Favorite Broncos, No. 8

 

I miss football, and sports in general. I'm guessing you do, too. And in the place of actual games, we've been seeing a lot of countdowns of classic games, players, etc. And that got me thinking about my own favorite team, the Denver Broncos. I have loved the Denver Broncos since I was a little kid, more than 30 years of fandom. I started watching them in the late 1980s, and have been faithful ever since. So I thought it might be fun to take a little walk down memory lane and consider my favorite players from those teams. So this is just a personal list, that will be presented in reverse order starting at number 30. Agree, disagree, have your own stories? Share them in the comments.

No. 8 Rod Smith (1995-2006)
About: And now we come to the best receiver the Broncos have had, Rod Smith. I still remember the first time he jumped to the forefront, catching a 43-yard game-winning bomb from John Elway to against Washington. It was an incredible play, and it essentially announced his arrival. It didn't take much for Smith to become one of Elway's top targets, and one of the best Broncos ever. He was an integral part of the team's Super Bowl wins, too. Smith finished with 849 receptions, 11,329 yards and 68 TDs in 12 seasons. His final two seasons were part of a new era for the Broncos, as the team made it to the AFC Championship Game with Jake Plummer in 2005, beating Tom Brady in the playoffs along the way, and then turning over to Jay Cutler in his final season, playing alongside a young Brandon Marshall, who would soon take over as the Broncos' top receiver. I loved watching Smith play and he's always the first receiver I think of when I think of Broncos' receivers. He's a great and under-rated player, one who I hope some day gets some Hall of Fame consideration.