Looking forward to re-joining the Mariners who begin a short road trip Tuesday in Toronto and then go onto Texas. Bummer that the Mariners were swept by the Athletics in Seattle over the weekend.
But the calendar has also shifted to the NFL regular season and it was time to call Sunday Night Football for Dial Global Radio Network with my partner, Pro Football Hall of Famer, James Lofton, and our sideline reporter this week, Steve Tasker.
Peyton Manning was fabulous in his Denver inaugural, leading the Broncos to a 31-19 win over Pittsburgh. Hard to believe… it was 600-plus days since his last meaningful NFL pass after four neck surgeries. Manning, one of the greatest ever, so gets it. After a slow start with the offense, he switched to the no-huddle attack and worked the no-huddle to perfection. He read what the Steelers defense gave him and exploited it. Let’s not forget too that Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger was also very efficient in the no-huddle attack. Yes, the Steelers will be good again, but AFC West teams are in for a rough ride against Manning and the Broncos.
Stuff seen and heard over the weekend:
Broncos Exec VP, Pro Football Hall of Famer, John Elway, told me that life is good, running the franchise. It’s where he targeted during his playing days. He said there’s nary a ticket available, the suites are sold. “The hay’s in the barn and we’re working on next year,” Elway said. He added that his organization did it’s best to limit the number of tickets bought by Steelers fans, who might be the best travelling fan base in the NFL. Elway said they had a system that told where the ticket orders were coming in from–ah, technology.
Elway, obviously, is thrilled to have Manning as his QB. Tim Tebow? He’s with the Jets.
Steelers nose tackle Casey Hampton weighs close to four-bills. Just don’t try to beat him in a sprint covering 20-yards. That comes from Lofton and me working the field pre-game, catching up with Hampton and LB Larry Foote. Those two and James Farrior in the past would have a pre-game sprint during warm-ups, but had not done it a while. Lofton reminded them and they said, hey, good idea, let’s do it again. It was incredible watching Hampton.
Was told about two west coast baseball players who would regularly fly their barbers in from NYC. Talk about some expensive haircuts!
Also heard about a former NFL player who had a game in Houston. He had one of his boys drive his car, a Bentley, from the Bay Area to Houston, so the player could drive around the night before the game in grand style. Really? Yes!
Now it’s back to baseball. Next NFL tilt for me will be Giants at Eagles on September 30.
