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Dapper Dan
05-07-2012, 11:23 PM
Something I noticed is the number of veteran starters the Broncos had.

http://m.pfref.com/m?p=XXteamsXXdenXX1997_roster.htm&t=all_starters

12 of the 22 were age 30 or over.
All but 3 starters were over age 25.

Jsteve01
05-08-2012, 12:00 AM
don't even get me started. That team was so loaded with talent it was unbelievable. Literally every player on that starting offense other than Griffith made a pro bowl at some point in their career. That's a lot of talent

Dapper Dan
05-08-2012, 12:11 AM
don't even get me started. That team was so loaded with talent it was unbelievable. Literally every player on that starting offense other than Griffith made a pro bowl at some point in their career. That's a lot of talent

I like how the O Line prett much stuck together for years. Hopefully we can get something like that again.

Shazam!
05-08-2012, 06:16 AM
The 98-99 AFC Pro Bowl squad shouldve been the Denver Broncos whole roster. They sent 9 players that year IIRC.

Even if they win more Super Bowls nothing will come close to beating GB amd getting over the hump for the first. Nothing will ever come close to that feeling for me.

Jsteve01
05-08-2012, 08:55 AM
amen shazam. That was a great feeling right there.

Northman
05-08-2012, 09:01 AM
The 98-99 AFC Pro Bowl squad shouldve been the Denver Broncos whole roster. They sent 9 players that year IIRC.

Even if they win more Super Bowls nothing will come close to beating GB amd getting over the hump for the first. Nothing will ever come close to that feeling for me.

Agreed.

Dapper Dan
05-08-2012, 09:34 AM
1999 Pro Bowl Roster

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Pro_Bowl#section_2

Here's the AFC:

AFC
Quarterbacks

John Elway - Denver Broncos
Doug Flutie - Buffalo Bills
Vinny Testaverde - New York Jets

Running Backs

Terrell Davis - Denver Broncos
Marshall Faulk - Indianapolis Colts
Sam Gash - Buffalo Bills
Eddie George - Tennessee Titans
Curtis Martin - New York Jets

Wide Receivers

Keyshawn Johnson - New York Jets
Jermaine Lewis - Baltimore Ravens
Ed McCaffrey - Denver Broncos
Eric Moulds - Buffalo Bills
Jimmy Smith - Jacksonville Jaguars

Tight Ends

Ben Coates - New England Patriots
Shannon Sharpe - Denver Broncos

Offensive Linemen

Tony Boselli - Jacksonville Jaguars
Ruben Brown - Buffalo Bills
Dermontti Dawson - Pittsburgh Steelers
Tony Jones - Denver Broncos
Bruce Matthews - Tennessee Titans
Tom Nalen - Denver Broncos
Jonathan Ogden - Baltimore Ravens
Mark Schlereth- Denver Broncos
Will Shields - Kansas City Chiefs

Defensive Linemen

Tim Bowens - Miami Dolphins
Michael McCrary - Baltimore Ravens
Darrell Russell - Oakland Raiders
Michael Sinclair - Seattle Seahawks
Bruce Smith - Buffalo Bills
Ted Washington - Buffalo Bills

Linebackers

Zach Thomas - Miami Dolphins
Chad Brown - Seattle Seahawks
Mo Lewis - New York Jets
Ray Lewis - Baltimore Ravens
Bill Romanowski - Denver Broncos
Junior Seau - San Diego Chargers

Defensive Backs

Rodney Harrison - San Diego Chargers
Ty Law - New England Patriots
Lawyer Milloy - New England Patriots
Shawn Springs - Seattle Seahawks
Sam Madison - Miami Dolphins
Steve Atwater - Denver Broncos
Charles Woodson - Oakland Raiders


Raiders/Chiefs/Chargers combined for five players.

Dapper Dan
05-08-2012, 09:35 AM
The 98-99 AFC Pro Bowl squad shouldve been the Denver Broncos whole roster. They sent 9 players that year IIRC.


Correct.

Cugel
05-08-2012, 11:25 AM
There aren't many teams that have 4 Hall of Fame players on their roster (and frankly it could be five).

Elway
Gary Zimmerman
Shannon Sharpe

already in

Rod Smith
Terrell Davis

borderline. Smith might make it when the old-timers committee starts making its selections because of his long and distinguished career. Davis is virtually certain to get in at some point because of the 2,000 yards.

Probably any back who rushes for 2,000 yards in a season and is League MVP and Super Bowl MVP is going to make it. Right now its his short career that is holding him back.

Really, you can't compare that team with the current Broncos. Outside Champ Bailey and Dumervil there's probably not one position where the current Broncos are better (maybe Manning, we'll see).

OrangeHoof
05-08-2012, 11:47 AM
Some will say the reason the Broncos were that stacked was that Shanahan figured out a way around the salary cap and got a few key players (notably Elway) to defer salary. Other than adding Neil Smith and later Dale Carter, I don't think this made that much difference. We didn't have that many players who weren't home-grown or cast-offs from other teams. It wasn't like we went about building an All-Star team. Other than Neil Smith, Gary Zimmerman and Bill Romanowski, we didn't add guys who were stars on other teams.

I think, for the most part, Shanahan had a great eye for offensive talent and plucked guys like Rod Smith, Ed McCaffrey, Terrell Davis and Tom Nalen without a great deal of expense.

Ravage!!!
05-08-2012, 12:06 PM
Some will say the reason the Broncos were that stacked was that Shanahan figured out a way around the salary cap and got a few key players (notably Elway) to defer salary. Other than adding Neil Smith and later Dale Carter, I don't think this made that much difference. We didn't have that many players who weren't home-grown or cast-offs from other teams. It wasn't like we went about building an All-Star team. Other than Neil Smith, Gary Zimmerman and Bill Romanowski, we didn't add guys who were stars on other teams.

I think, for the most part, Shanahan had a great eye for offensive talent and plucked guys like Rod Smith, Ed McCaffrey, Terrell Davis and Tom Nalen without a great deal of expense.

Zimmerman and Nalen were already Broncos when Shanahan took over as HC.

As you said, the talent that Shanahan brought over weren't "cast offs".. just FAs. At the time, Shanahan was a pioneer in the way he used FAs to build a team. The NFL copied Shanahan after those Super Bowl championships. Now things are got in circle and the trend is to "build your team through the draft" (the latest in "fact" mantra). But with the new CBA, that may not necessarily be the way. Rookie money is costing you MUCH less than before, thus leaving more money to sign FAs.

Anyone who says that we were able to sign players because we "cheated the cap"...is foolish and doesn't really know the case. Always remember, the NFL goes over every contract before, and we didn't get more cap room. But I digress.

To the thread topic, did we win because we had so many "pro-bowl" players... or did we have so many pro-bowl players because we won? I think its the latter. The Pro-bowl is a popularity contest, and you'll always see that the better teams in the NFL have the most pro-bowl players.... and that changes from year to year. Do the players get worse if their team has a down year? No..... but the voting goes to winning teams.

We had GREAT teams those two years, but it was a TEAM that built them. Shanahan's system, matched with a few key players made that team great. Much like the Patriots team that won Super Bowls... not exactly filled with "super" players....but a super team.

Dapper Dan
05-08-2012, 12:18 PM
Zimmerman and Nalen were already Broncos when Shanahan took over as HC.

As you said, the talent that Shanahan brought over weren't "cast offs".. just FAs. At the time, Shanahan was a pioneer in the way he used FAs to build a team. The NFL copied Shanahan after those Super Bowl championships. Now things are got in circle and the trend is to "build your team through the draft" (the latest in "fact" mantra). But with the new CBA, that may not necessarily be the way. Rookie money is costing you MUCH less than before, thus leaving more money to sign FAs.

Anyone who says that we were able to sign players because we "cheated the cap"...is foolish and doesn't really know the case. Always remember, the NFL goes over every contract before, and we didn't get more cap room. But I digress.

To the thread topic, did we win because we had so many "pro-bowl" players... or did we have so many pro-bowl players because we won? I think its the latter. The Pro-bowl is a popularity contest, and you'll always see that the better teams in the NFL have the most pro-bowl players.... and that changes from year to year. Do the players get worse if their team has a down year? No..... but the voting goes to winning teams.

We had GREAT teams those two years, but it was a TEAM that built them. Shanahan's system, matched with a few key players made that team great. Much like the Patriots team that won Super Bowls... not exactly filled with "super" players....but a super team.

Lol. The thread topic was about how we had a lot of veterans. It just looked like we had a more than normal amount of players over 30. It kind of got sidetracked to talking about the Pro Bowl.

weazel
05-08-2012, 01:38 PM
The 98-99 AFC Pro Bowl squad shouldve been the Denver Broncos whole roster. They sent 9 players that year IIRC.

Even if they win more Super Bowls nothing will come close to beating GB amd getting over the hump for the first. Nothing will ever come close to that feeling for me.

a buddy (who is also a Broncos fan) and I got into an argument and had not spoke to each other for about 3 years until that night. The Broncos won the Superbowl and he gave me a call and we ended up going out and getting pretty blitzed that night. lol

I agree, that win was pretty special. I just sat there in a daze for the first couple of minutes after that game.

NightTerror218
05-08-2012, 01:46 PM
We had several pro bowlers last year, lets see if we can add to it this year. Von Doom, Manning, McGahee, Clady, Champ, Thomas or Decker, and Prater. Unless someone else comes out of blue. maybe Tressen but 1 WR is going to have an amazing year.

We may not have talent the 97-98 team but we are younger and getting more talent.