From Denver With Love: Now I Can Take a Deep Breath

Please allow me to introduce you to my cousin Rusty Morse who’s lived in Denver his since before the Denver Broncos became a franchise. Rusty’s football connection goes back to his Freshman, Swab-year, when he was 4th Class Manager of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy football team under Coach Otto Graham (NFL Hall of Fame: yes, that Otto Graham). Rusty once sent Graham an old program, years later, and got a great personalized note and inscription in return. Rusty has written for both the local “I COLLECT” and Sports Collector’s Digest (SCD) in the late 1980s.  Rusty was a Press card-carrying member of the sports media and was heavily involved in the sports cards business. The SCD would send him a check for anything he wrote for them during the sport’s card era. Rusty once managed to get the Super Bowl XII program and papers from the 1978 Dallas game. He finally joined the Alumni Association of the Academy last year. You may recall a piece I did a year or so ago about when Rusty sent Lamar Hunt a letter and got a signed response back from Mr. Hunt. Please welcome my cousin Rusty to ArrowheadOne. -Laddie Morse

From Denver With Love: Now I Can Take a Deep Breath

by Rusty Morse

From the sidelines where most of us sit, it has been a tough offseason for those of us who fancy the Denver Broncos. We scrapped our way through last season with our Hall of Fame quarterback, a great backup that showed he could handle the job, and a third-string young fellow who took a snap in one game. All three got Super Bowl 50 rings but, the first two are gone for this season. After the Thursday night replay of the big game, all three are where they want to be. No one questions if they each deserved that special trophy: a Super Bowl ring. Trevor Semien did his job. The folks upstairs made the right call.

Forget the quarterback debate, this season is going to be about many other positions. Three decades ago I did an interview with Bronco General Manager Fred Gehrke for Sports Collectors Digest when I started writing for them in the late 1980’s. The great challenge I found in this effort was to find questions and observations that were outside the normal pattern. He caused me to look at the game of football in a way that changed my focus on that particular sport.

Football is a game of planning and practice. He reminded me that before every play the guys get into a huddle. Call the play, and let everybody try and do their particular assignment. This is about performance, but it is scripted by the players, and sometimes from the bench. Sometimes even higher in the owner’s and manager’s place. This is true for defense as well as offense. As I look at the big picture the players on the field assume their rightful place, management clearly made some calls and the 2016-17 Broncos now occupy the target position.

Based on the 2015-16 record, the AFC West race is not a foregone conclusion. We indeed are going to have to expect other managers and teams to be ready for us to try and overcome what weaknesses they can find in our strong defense. With memories of last year, the Kansas City Chiefs will be the best test of our ability to overcome our rivals. The running game will be a strong part of our planning and with a young quarterback that can move the situation will change this year. Our Defense looks like it wants a repeat and has expressed faith that the offense can deliver. Post-game interviews left little doubt in that assessment by many of the players.

Most of the Denver media were hedging before the game and was an underdog by 3 points. One Denver Post columnist said we might be 8 and 8. Like several games last season, a play or two turned the tide and Denver won. Last Thursday night was no exception. Football is a game of planning and practice, and management. Watch those decisions as they may well decide the final outcome of the AFC West. For you fellows on the Kansas City sidelines, it is going to be fun to watch how this season turns out.

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Rusty Morse: “The Armchair Quarterback,” was registered in Colorado as a Trademark in 1986 with the Secretary of State when he published the first football card checklist for the Denver Broncos.

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