t pick up the existing terms of the contract.

With the business out of the way, it probably comes down to this: There are two potential veteran workhorse running backs available, with an intriguing but limited market. Adrian Peterson and Lynch both would fit in Oakland. The Raiders have a strong offensive line and potent passing game, and they’d be able to fit either player in their system, but I sense Lynch would be better. Three reasons:

1. He’s an Oakland kid. He loves Oakland. His foundation does loads of work there. Even when he played in Seattle, he was a bi-city person: Seattle and Oakland.

2. Lynch can exist in the shotgun just fine. Peterson is more of an I-back type, but Lynch can play in the I or as a shotgun sidecar, or anywhere in the backfield.

3. The Raiders will need all the Oakland they can get if they’re approved for a move to Las Vegas in league meetings next week—and a vote could happen there. The smartest thing Mark Davis could do is hold off the signing of Lynch (if he can) till the day before the vote to relocate the franchise or the day after. That way, the locals will hate him and the franchise just a little less. But Lynch as a Raider, in the Coliseum, with a contender, for the next year or two, while the new stadium in Vegas is built? People will come. Oh, people most definitely will come.

* * *

A Free-Agency Trend Bad for Common Player

Free-agent linebacker Zach Brown, 27, ranked second in the NFL last year with 149 tackles, playing for Buffalo. But nine tackles a game, roving the middle of the field, is not getting Brown rich. Though the average NFL team entered the weekend $19 million under the NFL’s $167-million per team salary cap for 2017, Brown is waiting for the phone to ring. He’s not the only one. Big names with time left (Jay Cutler, Adrian Peterson) join contributors like wideout Kamar Aiken (27 years old, 104 catches in 2015 and ’16), defensive end Chris Long (played well for the Patriots in 2016), defensive tackle Jonathan Hankins (asking too much), and young safeties T.J. McDonald and Bradley McDougald. It’s not a gold mine, but we’ve gotten to the 30-cents-on-the-dollar portion of free agency quicker than any year I recall.

“The middle class of the NFL is getting destroyed,” agent David Canter said Saturday. “So many of the contracts for all but the best players are similar, with so little guaranteed money after the first year.”

Check out the money for the middle- to upper-middle class of the wide receiver group:

• Markus Wheaton, Chicago: Two years, $11 million, $6 million year one, no guarantee year two.

• Brandon Marshall, Giants: Two years, $11 million, $5.5 million year one, no guarantee year two.

• Brandon LaFell, Cincinnati: Two years, $9 million, $5 million year one, no guarantee year two.

• Cordarrelle Patterson, Oakland: Two years, $8.5 million, $5.25 million year one, no guarantee year two.

• Torrey Smith, Philadelphia: Three years, $15 million, $4 million year one, no guarantee year two or three.

• Ted Ginn Jr., New Orleans: Three years, $11 million, $5 million year one, no guarantee year two or three.

• Terrelle Pryor, Washington: One year, $6 million, with $2 million in incentives.

See the pattern? The big stars get guarantees in years beyond the first year—not much, but certainly some—while the middle class often sign one-year deals with extra non-guaranteed years tacked onto the end, in part for image, in part for spreading the pro-rated signing bonus.

Our Andrew Brandt had a very good idea, I thought, in his Business of Football column last week. “One way to make incremental change is when the team says it will guarantee $25 million on a five-year deal,” wrote Brandt, “the agent demand that they guarantee $5 million each year, rather than all $25 million secured in the low-risk first two years of the deal. Agents with this kind of leverage have to lead the charge toward fuller guarantees, and that continues to be lacking.” Brandt’s point is that—for instance—if Jason Pierre-Paul is guaranteed $40 million in his new four-year contract, the fact that $35 million is guaranteed in the first two years means the team can cut Pierre-Paul after two years with scant consequences toward future cap implications.

* * *

Four Players, Four Thoughts

Nothing overwhelming here, just some loose ends to tie up after the hurricane of early free agency and before the final settings of the board for the 2017 NFL Draft.

On Tony Romo

Nothing new. No news. No white smoke out of Jerry Jones’ chimney. But even though the Cowboys have not released him, I’m starting to wonder whether Romo might actually consider a TV career now instead of taking one last shot to win big at age 37 (and possibly 38). Adam Schefter reported recently that FOX wants to hire Romo to replace John Lynch on its number two NFL broadcast team, and Schefter said other networks are interested too. The easy thing would be to say: He can do that after his career ends. No rush. And that’s true. This is just my opinion, but what if Romo is enjoying the family life (he is married, with two children, and a third on the way), realizes he wants to continue to live in Dallas, and thinks maybe it wouldn’t be so bad on 20 weekends a year to leave home Friday morning, get home Sunday night, do something he knows he’d be good at (talking about football in an amiable and

intelligent way), and be able to make $2 million a year (at the very least). He will be smart enough to know he can’t just walk into a big-time booth without some knowledge whether he’d be good right away, and I expect he’d do his homework on that, if he’s not already.

I still think it’s likely a released Romo will end up getting an offer from Houston, and possibly (but less likely) from Denver. And if I had to guess I’d say he’d end up signing with Houston and taking one more shot at a title. The Texans continue to be coy about their interest, but with a premier defense, they’re not going to enter 2017 with Tom Savage, Brandon Weeden and a rookie in the quarterback room—not if they have any chance to get Romo.

But I do not dismiss the TV stuff. I understand it. Romo loves talking about football. In Dallas’ training camp in 2015, he spent 30 or 40 minutes after our interview one afternoon talking to me about quarterback mechanics and the art of playing the position in language easily understandable, not all footballese. When I think of Romo, I think of a guy who, if he chooses TV, will make a good living for a long time explaining the NFL game to people. Who knows whether that will happen, but I do think it has to be tempting for Romo when a pretty big TV offer (or more than one) comes his way—knowing that this job or jobs may not be open in 2018 or 2019.

* * *

On Jason Pierre-Paul

When Jason Pierre-Paul permanently disfigured his right hand in July 2014 fireworks accident, he missed out on a chance for a huge long-term contract. Instead, the Giants paid Pierre-Paul $8.7 million on a one-year deal, and then $9.7 million for 2015. Over those two years, he played 20 games, missed 12, had eight sacks, and made $18.4 million.

On Friday, the Giants signed Pierre-Paul for four more years, a deal that Pro Football Talk reports will be worth $35 million in the first two years, when virtually all of the guaranteed money will be paid. In all, a damaged Pierre-Paul, who has averaged one sack per 10 quarters since his accident, is being paid like a premier rusher. In the first four years after the accident, Pierre-Paul will be paid approximately $53.4 million—even though there’s no assurance he’ll ever be a premier pass-rusher again. That average of $13.35-million per year over four years is more than some of the best and most productive defensive ends and outside linebackers in football, including Michael Bennett, Cam Jordan, Cam Wake, Everson Griffen, Ryan Kerrigan and Bruce Irvin.

The Giants have done way more than right by Pierre-Paul.

* * *

On Roberto Aguayo

“The mistake would be to be prideful,” Bucs GM Jason Licht told the Tampa Bay Times, with the news that the most inefficient kicker in the NFL in 2016, rookie Roberto Aguayo, would have a challenger in camp this summer, and a good one. Nick Folk, an 81.3-percent career field-goal kicker, was signed to go

head-to-head with Aguayo. This was a curious and risky decision by Licht at the start, and he knows it. He dealt third- and fourth-round picks to move up 15 slots to choose Aguayo in the second round, and the pressure of being such a high pick got to Aguayo. He led the league with nine missed field goals, and he was a miserable four-of-11 from 40 yards and beyond. Can he be salvaged? Aguayo has seen a mental coach and talked to level-headed former kicker Ryan Longwell for advice. We’ll see. But good for the Bucs to not stick their heads in the sand about the problem. If Folk, 32, is better in camp, the 59th pick in the 2016 draft will likely be on the street.

* * *

On DeMarcus Ware

Ware’s first NFL coach, Bill Parcells, sent him a text this week upon his retirement from football. It read:

“Not bad for a wide receiver from Auburn High School. Pretty good career.”

True story: Ware played wideout at Auburn (Ala.) High School, and the local Auburn Tigers didn’t recruit him.

“DeMarcus was a defensive end at Troy,” Parcells said Saturday. He was coaching the Cowboys, and owner Jerry Jones, of course, had final say on the draft. “We were going to make him a linebacker. I’m not crazy about projections picked that high in the first round. I would rather have taken a lineman. But Jerry and them wanted to take him. Thank God they did.”

* * *

Quotes of the Week

I

“I’m retired. Which camera do you want me to look into? This one? I’m done. I’m not playing football anymore.”

—Marshawn Lynch, on “60 Minutes Sports” on Showtime last summer.

II

“Football had just run its course. … It’s time for something new.”

—Lynch, on Conan O’Brien’s show last September.

III

“OH MY GOD.”

—United States relief pitcher Tyler Clippard, as captured by MLB Network, watching the catch of the year (and it’s only March), a leaping and balletic grab by Adam Jones to rob Manny Machado of a home run in Team USA’s elimination-game win over the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic.

IV

“Today is just great. It’s remarkable. Saving lives and helping people live a better life—that’s going to make life worth living.”

—Myron Rolle, the star Florida State safety and 2010 sixth-round pick of the Tennessee Titans, who will begin a neurosurgery residency at Harvard Medical School and Mass General on July 1. He made the comments to WCTV in Tallahassee.

V

“I didn’t see what happened here that warranted a million dollars, two draft picks and a four-game suspension. It just didn’t add up. And, being a judge, we are very concerned with process. The thought of the decider ruling on his own decision, it was just beyond me.”

—Judge Richard Berman, who made the original rulings in the NFL-Tom Brady-Deflategate case, to Kalyn Kahler of The MMQB, for “Talking Football” on our site last Friday.

* * *

Ten Things I Think I Think

1. I think we know where Dallas is going in the draft after losing defensive backs Brandon Carr, Morris Claiborne and Barry Church in free agency. And it’s not a bad calculated risk, drafting into the teeth of a stocked secondary pool in the 2017 draft. But before these guys are too distant a memory, I wanted to point out three things about Carr, a player I’ve grown to admire not because he’s a top 10 corner; he’s, in fact, a marginal starter. But he goes to Baltimore for two years and $12 million (though it was listed as a four-year deal), and here’s why he’ll be missed:

• Carr has played nine seasons since being a fifth-round pick out of Grand Valley (Mich.) State in 2008 by Kansas City. Games played: 148. Games started: 148. Games missed due to injury: zero.

• No cornerback has started more games over the past nine years.

• In all five seasons as a Cowboy, Carr led the secondary in snaps played. In order: 1,043, 1,148, 1,028, 1,072, 1,013.

• The best Dallas cover guy remaining, nickel back Orlando Scandrick, has missed 14 games over the past five seasons.

Moral of the story: In football, one of the most important parts of ability is availability, and the Cowboys will miss that. Baltimore understands Carr, especially in his 10th year, will need safety help quite often. But the Ravens also know he’s a feisty player they can count on for the next two seasons, at least.

2. I think I’d like to wish Steve Gleason a happy 40th birthday. (The birthday was Sunday, and Gleason had a big party Saturday night at his home in New Orleans; Mike McCready of Pearl Jam played.) I have learned a lot from Gleason both before and after he was stricken with ALS … mostly that if you live life with passion and purpose, you can impact people regardless your walk of life, and your physical condition. Steve, I hope you’ve got another 40 in you.

3. I think, still, the best place for Adrian Peterson is with the Packers or Giants. Do it, Ted Thompson.

4. I think the shocking upset of the week is that Ben Roethlisberger told a reporter for the Washington (Pa.) Observer-Reporter that he’s “leaning towards” playing in 2017. All those who think Roethlisberger was going to retire, raise your hands. Bueller? … Bueller?

5. I think for those of us of a certain age, it hits hard that Gale Sayers is in his fourth year suffering from dementia. The Kansas City Star’s Vahe Gregorian tells Sayers’ story eloquently.

6. I think I’m a big fan of coaches doing what is best for their teams, but I wonder if, with home-court/field advantage on the line, what Roger Goodell would do to, say, the Falcons if they held Matt Ryan out of a Week 15 game because Dan Quinn and the Falcons knew they were making the playoffs and figured resting Ryan was to the team’s advantage. It’s not the same thing as LeBron James sitting three times in a 22-day span without being hurt, just because his coach wants him rested for the playoffs. I think a coach should do what’s best for his team, overall. But I don’t think it’s good for the game if the best player—or one of them—sits without being hurt three times in three weeks.

7. I think Rex Ryan, hired by ESPN the other day, would be better in the booth doing games than he would be in the studio bloviating, which I guess he’s going to do, on Sunday NFL Countdown. You can get lost on those pre-1 p.m. Eastern Time pre-game sets, because there are so many people on every network’s set. (Just keep score: There were 20 desk people combined, not including information people, on FOX, CBS, ESPN and NFL Network last fall.)

8. I think there was an interesting note from Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News, via Pro Football Talk, about the 33-yard extra points from new Bills kicker Stephen Hauschka, who has missed 10 of them in the last two seasons. That led to his demise with the Seahawks. And I’m not calling Hauschka an excuse-maker, though I think it’s ridiculous to listen to some of the reasons why the 33-yard extra point is different than a 33-yard field goal. Said Hauschka: “The 20-yard extra points, those were just chip shots. They really were. I don’t think many NFL guys were going to miss those unless something were to really happen with the snap and the hold. But a 33-yard extra point just brings out that precision. You need to be on it with the snap, the hold and the kick all need to be there and you can’t really get away with it. Plus, I think the biggest difference is you used to have about 25 to 30 field-goal attempts a year and then a bunch of chip-shot extra points. Now you have 25 field goals and maybe 30 to 50 extra points. That can feel like 60 to 70 field goals in a season now, so you’ve got to be mentally sharp the whole game, the whole season and there’s really no room for error.” Here are two points why I’d be hesitant to have Hauschka be my kicker:

• In the two seasons since the NFL moved the PAT back, Hauschka is 69 of 79 on extra points, and 20 of 20 on field goals between 30 and 39 yards away. That’s ridiculously inefficient, particularly when the PAT—from what he told Carucci—is something challenging to him mentally.

• “You’ve got to be mentally sharp the whole game.” Last season, Hauschka was called on an average of 4.5 times a game to kick an extra point or field goal. That’s 72 times in four months. I know it’s a job packed with pressure. I get it. But that is the life you’ve chosen. It’s not too much to expect a kicker to be “mentally sharp” for three hours and four or five opportunities once a week.

9. I think you never say never about anything in the NFL, but I’d be surprised if the Patriots brought back a desperate Darrelle Revis. I never sensed he was a big team guy and a big off-season conditioning program guy with the Patriots, and if he wasn’t that way in his prime, will he buy into that Belichick way three years later? If I was the GM of a good team with both cash and a corner need, I’d do a two-year, prove-it deal with maybe $8 million guaranteed—just enough so that Revis makes more than he would be sitting out and getting the $6 million the Jets owe him, but not enough where the team couldn’t cut bait if he stinks again in 2017. Would he do it?

10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

a. One of the classiest things I’ve seen on a ballfield: Dominican Republic down to the USA 4-2, bottom seven, Manny Machado gets robbed of a home run by Orioles teammate and USA center fielder Adam Jones, and as he rounds first base and see his dream home run die in Jones’ glove, Machado takes off his helmet and tips it to Jones. Fantastic sportsmanship. Jones returned the favor with a tipped cap.

b. The WBC is fantastic, by the way. I’ll be watching this week.

c. Go Johnny Go.

d. RIP, Chuck Berry.

e. And RIP, Jimmy Breslin … one of the great New York columnists of all time. I read this one a long time ago, and re-read Sunday after word came that Breslin died, at 86. He wrote it more than 53 years ago, and it still sings today.

f. No wonder this guy is Bill Parcells’ favorite baseball player.

g. Good story, Ken Rosenthal.

h. Speaking of Rosenthals, a great one died last week. Much of America met her a few days before she died, reading one of the most powerful essays I’ve read in recent times, “You May Want To Marry My Husband,” telling every eligible woman alive why they would be so lucky to marry her husband after she died. Gone way too young, at 51, of ovarian cancer.

i. Love this story by Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe on the art and the trials and tribulations of batting-practice pitchers, and how the good ones can help a team win, and how the best ones throw 24,000 pitches a year. Imagine that.

j. Looking forward to HBO Real Sports on Tuesday night to see Andrea Kremer’s story on Matt Bush, the former No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 MLB draft, who ended up in prison for a DUI accident, and who rebounded to pitch in the playoffs for Texas last fall. Kremer asked Bush about the specter of being the biggest bust in baseball draft history (at least one of them) before his recent resurgence. Said Bush: “I mean, who wants to be the biggest bust in the draft? I didn’t. But at the same time, if you're the biggest bust, you must’ve been someone.”

k. I mean, it’s a five-hour show. Why didn’t you just take a break?

l. The low temperature forecast for Boston on Wednesday is 15 degrees. The Red Sox and Pirates play there 12 afternoons later. Man, that grounds crew is going to earn its money in the next two weeks.

m. Beernerdness: Found a gem the other night at De Novo, a wonderful bistro with small and large plates in our old home of Upper Montclair, N.J. We took the train out for dinner with friends, and I asked what Jersey beers they had on tap. “Hudson Pale Ale,” the waiter said. “Hoppy, but not over-hoppy.” Well, he was right. Hudson Pale Ale (New Jersey Beer Company, North Bergen, N.J.—near the Lincoln Tunnel) is a tremendously drinkable, smooth tasting pale ale with a distinctive light-hopped taste. I was taking the train home, so I had another. Great example of how many excellent craft beers there are, everywhere.

n. Interesting scheduling: In the first 86 games of the baseball season, Boston does not go to Tampa Bay. In the next 63 games, Boston goes to Tampa Bay three times.

o. Still no evidence, other than baseless theories from the crazies, that Obama wiretapped Trump. And yet Donald Trump keeps going deeper, last week groundlessly roping in a friendly foreign government (the British), chasing nonsensical tributaries of wild hope, and really hoping eventually people will lose interest in the accusation that the former president of the United States bugged the Republican candidate for president.

p. If you haven’t learned this lesson by the time you’re 71, there’s a good chance you never will: You are a man when you can admit you’re wrong, and when you apologize.

q. Best news of the week: The House and Senate actually make the budget.

r. Syracuse (19-15) lost at home in the second round of the NIT. A week ago this morning, all I heard was about how they got passed over for the NCAA tournament field. Hmmm.

s. Love this story by SI’s Pete Thamel about the Michigan man who has helped Michigan men from Tom Brady to this year’s NCAA basketball team.

t. Geico’s Julius Caesar Salad commercial is a gem.

u. Happy 80th birthday (Tuesday), Tom Flores.

* * *

The Adieu Haiku

Romo and TV:

Think it’s a ploy? I do not.

It would not shock me.

49ers legend Dwight Clark says he has ALSBy Kevin Kaduk Yahoo.comMarch 20, 2017

San Francisco 49ers great Dwight Clark announced on Sunday night that he has been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

“Those words are still very hard for me to say,” the former wide receiver wrote.

Clark, 60, said he first started experiencing symptoms late in 2015 and suspects that football may have played a role in causing the disease. A 2012 study in the journal Neurology said former football players contracted the disease at a rate four times higher than the general population, though no direct link has ever been proven. There is no known cause for ALS.

Clark wrote about his new battle in a blog post that was so popular that it crashed the website that was hosting it on Sunday night. He said he does not plan on doing any interviews in the near term.

In addition to losing strength in my left hand — which makes opening a pack of sugar or buttoning my shirt impossible — I have now experienced weakness in my right hand, abs, lower back and right leg. I can’t run, play golf or walk any distances. Picking up anything over 30 pounds is a chore. The one piece of good news is that the disease seems to be progressing more slowly than in some patients.I’ve been asked if playing football caused this. I don’t know for sure. But I certainly suspect it did. And I encourage the NFLPA and the NFL to continue working together in their efforts to make the game of football safer, especially as it relates to head trauma.Clark is best known for teaming up with Joe Montana to make of the most famous plays in football history. Simply known as “The Catch,” Clark made a leaping reception in the back of the end zone to beat the Dallas Cowboys in the 1981 NFC championship game. Clark played for the Niners for nine seasons, retiring at age 30 after 6,750 yards and 48 touchdowns. He later served as the Niners GM in 1998 and served in the same role for the Cleveland Browns from 1998 to 2002.

Clark said he has heard from all of his former Niners teammates and they have pledged their full support. He also vows he will be active in raising awareness for ALS and wants to pursue a cure.

He is not the first high-profile player to be recently diagnosed with the disease, however.

Former New Orleans Saints special teamer Steve Gleason has been very public in his battle with ALS and was the subject of a moving documentary last year entitled “Gleason.”

Former fullback Kevin Turner, one of the lead plaintiffs in the concussion suit against the NFL, died from ALS in March 2016 at age 46. His brain was later found to have advanced CTE.

Mason's Mailbag: Why Zach Kerr fits the Broncos By Andrew MasonDenverBroncos.comMarch 20, 2017

@EHDLO@MaseDenver great info on Kerr athleticism, but it begs the question... why did #colts let him go for nothing? #askmase

Because of scheme and use of the player within it.

The Colts use more two-gap alignments with their defensive linemen, asking them to align themselves directly over an offensive linemen and then move inside or outside the O-linemen, giving them a choice of gaps to use (if they don't bull-rush the O-linemen directly), while the Broncos typically ask their defensive linemen to align themselves between two offensive linemen (as a shade nose tackle, or a 3- or 5-technique defensive end) and attack a single gap.

Any chance we could get Joe Thomas in a trade from Cleveland? He almost became a Bronco a couple of years ago.

-- Steve Lance

This is something I've had mentioned to me in many questions over recent weeks is, and the answer is simple: virtually none.

Those trade discussions of the 2015 season were with a previous Cleveland administration. There is no indication the Browns' current brass will make him available via trade -- and given the reinforcements they made up front in free agency, why would they? They could have one of the game's best offensive lines this year, and they already have a surplus of draft picks for the next two years.

With Devin Hester stating a desire to retire, could Denver go after him for a one-year contract?

-- Mike Willson

The desire to retire -- which he expressed after Seattle's divisional-round loss, when he said, "I told my wife that this is pretty much my last year" -- and the signing of a one-year contract seem to be mutually exclusive concepts.

It seems like the Broncos were comfortable that Vance Walker would be a good replacement for Malik Jackson last year. So, why aren't they eager to sign him this year?Also, it seems like Darren Sproles was an earlier version of Christian McCaffrey. Looking back, would Darren have been worth a first-round pick?

-- Todd Banchor

Walker is coming off of a severe knee injury. That's the biggest issue. He could still end up in the mix, but given his age and the injury, he would be brought back as part of a competition, and not to be penciled

in as the starter. You can't go with him as the first-teamer and hope the knee holds up without contingency plans.

As for Sproles ... Certainly in retrospect, he should have been a first-round pick. However, a 5-foot-6, 187-pound player -- as Sproles was measured at the 2005 Combine -- isn't going to go in the first round.

People want to make the Sproles-McCaffrey comparison, but I don't think that's fair to McCaffrey, who is five inches taller and 15 pounds heavier than Sproles. They have similar open-field capabilities, but McCaffrey also has a size and skill set than can translate to playing in the slot and lining up outside in the "Z" spot.

We're looking for linemen and especially offensive linemen. My question is why can't we bring Louis Vazquez back? He's been a free agent and would be a proven asset and arguably cheap.

-- Anthony Perez

Vasquez also has knee and back issues, as I have mentioned in this space before, which significantly hindered him in his final two seasons with the Broncos. Those injuries are why no team signed him in 2016.

@Ciaranfrench1Should the Broncos Draft a Quarterback, if so who and why #AskMase

I'm of the belief that you keep adding young quarterbacks -- although usually in the late rounds and via the undrafted pool. The most important position on the field is worthy of extreme investment given the high value placed on the position. If you have multiple young quarterbacks from the late rounds or college free-agent ranks that show promise, then you can flip them for higher draft picks even if you can't get them on the field.

Ron Wolf used this strategy as Green Bay's general manager in the 1990s even after Brett Favre had established himself as the Packers' unquestioned offensive leader. Future NFL starters like Kurt Warner, Matt Hasselbeck and Ty Detmer -- all of whom would later lead teams to the postseason -- each served as understudies in Green Bay.

As for which quarterbacks, I think you have to watch how the draft falls and look for value. The two potential Day 3 quarterbacks I like most are Tennessee's Josh Dobbs -- who was shown on an NFL Network documentary receiving tutelage from Peyton Manning in Knoxville -- and Virginia Tech's Jerod Evans, who found his form in the Justin Fuente-guided offense that allowed Paxton Lynch to shine at Memphis.

Dobbs needs more consistent footwork, which led to some errant passes during Senior Bowl week, and Evans needs to learn how to get to the second read, but both are athletic, tough leaders. Evans has the stronger arm of the two, and is more effective at flinging the ball downfield and outside the numbers -- but as is the case with Dobbs, Evans' footwork isn't NFL-caliber right now.

@MarottaF4#AskMase are there ever been so many players on a Broncos rooster who are not born in the US?

f you go back to 2011, you can find a roster with even more players who were born outside of the United States. That season saw four foreign-born players contribute: DT Marcus Thomas (Yokosuka, Japan), OL Orlando Franklin and DE Ryan McBean (both born in Kingston, Jamaica) and QB Tim Tebow (Makati, Philippines).

The 2007 Broncos did them two better, boasting six foreign-born players: the afore-mentioned Thomas, DEs Ebenezer Ekuban (Accra, Ghana) and John Engelberger (Heidelberg, Germany), WR Domenik Hixon (Neukirchen, Germany), CB Domonique Foxworth (Oxford, England) and LB D.D. Lewis (Bremerhaven, Germany).

Sacco Sez: Louis Wright joins a new class By Jim Saccomano DenverBroncos.comMarch 20, 2017

I remember well the first time I met Louis Wright in 1975.

He was a first-round pick, and the Broncos had flown their draftees to Denver to meet the press. In those days, before beginning my 40-year career with the team, I was a reporter.

When he walked in the front door, I went to a secretary and asked who the player was. He had a physique that I had seldom seen (and have not seen again) from a cornerback.

And he was as classy on the field as he looked off it.

This year, Wright will be part of a new class. The Professional Football Researchers Association (of which I'm a member) has selected its Wright to enter its "Hall of Very Good," which seeks "honor outstanding players and coaches who are not in the Hall of Fame."

There have been four Broncos players and two former coaches named to this hall: Floyd Little (subsequently named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame), Cookie Gilchrist, Randy Gradishar and Rich Jackson, and head coaches Lou Saban and Mac Speedie, the latter for his playing career.

Wright, who will hopefully take his well-deserved place in Canton some day, was a great player who had a perfect blend of size and speed. Athletic, physical and a shutdown corner who excelled in run support, Wright played for the Broncos from 1975-86.

It was no coincidence that the Broncos made six playoff appearances, won four AFC West division titles and made it to two Super Bowls during his career. He was a five-time Pro Bowler, a two-time AP first-team All-Pro, and he was voted second team on the 1970s All-Decade team. In 1977, Football Digest named Wright the NFL Defensive Back of the Year.

Make no mistake; Louis Wright was a great player.

Hopefully, one of these years, the chips will fall his way for the Hall of Fame.

But his impact didn't stop at the football field. He never caused me a moment's difficulty in my job as the Broncos' public relations director. He was one of those guys who did all the interviews, signed all the autographs, and — I happen to know — quietly purchased and had installed playground equipment on the fields he played on as a California youngster.

Louis Wright has always been all class, and his selection into the "Hall of Very Good" indicates that.