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Denver Native (Carol)
08-12-2010, 10:01 AM
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_15737449?source=rss

Maybe next year. That was how Mario Haggan used to look at things.

Yes, maybe next year. Or the year after. Or the three after that. Suddenly one year turns to six and 73 career games have gone by and you still haven't been the starter in one.

"I did get frustrated, no question," Haggan said. "But I don't look back, because I always told myself through all of that, if I got the opportunity I would be ready to grab it and never look back. So, I'm grabbing it."

And Haggan is not using the rearview mirror. Because with Josh McDaniels' arrival with the Broncos before the 2009 season, Haggan found the open door he needed not only to be a starter but the go-to guy.

A backup linebacker and special-teams player for his five seasons in Buffalo and for the eight games he played for the Broncos under Mike Shanahan in 2008, Haggan's fortunes have certainly shifted.

He was the first player to get a contract extension from the McDaniels-Brian Xanders regime — a two-year extension last September — he started 16 games in the '09 season, was named a team captain in '09 and this year has been lauded for his versatility.

Having been moved in the offseason to an inside linebacker spot, Haggan has moved back to outside linebacker as the Broncos adjust to the loss of Elvis Dumervil in the defense.

"We feel like Mario can do a lot of the things we need," McDaniels said. "He has that versatility we want and the ability to play at a lot of different places. We always try to look at how a player will fit with us, we're not always concerned with what they did somewhere else."

It is one of the amazing quirks in the league that a player can be looked at so differently in different NFL outposts. Where Haggan seemingly couldn't crack the top level of the Bills' depth chart — even in years he believed he should have, Haggan said — he is now part of the Broncos' solution to a number of problems.

"I always felt like I was a starter-type player," Haggan said. "I just know what type of player that I am. For whatever reason, some of the guys were chosen to play ahead of me. I wasn't mad at them, because I know every guy in this league is trying to beat a guy out."

Where some may let bitterness erode their work habits or their play on the field when things don't go their way, Haggan said he would simply think about his mother, Wanda Burnett, and what he would have to say to her if he was forced to look her in the eye without having given all he could.

Something Haggan now says dates back to his older brother, Michael, going to prison for armed robbery when Mario was in junior high.

"She saw one son go to prison — that was the worst day in her life. I knew I couldn't disappoint her," Haggan said. "My mom worked her whole life, she raised us. I love her, I honor her every day. Not one day has she not gone to work, so I couldn't ever stand there and say I quit on something because it didn't happen the way I think it should have."

It's also why Haggan stays after practice many days working on some special-teams technique with a younger player, or a player newer to the team — Tuesday it was fellow linebacker Akin Ayodele.

He says he's always on the lookout for someone who's walking the path he once did.

"He was one of the first guys to come up to me after I got traded here," said linebacker Joe Mays, who came to the Broncos just after the start of training camp. "He was right there, about special teams, about playing linebacker, about everything. That tells you what he's all about."

"I've talked to about 10 guys already this year, all over the league, who are in what my situation was," Haggan said. "They're trying to fight out of it. I tell them go in and don't let people label you, go to work, and when you get the opportunity seize it.

"But if you don't do the work, when the opportunity comes you won't even know it's there. That's what I tell guys. Work first and be ready. That's what I did."

Lonestar
08-12-2010, 10:46 AM
Let's hope he fills the hole that doom left. Not necessarily in sacks but as a full time OLB.

It also seems that he is a great role model with great character. Something we need to help the TEAM grow.
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Denver Native (Carol)
08-12-2010, 10:49 AM
http://twitter.com/postbroncos

ALSO

Team announced it has signed FA linebacker Johnny Williams (spent 09 on Pitt's practice squad) and waived LB Nick Griesen about 1 hour ago via TweetDeck

Lonestar
08-12-2010, 04:49 PM
With every LB they sign it is looking worse and worse about doom being part of 2010.
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