BRONCOS READY TO FACE NEW FOLK HERO
Quarterback has interesting way of seeing things and effective way of playing
To understand why the lot of us — the cynical scribes, the camera jockeys, the company men, the free world — can’t get enough of Gardner Minshew right now, we offer up this exchange, from Broncos HQ on Wednesday, shortly after lunch hour:
Reporter: I’m reading this story that you tried to break your own hand? How much of that is true?
Minshew, via speakerphone: “One hundred percent, man. I wouldn’t tell a lie.” Reporter: So how much of it did you break? Minshew: “I didn’t break it. That’s why I said it was a try — it was an attempted break.”
Reporter: So was it … sprained? Sore? Minshew: “It was sore … . That’s about it.” Reporter: Why did you think that was a good idea?
Minshew: “To get a medical redshirt to play more football.”
Minshew Mania — which hits Denver on Sunday when the Broncos (0-3) host rookie sensation Minshew
and his Jacksonville Jaguars (1-2) — has layers, kids. And you can snuggle up with any one you like.
The ’stache. The aviator shades. The jorts. The headbands. The leisure suits. The semi-naked stretching routine in the locker room. The journey from walk-on quarterback at Troy to East Carolina to (almost) Alabama to Washington State to the NFL. But there might not be a better single Mania anecdote than the one the Jags signal-caller shared last week on the “Pardon My Take” podcast.
Short version: In the hopes of getting one more year of collegiate eligibility while at East Carolina, Minshew one day went home, grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and a hammer, and start pounding the snot out of his hand — alternating with swigs from the bottle to numb the pain.
He gave up after three whacks, realizing he couldn’t break it. Minshew told his coaches the bruises and lumps were because he had slammed the hand in a car door, then went out and threw for 220 yards in his next appearance.
The story hops the fine line between “clever” and “stupid” about 16 different times. But it also underscores four central traits of the Minshew legend, and why he has taken to the pro game so quickly: The cat’s a free thinker, a quick thinker, a creative thinker — and an absolute gamer. Bonkers, but a gamer. “He’s one of those guys that can really take it from the classroom and take it on the field and really do what you talked about,” Jacksonville coach Doug Marrone said. “He really doesn’t get rattled. There’s a confidence about him. It’s not cockiness, not an overconfidence. Those are some of the things that I’ve been impressed with, outside of what everyone else can see, as far as his skill level.”
Everyone can see now — although CU Buffs fans could’ve told you this after he lit up Folsom Field for 335 passing yards last fall in a 31-7 Washington State rout — that the dude can flat-out play. A sixth-round steal who was handed the keys by Marrone after Plan A, Nick Foles, got hurt in the opener, Minshew already ranks among the NFL’s top 10 in completion percentage (73.9) and passer rating (110.6), with five touchdown tosses against one pick.
“I mean, I’m 6-1, I don’t run very fast, I don’t have a super-strong arm, you know?” Minshew cracked. “So that’s (not) kind of what people are drafting nowadays.”
It’s the old truism about NFL scouts, for the gazillionth time, falling in love with physical specs while whiffing on intangibles.
“I think what people don’t realize is, I enjoy it, I have fun, but you ask anybody in (our) building and they’ll tell you how hard I work and how serious I do take it,” Minshew said. “But I think there’s a fine line, where if you don’t enjoy it, it can wear you down.”
That joy — especially in a league where buttoned-down and all-business is the baseline and where sourpuss Bill Belichick is the bar — can be contagious. The
joy and the total lack of filter from Minshew when he’s asked about …
• The Broncos’ 0-3 start: “That’s shocking. I know a lot of people are down on them. They’re a lot better than what their record says.”
• Meeting Von Miller: “Hopefully, it’s after the game.”
• Being compared to fellow free spirit and former Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer: “That’s pretty cool. ‘Jake The Snake.’ That’s awesome.”
• The Mania: “It doesn’t really affect me or anything. It’s just noise.”
• His favorite Mike Leach story: “My favorite Mike Leach stories, I can’t repeat.”
• Whipping CU in Boulder: “I remember seeing the buffalo (Ralphie). That was freaking awesome. Seeing him (actually her) run the field, that was a lot of fun.” Again: Bonkers, but a gamer. “When I met Gardner, I’m not kidding, it was after “College Gameday” last year,” former Broncos return man and Washington State alum River Cracraft said of Minshew, with whom he has several mutual friends.
“(Wazzu) had just beaten Oregon, and I went over to my buddy’s house and Gardner was there. This dude was wearing a leather jacket with no shirt under it, unzipped, a big gold chain, some aviators and a headband. It was like midnight. And I said, ‘This guy is a winning quarterback.’ That was my first impression: ‘I like this guy.’ ”