Mile High Monday: The better energy around the Broncos is real

The Denver Broncos have a couple more weeks of OTAs and voluntary offseason workouts before mandatory minicamp near the middle of June. These workouts have been productive, and it’s nice to be back at UC Health Training Center a few times each week.

I like when minicamp gets here because we get to see everyone on the field for the first time. Players who skipped voluntary workouts show up, and we get to see what this team looks like in all open practices for the media.

I also like contemplating life and sports when driving around with the top down on my old Jeep TJ! The following is a result of those trips during the week.

Buckle up, let’s take a ride through my thoughts.

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For the Love of the Game

It seems like it’s been said a million times this offseason, but the energy around the Broncos is just different with quarterback Russell Wilson here. I often joke at UC Health Training Center when we interview players about how soon the word ‘energy’ is going to be brought up by the players at the podium. As per usual, it doesn’t take long for that word to be spoken.

The players and coaches are talking about energy because it’s true – things are different this year. New head coach Nathaniel Hackett is one of the most energetic in the building, and his style has an infectious nature that gets everyone excited. He’s really into football, and he loves teaching this great game that he grew up around. The players are really responding to Hackett’s energy, and they are having fun learning from him in preparation for the 2022 season.

Wilson has a ton of positive energy. He is a big believer in working hard, having faith and preparing to win the right way. Wilson’s energy is something players gravitate towards because he knows what he’s doing, knows how to prepare and has won a Super Bowl before. Players want to compete, they want to have great energy, and they want to follow a guy like Wilson. At the same time, he’s a natural born leader who uses his energy to get his players fired up.

Having no fun at all. 😃

📸’s » https://t.co/5cDNO4w0Cg pic.twitter.com/DvexRv3naX

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) May 20, 2022

The Broncos are having fun, and this type of bond is much stronger than we’ve seen over the last few years in Denver. I can’t wait for you fans to see this team in training camp. I can’t wait for people who moved here over the last few years – like our very own Zach Bye – to truly experience Broncos Country in the way us natives know it. Broncos Country is back, and the love of the Broncos may be stronger than ever this season.

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2012 Flashback

I’ve often said that this first year of Russell Wilson has a similar feeling to what 2012 did – the first year with Peyton Manning as the starting quarterback for the Broncos. Back then, the Broncos were coming off an improbable playoff run with Tim Tebow as the quarterback – but it did not feel like it was going to be sustainable. Manning showed up, and the Broncos were immediately a Super Bowl contender.

Had it not been for subzero temperatures in the Divisional Round against the Baltimore Ravens I feel the Broncos would have gone to and won a Super Bowl in Manning’s first year. I believe the best and most complete team with Manning was 2012. In 2013, the Broncos were all about their record-setting offense. In 2015, the Broncos were about their historic defense. In 2012, the Broncos were balanced on both sides of the ball and had a great team that didn’t win the championship.

This year, it’s all about turning things around from the doldrums we’ve had in the Mile High City since Manning and company won Super Bowl 50. Wilson has shown up, and I feel the Broncos championship window is open. The Broncos are going to let Wilson run the offense the way he wants to, and that could lead this team much further than some think. In Seattle, Wilson was forced to stay within the structure of an old school offense that ran the ball early and often. In Denver, Wilson will run an offense featuring plays and schematics that he’s most comfortable with – all the while having a swarming defense on the other side.

“Russ came in and changed the vibe and energy of the team…you can feel it around the city. There was a complete wave shift when Peyton came in…the standard got set to a different level…I heard that from DT. It’s very similar w/Russ.” Courtland Sutton #Broncos @1043TheFan

— Cecil Lammey (@CecilLammey) May 24, 2022

We’ll see how far this team can go in the 2022 season. I have no problem saying the Broncos are Super Bowl contenders this year in Wilson’s first season with the team because I’ve seen this before – back in 2012 when Manning showed up and changed the fortunes of the team.

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Serious Business

Fantasy football is what you make of it. Your league can be as casual or as serious as you want it to be, and that’s what makes it a ton of fun. Well, this week we saw how serious a couple of Major League Baseball players take their fantasy league.

A fantasy football dispute has led to the MLB handing Cincinnati Reds outfielder Tommy Pham a three-game suspension. Pham confirmed in an interview that he’s been suspended for slapping San Francisco Giants outfielder Joc Pederson. Pham said in the interview that Pederson “said some disrespectful ****” and “****ed with my money.”

This altercation started with some fantasy football rules in a league Pham and Pederson played in and the dispute over translation of those rules. Pederson was accused by Pham of gaming the injured reserve rules to stash players on his roster. That spilled over onto the diamond during practice before last week’s game.

“We were in a fantasy league together,” Pederson said. “I put a player on injured reserve when they were listed as out and then added another player. And then there was a text message in the group saying that I was cheating because I was stashing players on my bench. Then I looked up the rules and sent a screenshot of the rules, how it says that when a player is ruled out, you’re allowed to put him on the IR. That’s all I was doing. It just so happened that he had a player, [49ers running back] Jeff Wilson, who was out. He had him on the IR. I said, ‘You literally have the same thing on your team, on your bench.’ Then I guess he was in two leagues and one of them he was on the IR and one of them he wasn’t, so maybe that was the confusion, but the ESPN league we were in he was listed as out, so it feels very similar to what I did. And that was basically all of it. There’s not much more to it.”

Joc shares details of what happened in his fantasy football league that started his altercation with Tommy Pham today pic.twitter.com/d9NBTwPVoG

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) May 28, 2022

Baseball players love playing fantasy football. Pham must really love fantasy football because this three-game suspension is going to cost him $111,111 – which is three games’ worth of his $6 million salary.

I’ve played fantasy football since 1993, and I’ve never heard of an altercation like this. It might be the largest fantasy football fine in the history of the game. I certainly know these two Major Leaguers take more than one sport seriously!

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Hello There
I was so looking forward to the new Disney+ series ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ and the first two episodes released last week on Friday. I’m a huge Star Wars fan, so I’m especially critical when it comes to one of my favorite franchises of all time. Since Disney bought the property from George Lucas they’ve been hit and miss when it comes to Star Wars.

This Obi-Wan Kenobi series looks like a hit. The show tells the story of Kenobi watching over a young Luke Skywalker on Tattooine. I won’t spoil the show for you – go watch it ASAP – but it’s a thrilling look into what happened between “Revenge of the Sith” and “A New Hope.” While watching Skywalker, Kenobi is hunted by Inquisitors. This is a group of former Jedi who turned to the Dark Side of the Force. Darth Vader has put together this group to hunt Jedi down and destroy them.

I couldn’t stay away from spoilers, so I’m pretty sure I know how the series will end – and I’m not happy about it. However, the first two episodes were really good and brought out a lot of emotion as a Star Wars fan who holds the original trilogy in such high regard. It’s well worth your time, and the tension of the shows resonates throughout. I was really happy with the start of the show, and I hope that either the spoilers I heard are wrong or they pull off the ending better than I think it will be. Either way, I’ll be tuned in!

GOD BLESS AMERICA the 1st episode of #ObiWan has all the feels. Incredible! pic.twitter.com/NbECSgV4kd

— Cecil Lammey (@CecilLammey) May 27, 2022

What did you think of the first two episodes of ‘Obi-Wan’ on Disney+? Hit me up on social networking and let me know!
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Follow Cecil Lammey on Twitter and Instagram: @cecillammey
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