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Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2000
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Where had you gone, T.D.?
All is well again in the football world after Terrell’s return
By Andy Hanacek, Associate editor
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| I watched a great thing on Sunday. It made me
smile and feel all tingly inside. That was the return of Terrell Davis. Maybe it’s
the Chunky soup in me talking, but Davis is the kind of player the NFL needs on the field.
He’s a good guy and a superstar player who’s been out of action far too long. So
it was about time that he came back. You see, in many years past I wasn’t a huge fan
of the "dynasty-like" 49ers and Cowboys, who seemed to always be in the Super
Bowl or at least contending for it. They always seemed to have a jerk or two on the team
and often seemed smug about their domination. But for some reason I don’t feel that
way about the Broncos, and I’m happy to see them do well again — especially
Terrell Davis. And for the Broncos to do well, they need T.D. back at 100 percent.
QB Brian Griese knows that’s a fact. He told The Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.):
"He’s a great player for us. He’s a spark on our offense and somebody that
we need if we want to go to the Super Bowl."
This one’s a no-brainer: The Broncos are a far better team with Davis in the
backfield. Just look at the team’s record last year, when Davis played in only the
first three-and-a-half games. The Broncos went 6-10 as a follow-up to their Super Bowl win
the previous year.
Davis tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in the fourth game and was
placed on I.R. for the rest of the year.
Sunday’s game was the first since his injury in which he was the featured back
again. Davis carried 33 times for 115 yards and one touchdown, leading the Broncos to a
30-23 victory over the Jets. He had appeared in three games previously this season, but he
only carried 24 times in those games.
Head coach Mike Shanahan said he was surprised with the workload that Davis took on
this weekend. Even Davis was concerned throughout the game that he wouldn’t make it
to the end of the game. When he reached the fourth quarter, he said he knew he’d make
it to the end.
Isn’t that amazing? The man is tentative that he would re-injure the knee or the
ankle (sprained early this season in his first comeback attempt), but he still rushes for
115 yards? Imagine what Davis might do when he knows his knee is solid!
You can attribute much of last year’s collapse to several factors, including
losing QB John Elway (retired) and starting unproven (at the time) Griese. But Griese is
turning into a budding superstar passer, and with Terrell back, the Broncos will be back
in the hunt for the division title as soon as next year. |
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