Around the web: Happy Birthday, John Elway

Due to the slow time of year for Bronco news, we haven't posted in a week, and our hits have diminished, we are hoping things start hopping again in the near future (mid-July). In the meantime, here are some Bronco-related links for your reading enjoyment.

Happy Birthday to John Elway, who turned 5o today! One thing on Elway's bucket list is to rejoin the Broncos, he hopes to become an untitled adviser to, and part-time coach for, the Broncos, offering "the experience and knowledge I have about football." I love the idea, and doubt any Bronco fan would object.

The Broncos announced on Monday that tickets for individual games during the 2010 season will go on sale beginning Saturday, July 10, at 11 a.m. MDT. Ticket availability will vary, but a limited number of tickets (mostly single seats) will be available for all home games beginning that Saturday. The Broncos have sold out 309 consecutive regular-season games dating back to 1970 for the NFL’s second-longest such streak. For ticket prices, head over to the team's official website.

Over at BroncoTalk.net, Mr. East and I put together our predictions of who will make the Broncos 45-man gameday roster. We started with offense, with three QB's dressing, and some potential surprises at the Wide Receiver position. Then came defense, we differed at every position, save the special teamers - who are no-brainers.

Madden NFL 11 has released overall team and player ratings, a few Broncos are finally getting the Madden rating respect they've deserved for a long time. Pro Bowl Left Tackle Ryan Clady has the 7th best overall rating in the game, coming in at 98. Right Tackle Ryan Harris is ranked the 7th best RT, with a 85 rating. Elvis Dumervil is ranked the 3rd best ROLB, coming in behind DeMarcus Ware and James Harrison with a still to low 93 rating. Champ Bailey owns the 4th best cornerback rating, 95. Brian Dawkins is ranked the 6th best Free Saftey, earning a 90 rating. Matt Prater didn't make the top 8 kickers list, which means his rating is an 88-or lower, which seems an injustice for a kicker who just missed the Pro Bowl.
The Madden 11 overall team ratings for the AFC West look just like the standings have over the past 5 years, with San Diego atop with an 85, Denver trailing with an 78, and Kansas City battling it out with Oakland, sharing a 71 rating.

Much like they are hoping for Kyle Orton, the Broncos expect Jabar Gaffney to come up big in his second season in the Broncos offense, both players feel more comfortable entering their second Bronco seasons. "The more you're in it, the more comfortable you feel in it," said Jabar Gaffney. "The more you understand what you can and can't do and realize what the defense is doing a little bit faster. Hopefully I'll be able to go out there and recognize stuff and be able to get to the right place and feel comfortable doing it, knowing we're going to make the right play."

According to the Denver Broncos` public relations staff, since the 1970 merger the Broncos have never had a rookie center start the first game of the season. Walton, a third-round pick, has an excellent chance to be the first. The Broncos have had just five rookie linemen start the season opener. Since 1992, the only rookie offensive lineman to start the Broncos' opener is Ryan Clady. The thought of throwing a rookie into the fire with that much pressure frightened blogger Bryan Douglass, but if recent history repeats itself, Walton should do fine.

You really didn't think you'd get through a Around the web post without a Tim Tebow-related link did you? Not only will Tebow be the cover athleate of NCAA Football 11, but "better than any quarterback coming into the league" in Madden NFL 11, according to ratings guru Donny Moore. "Tebow will be the best trucking quarterback in 'Madden' this year," Moore told ESPN.com. "He's not the most elusive, but in terms of breaking tackles and power, he will be able to put down his shoulder and run over a few defenders. A lot of this is fluid, but right now in 'Madden 11,' we have Tebow at 80 speed and 92 acceleration. Trucking, carrying the ball, like I said, he's going to be better than any quarterback coming into the league."
As I noted above, we are hoping things start to pick up again around here, and are expecting to really get rolling come the end of July - when the Broncos start up Training Camp. We'll be at Training Camp for the first week, bringing you coverage of practice. Be sure to check the blog daily for Bronco updates, as well as "Like" us on Facebook, and "Follow" us on Twitter!