Friday, May 25, 2012

Broncos Zone to merge with BroncoTalk on June 1st

On June 1st, Broncos Zone will merge with BroncoTalk, a Denver Broncos blog, news and fan site.  Broncos Zone's Jon Heath will continue to cover the Broncos for the new and improved BroncoTalk (which will be up and running on the 1st, if everything goes as planned). 

If you're interested in the sappy story behind Broncos Zone, continue reading.  Otherwise, head over to BroncoTalk and comment on every article about how excited you are about the merger.

In the summer of 2008, I stumbled across BroncoTalk and instantly became one of the site's most loyal readers, visiting the blog daily.  Reading the analysis and informative information on BroncoTalk sparked my desire to share my own opinion on the state of the Broncos and led me to create Broncos Zone on June 25th, 2008.

After several months of covering the team, I was contacted Garrett Barnes (formerly of BroncoMadness.com) and asked to contribute to his site in addition to running Broncos Zone. After joining Bronco Madness, I contributed to the site two years before Garrett shutdown the blog, citing that it had become more of a chore and less of a hobby.  Shortly after this happened, I was contacted again, this time by Kyle Montgomery (of BroncoTalk).

Kyle invited me to join BroncoTalk's staff as a contributor and I eagerly accepted his offer.  On June 9th, 2010, I wrote my first article for BroncoTalk.  Former Broncos cornerback Perrish Cox agreeing to terms with the team was the subject of my first BT post.

Four years later, Perrish Cox is now with the San Francisco 49ers and I am about to become BroncoTalk's Social Media Manager and an Editor on the site.  Details omitted, a lot of things have changed over the past two years.

Broncos Zone wouldn't have grown into the site it became -- one that helped launch me into bigger things -- if it weren't for the suggestions, guidance and support provided by several phenomenal people.  I have been blessed and I want to thank Garrett and Kyle for giving opportunities to write for their respective websites, Bert Jan Brands who wrote for this site as a contributor (and now covers the entire NFL for SportAmerika.nl, an European sports website) and Krystal, who contributed to the site in many ways, including as a photographer and editor.

I also cannot overlook BroncoTalk's Ian Henson (who also contributes to MaxDenver) and has provided suggestions and advice, Kyle Sonneman (the Broncos former Director of Team Media) who answered every question I asked, and Patrick Smyth (the Broncos Director of Media Relations) who has given me tremendous advice and support.

The tens of thousands of readers -- located in ten different countries -- who have followed Broncos Zone also receive my gratitude.  You are the reason the site is here, so thank you.

I want to especially thank one reader, areferee.  The Ref has supported my writing through everything -- when others are critiquing a typo here and a grammatical error there, Ref has always been understanding and level-headed.  Thanks for keeping it real, Ref.

It's been a fun ride here at Broncos Zone. The time has come though to go onward and upward.  Be sure to check out BroncoTalk's Facebook and Twitter pages and check out the blog daily for coverage of our beloved Denver Broncos provided by Kyle, the rest of the BroncoTalk staff and me, starting Friday, June 1st.