It sits in the back of Scott O'Brien's mind these days, like an unpacked box from a long-ago move.

Just another pile of numbers in all that he has done as a special-teams coach in the NFL. But if O'Brien, who was hired by the Broncos earlier this year, wants to show what it's all about, all he has to do is turn the clock back to 1994.

Because then, on Bill Belichick's staff with the Cleveland Browns, O'Brien's units put together what just might be one of the best special-teams seasons - top to bottom, returns to coverage - in the game's modern era.

"I'm not really a stat guy," O'Brien said. "I believe here, as anywhere I've been, that we will set team standards, our own team standards. You might get compared to the National Football League, but I don't compare us to the National Football League. Our style, our production, is based on what we see. We'll play to our standard.

"I do remember we were pretty good in Cleveland that year. It all came together."

That, it did. On Belichick's only playoff team in his five-year Cleveland tenure, the Browns were ranked in the top 10 in virtually every special-teams category worthy of consideration.

Rick Gosselin, pro football writer for The Dallas Morning News, ranks special-teams units around the league at the end of each season, using more than 20 categories. In the years since he began doing the rankings, no team has finished farther ahead of the No. 2 team than Cleveland in 1994.

The Browns were 110 points ahead of the Broncos that season.

Excluding field goals, the Browns were first in the league that year with 24 points scored on special teams - a total that included two scoring punt returns by Eric Metcalf and one scoring kickoff return by Randy Baldwin - tied for first with zero points allowed in the return game, second in kickoff returns, second in punt coverage, seventh in punts downed inside the 20 and ninth in punt-return average.

Matt Stover also was first in the league that year in field-goal percentage, hitting 26-of-28, including 8-for-8 between 40 and 49 yards.

"It was probably just being part of a staff that worked for a head coach that was ahead of the curve at that time with special teams," O'Brien said. "Bill had been a special-teams coach. . . . If you ever look at Bill's teams, even now, maybe a third of his roster are special-teams players. I think at one time with the Patriots he had three special-teams players who had been to the Pro Bowl as coverage players.

"But I don't really look back. I'm interested in what we're going to do from this point forward."

Heal it up

When defensive end Patrick Kerney entered the free-agent market, some teams said they would have been hesitant to sign the 30-year- old after he missed seven games last season with a torn chest muscle.

Initially, some teams also were operating under the assumption Kerney wouldn't be full speed until May, and even possibly June, to begin working out in earnest for the season.

However, in both of his visits this past week - to Denver and Seattle - Kerney blew that premise right out of the weight room.

Both teams were quick to put huge, multiyear offers on the table - Kerney ended up getting almost $20 million in guaranteed money from the Seahawks - after giving Kerney a physical for themselves.

"I'm great. I've actually started bench- pressing again, two months ahead of schedule," Kerney said in his stay in Denver. "My physical therapist has done a great job, really pushed me through some difficult workouts, made me a lot stronger.

"It's come up exponentially. The first day I started benching again, I had to work up to 135, and two weeks later I was already up to 225, sets of 10 with 225. It's healed great."

Kerney said he could play now if he had to and expects to have no troubles when minicamps begin in May and June.

Bulk up

Though he was the least publicized of the group, guard Montrae Holland's signing may signal a rather significant shift in the way the Broncos have constructed their offensive line.

Having piled up yardage with the smallest line in the league for much of Mike Shanahan's tenure - George Foster was the only starter over 290 pounds when the Broncos opened the 2006 season - there is now a scenario where the Broncos could end up with two or three 300-pounders in the offensive front.

Holland, with 30 career starts with the Saints in his career, likely will be one of those. Erik Pears (305 pounds) could earn the right tackle spot and Chris Kuper (302 pounds), a player the Broncos are privately excited about, will compete hard for a starting guard spot as well.

And the 322-pound Holland, who said he was surprised the Broncos had even called him, would be the heaviest guard in Shanahan's tenure.

Workload

Newly signed Broncos running back Travis Henry obviously likes to roll up his sleeves and get to work. His best seasons have come when he has stayed healthy and kept getting the ball. In the three years in which he has had more than 215 carries, he has rushed for at least 1,200 yards:

Year Starts Carries Yards rushing

2001 12 213 729

2002 16 325 1,438

2003 15 331 1,356

2004 5 94 326

2005 1 88 335

2006 13 270 1,211

legwoldj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2359

Back to Top