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Lonestar
12-10-2009, 09:46 PM
Casey in Castle Pines asks Woody about his memories of "Barrel Man"
By Woody Paige
The Denver Post

Posted: 12/10/2009 01:00:00 AM MST
Updated: 12/10/2009 02:39:02 PM MST

I'm sure you know the Broncos lost an icon over the weekend. What memories do you have of "Barrel Man," both the barrel and the man (Tim McKernan)?

-- Casey, Castle Pines

Casey: I wrote about Tim in my column for Thursday. Not to totally repeat myself, but he told me years later that when he appeared at his first game, I called him "The Barrel Man," and the name stuck, even though he was trying to be an Orange Crush soda pop can.

When the Broncos returned from beating Houston to clinch their first-ever playoff spot in 1977, the coaches and the players walked along the concourse at old Stapleton Airport and were surrounded by (an estimated) 10,000 fans (this was before serious security measures).

Coach Red Miller and I were talking when up walked The Barrel Man, who shook Miller's hand. As he walked away, Red said to me: "Who is that? And what's he wearing under the barrel?"

Pretty soon everybody knew Tim's alter ego. I would see Tim occasionally at the airport, since he was a mechanic for United Airlines, or on the road (he got free trips via United) and he genuinely was a good guy who cared deeply about his team and his role.

Most people don't know it, but McKernan was voted the Broncos' No. 1 fan the first year they held a contest, and his barrel was in the Hall of Fame. I remember seeing him get pelted by snowballs in Pittsburgh and beer bottles in Oakland, but he didn't back down.

And in most cities, the opposing fans treated him nice and wanted photos taken with him.

I think McKernan embodied the Broncomania of '77 for another 25 years.

When the Broncos moved into the new stadium, The Barrel Man, the Broncos seemed to believe,

Tim McKernan, the Barrel Man, died Saturday at age 69. (Denver Post file photo)was out of place.
A lot has been lost in the move to the new stadium, and his absence is one of those missing pieces. I thought about it today and feel the Broncos should honor Tim at the Oakland game (a natural) with a moment of cheering, not silence, and honor him permanently in some way.

Charley Johnson was No. 12 and is on the Wall of Fame, so you can't honor Tim and the longstanding Broncos fans as the 12th man. But maybe there should be a Barrel on the Wall of Fame, or a plaque on the side of the South Stands, with Tim's likeness — something to show that he and all the other fans are important to the Broncos.

As a lifelong Broncos fan living in Indianapolis, I have come to fear Indy on Denver's schedule like no other team. Perhaps working in the shadow of Lucas Oil Stadium and being surrounded by newly-formed Colts fans has done that to me (games here used to be empty in the 1980s-early '90s). But while a good win was scored by Denver against the Chiefs, all those third-down misses by K.C. won't happen with Peyton Manning. The Broncos have to play a nearly flawless game, run the ball, keep the crowd out of the game and Manning off the field. Otherwise Manning will pick them apart in those same situations. Here in Indy, Denver is not viewed as much of a threat, and I hate that. Do you see this outcome any different than games with Indy in the recent past?

-- Ryan, Indianapolis

Ryan: Not really. I don't think the Broncos are

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up to the task of beating the Colts because of Manning. He has been sacked fewer times than any other quarterback in the NFL and will be aware of Dr. Doom, Elvis Dumervil. The Colts are 19th in pass defense, but the Broncos are 19th in pass offense.
As I was getting ready to write my column for tomorrow, I was thinking the Broncos will have to pitch a Don Larsen game against the Colts: A perfect game. And play small-ball, protect the puck and stall — all references from other sports. I'm not saying anything that everybody else doesn't know, and I'm sure the lights at Dove Valley have been on late every night as the coaches plan for the game.

The Broncos have to run the ball effectively, not make turnovers, move the ball with short passes and try to strike big at least once a quarter. Defensively, they have to keep the passes underneath, maybe force Manning into a couple of interceptions (he's had seven in the last five games) and stop running back Joseph Addai. Eddie Royal needs to get hot in the return game, and Mitch Berger has to punt deep.

I researched the last time the Colts lost — in the first game of last year's playoffs against San Diego — and the Chargers' Darren Sproles had a big game as a runner (105 yards), receiver and return man. The Broncos need that.

The Chargers held the Colts to 17 points. The Broncos need that. And the Chargers won in overtime. The Broncos would take that. A loss in Indy wouldn't be the end of the world. The Colts haven't lost at home in 12 consecutive starts, and the crowd does make a difference after a shaky start in the new building last year. I don't see the Broncos going in there and winning.

The Colts can clinch the home field throughout the conference playoffs with a victory, and then they can rest people, including Manning, down the stretch, although coach Jim Caldwell claims they will keep playing the same way. Manning is the MVP of the league again because both the offense and defense have missed very important players. But, as I wrote in my column for Thursday, the Broncos can use this as a learning experience because if they intend to be very successful in the postseason, they'll have to go back to Indianapolis.

Before the season, we kept hearing about how the AFC West would be crushed by all the elite teams on their schedules. Denver has beaten the Giants, Patriots, Cowboys and Bengals, while the Chargers have wins over the Giants and Eagles. Heck, even K.C. (beating Pittsburgh) and Oakland (wins over the Eagles, Bengals and Steelers) are getting in on it. Maybe the "elites" should fear the AFC West? Is it weird for a fan to take pride in his team's division?

-- Steve Leavitt, Leesburg, Va.

Steve: It's weird for a guy in Virginia to be pulling for the AFC West. But, then, you're surrounded by the Washington Redskins and the Carolina Panthers.

It has been a quirky season. Once Oakland got JaMarcus Russell out of the lineup, it began to play much better. He is such a waste. After being in Kansas City last weekend, I can't see how the Chiefs have beaten anybody. Todd Haley is a waste. It hasn't been, in my opinion, that the AFC West is that tough. The other divisions have some lousy teams. Look what's happened to Pittsburgh since the victory in Denver. Even though I think the Giants will win their division (in a tiebreaker), they've been very average, and the Eagles are up and down. The elites are Indianapolis (see above), Minnesota and, of course, those Saints marching in. I haven't seen the AFC West beat any of those teams. Of course, the AFC West doesn't play them, and nobody else is beating them, anyway.

Speaking of jerseys, I own Eddie Royal's. I thought for sure he would have a lot more catches, yards and TDs than he does now (33, 314, zero!). What gives? I mean, it's nice to see the balance in the passing game, but I thought Eddie would play the Wes Welker role in Josh McDaniels' offense.

-- Randy, Broomfield

Randy: Last year, as you recall, he had the touchdown catch against San Diego and the subsequent two-point conversion, and the Chargers rue the day. Eddie has gotten more critical coverage (from the secondary, not the press) this year, and Kyle Orton spreads the ball around more. He hasn't set up in the slot as often as you and I might have thought. There have been 73 balls thrown to him. He has caught 33. That's less than 50 percent. It's mostly because they've been knocked down or been off-target. He's only dropped a few. So the routes are as receiver-friendly and the defenses are more aware of Royal than in his rookie season. That 10-yard average is not very impressive, either.

Brandon Marshall, as you know, has become the big receiver again, and Orton is throwing (per orders) more to the tight ends and running backs lately. Eddie seems to end up in no man's land, and he ranks No. 105 in receiving yards. The Broncos need to get him open and need to get him the ball more often.

I will tell you this: He is an All-American guy, and he's been doing a lot of good things for disadvantaged kids this season.

Woody: It was kind of surprising and sad to see Jason Elam cut. What happened? I don't keep up with the Falcons. Thanks.

-- Cottonball, Texas

Is your name Cottonball, or is your hometown cottonball, or are you just some Texas cottonball? Jason's leg seems to have worn out at age 39. He made only 63 percent of his kicks this season (his worst percentage year and first below 70) and was no longer automatic, even from 30-39 yards. Elam was a great kicker for a long time (he was drafted in 1993). I wouldn't be surprised if another team picked him up down the stretch if a kicker got hurt, and I wouldn't be surprised if he retired. Jason, a very religious man, co-wrote a mystery — and shockingly said he sort of used my style (I have no style or grace) — and has a lot of different things going on.

He had a good run ... I mean, a good kick. And he made a lot of gigantic kicks for the Broncos. Thanks, Jason, for being a special kicker and a special man.

Woody Paige first joined The Denver Post in 1981

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