Have a question about your favorite athlete, coach, owner or sports team -- high school, college, professional, local or otherwise? Send them to me, and I will try my best to answer. Comment (here), e-mail to adamss@rockymountainnews.com or call at 303-892-2623. I will choose the best question, and your answer will appear in this space, as well as in the newspaper.
Write me a note (9)
Burns, Broncos ready for new season
Linebacker and special teams ace Keith Burns celebrated his 34th birthday on Tuesday, the same day that the Denver Broncos held their first day of passing camps.
It's been a birthday run for veteran Broncos players. On Monday, Broncos wide receiver Rod Smith turned 36 years old. Center Tom Nalen celebrated his 35th birthday last Saturday. The trio will spend the week blowing out candles -- and trying to catch their breath while falling back into football shape.
“It allows you to get more into football shape, and work on some of the skills you might’ve took off from once the season ended,” Burns said of the veterans’ work in camp. “Not only football movements, but actually running plays through your mind.
“Basically you're shaking off some of the cobwebs.”
Burns also is looking to shake the memory of losing the AFC Championship Game at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
"I would say it's probably been up there with the Jacksonville loss," Burns said, referring to Denver's loss in the 1996 playoffs. "I think the Jacksonville experience kind of eased the pain a little bit for this year. But by me being a veteran now, I look at it as an opportunity loss. The only way you can really get over something like that is to be willing to talk about it and understand exactly what happened to you.
"It's been a tough off-season, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. When I talked to coach (Mike) Shanahan, he called me at home and asked me has it been tough. I told him yes, that I've run the game through my mind for at least a month.
. . .
"You have to grasp the opportunity when it's there. Our job is to do whatever it takes in this off-season to get better and put ourselves in the same position of being in the championship game. For me now, it's Super Bowl or nothing."
NOTEWORTHY
What can Brown do for Colorado? 950 The Fan afternoon show hosts Irv Brown and Joe Williams were calling for Larry Brown to become the men's basketball coach at the University of Colorado. Meanwhile, the station's morning Sports Guys hosts Marc Moser and Sandy Clough called for Brown to become the next general manager of the Denver Nuggets. Brown's named is swirling in controversy, as his days as head coach of the New York Knicks are rumored to be nearing an end.