ENGLEWOOD - They had him at hello.

Yes, Travis Henry's agent, Hadley Engelhard, and the Broncos might have done the negotiation dance to a five-year deal that included $12 million in guaranteed money, but Henry was a running back on the open market.

And for a running back, the Broncos are a match made in 1,000-yard heaven.

"It was a no-brainer for me," Henry said Monday. "Once I stepped off that plane and got a chance to meet with the coaches, I just had a good feeling about it. Meeting with coach (Mike) Shanahan, talking, getting a feel for what they've got going on here.

"I knew it was a no-brainer. I knew I wanted to be here, to be a part of something. To run the ball the way they do, to have a chance to win a championship. I believe I can do that here. And maybe the most important thing is, they believe I can do that here."

And while the draft is a team's chance to select the players it wants, free agency is a player's chance to test the laws of supply and demand.

So, though Henry has been picked for the Pro Bowl in his career, rushed for at least 1,000 yards three times and earned a reputation for toughness that included playing with a fractured bone in his lower leg in Buffalo, the Broncos were the ones to tell him what he has wanted to hear:

He is the guy.

Asked if that, indeed, is the message the Broncos gave him, Henry, 29, said with a smile, "I'm hoping I'm the guy."

Then, after a brief pause, he added, "Yeah, that's pretty much the case. Yes."

In many ways, Henry has been one of the league's what-about- me backs. He was on the way to two successive 1,300-yard seasons in Buffalo, yet the Bills still took Willis McGahee in the first round of the 2003 draft.

Then, after a trade to Tennessee, Henry was set to be at the front of the line in the Titans' backfield, but they took Denver native LenDale White in the second round of the 2006 draft.

Henry still pounded out 1,211 yards last season, but the Titans released him instead of paying him a roster bonus in excess of $8 million.

Tennessee wanted him back, and even put an offer on the table - the deal included $8 million in guaranteed money - but by then, Henry had his eyes on another prize.

"I've got to tell you, it felt good, really good, to know they wanted me here," Henry said. "I'm thrilled to be a part of what's going on, excited and ready to get started to go out and do it.

"I mean (Titans running backs coach) Sherman Smith had called me and we talked and he made it clear that he wanted me there, that they wanted me there. But for whatever reason, we didn't get it worked out. I'm a Bronco now. That's life, it's a business."

Within minutes of his release by the Titans, Henry became one of the Broncos' first targets in free agency.

The Broncos got the first visit and Henry never made it anywhere else, though Green Bay and Oakland were hoping to take their swings.

The Broncos didn't let him out of town until the deal was done.

Shanahan said just after the Super Bowl that, despite finishing eighth in the league with 2,152 yards, the Broncos would be looking to upgrade the running game because "we were not nearly as good as we'd like to be, as we're used to."

Shanahan has also relived the Broncos' loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the regular-season finale when Denver failed to power in for a touchdown on three difference first-and-goal chances inside the 49ers 5-yard line.

"Travis is a proven rusher in this league who runs with authority," Broncos general manager Ted Sundquist said. "A guy who can bring that degree of - for lack of a better word - authority back to our running game."

"I run with a lot of authority . . . ," Henry said. "(I want to) go out and do what the other guys have done.

"With my running style, I really think I can put up some big numbers . . . I think I can put up some big, big numbers."

ETC.: Henry said he would offer Broncos running back Mike Bell $10,000 to switch jersey numbers so Henry could have the No. 20 he has worn since he was at the University of Tennessee. Asked whether he would go higher, Henry said he'll do "whatever it takes." . . . The Broncos retained receiver/kicker returner Quincy Morgan, signing him to a deal Monday. . . . Free-agent defensive tackle Alfonso Boone, who visited the Broncos last week, was in Kansas City, Mo. Defensive tackle Ian Scott, a teammate of Boone's with the Bears last season, was scheduled to be in Denver this week.

First time is grand

• In coach Mike Shanahan's 12-season tenure, six running backs have rushed for more than 1,000 yards in their first year as a Broncos starter. Newly acquired Travis Henry is hoping to become the seventh.

Year Running back Att. Yards Avg. Long TD

1995 Terrell Davis 237 1,117 4.7 60 7

1999 Olandis Gary 276 1,159 4.2 77 1

2000 Mike Anderson 297 1,487 5.0 80 15

2002 Clinton Portis 273 1,508 5.5 59 15

2004 Reuben Droughns 275 1,240 4.5 51 6

2006 Tatum Bell 233 1,025 4.4 51 2

legwoldj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2359

Back to Top