We might as well admit it: Broncos Country has an ankle fetish.<\/p>\n
No, it isn\u2019t kinky. (C\u2019mon, get your mind out of the gutter.)<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s definitely weird, wacky and in an all-things-orange obsessed way, the very definition of how so very much Broncomania is back in full Rocky Mountain Thunder force.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everybody he goes, the peeps want to know when Bo will be ready to go.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got little kids at the park asking me if my legs are crooked,\u201d Bo Nix said Tuesday, when I asked if he had noticed our endless fixation with his ankle.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just asked him: \u2018Does it look like my ankles are crooked?\u2019 He sort of gave me a good no. Thank God he didn\u2019t say yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nix required two surgeries to repair an ankle that snapped late in a playoff victory against Buffalo in a manner so improbable that teammates didn\u2019t initially believe it when hearing the bad news Nix would be unable to suit up for the AFC championship game.<\/p>\n
And I do understand the obsession with Nix\u2019s health. Unless No. 10 has good wheels, your favorite NFL team won\u2019t get very far down the road to the Super Bowl during the upcoming season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could go right now, if they wanted me to,\u201d Nix declared.<\/p>\n
But at this mandatory minicamp, all the Broncos wanted to see is if the 26-year-old quarterback could pass some simple tests while doing a few drills with nothing close to tackling allowed.<\/p>\n
June football means absolutely nothing, unless you let your heart, soul (and perhaps an ankle) get wrapped up in the outsized importance of it all.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where the weird and wacky part comes in, my friends.<\/p>\n
During a week when we should\u2019ve all been out in the streets of Denver celebrating a parade for the Stanley Cup champions, I counted no fewer than 50 sports journalists and a dozen TV cameras on tripods, all at Broncos Park to check to see if the surgeons put Nix\u2019s leg back together straight.<\/p>\n
During a stinkin\u2019 football practice, Nix got more local media attention than Nathan MacKinnon and the Avs got for any game before their playoff run came to a revolting end. How does that make any sense? It doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a broken bone, for crying out loud,\u201d Nix said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the inexplicable wow of our insatiable obsession is what makes it Broncomania.<\/p>\n
With bated breath (and full disclosure: a yawn or two from me)\u00a0the media horde eagerly watched as Nix zipped a few nifty spirals and dutifully took notes to make certain the QB wore his sunscreen.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not like today is the first day he\u2019s put sunscreen on,\u201d said Broncos coach Sean Payton.<\/p>\n
Payton has handed over the play-calling duties to Davis Webb, but it\u2019s reassuring to know he kept control of the important stuff, like making sure everyone slathers on the SPF 50 before going out to play in the bright Colorado sun.<\/p>\n
The coach has been in full spin mode ever since he unnecessarily inserted foot in his mouth way back in January, causing alarm in the fanbase by stating that Nix had a preexisting ankle condition that made the fracture inevitable.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of his super powers are his ability to move, not get sacked and find throws. I don\u2019t think any of that will be impacted at all,\u201d said Payton, distinctly singing a much more optimistic tune on this fine late spring afternoon.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, if you believe the sports axiom that the best predictor of future injury is past injury, it\u2019s hard to erase from memory that Nix has suffered a broken ankle while playing football in high school, college and the pros.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I had an ankle injury in high school, we won a state championship,\u201d Nix said. \u201cWhen I had an ankle injury in college, we went and won a lot of games at Oregon.\u201d<\/p>\n
We only worry because we care.<\/p>\n
And also because we\u2019re more than a little orange-and-blue nuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When you\u2019re quarterback of the Broncos, it\u2019s more than a job.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an adventure. In a blue fishbowl. Filled with orange water.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m so old I remember when patrons were drinking beer at the Bull & Bush arguing over the quality of Halloween candy John Elway handed out in the 1980s.<\/p>\n
We all still chuckle about Russell \u201cLet\u2019s Ride\u201d Wilson doing high-knee calisthenics on the team airplane on the way to a game in London.<\/p>\n
When I asked Nix how he felt about all the hands wrung in Broncos Country about the stability of his ankle, he smiled at the wonderful absurdity of it all.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody\u2019s really ever cared this extensively about me for a long time,\u201d\u00a0 Nix said. \u201cSo I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a bad thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve only been covering sports in this dusty old cowtown for 43 years.<\/p>\n
Nothing beats Broncomania. Never has. And never will.<\/p>\n
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