The tape never lies.
You may remember the farce of a game that took place between the Broncos and Saints last November. Starting practice-squad wide receiver Kendall Hinton at quarterback, the Broncos took a biblical beating at the hands of New Orleans, managing just six first downs and 112 total yards in a 31-3 loss at Denver’s Empower Field. The Broncos’ only completed pass came on a 13-yard strike to tight end Noah Fant early in the third quarter.
The Broncos, who already had a game against the Patriots postponed due to COVID earlier that season, were without their top four quarterbacks with Drew Lock, Brett Rypien, Blake Bortles and Jeff Driskel all absent for Week 12. Lock, Rypien and Bortles were each considered “close contacts” of Driskel, who tested positive for the virus.
Apparently, there’s even more to the story with Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times revealing that Denver’s quarterbacks, in a hasty attempt to evade the league’s COVID protocols, removed their contact-tracing devices, placing them in opposite corners of the room before watching film together. They may have gotten away with it too, but unfortunately for them, the ill-advised stunt was captured on surveillance video at the Broncos’ facility. All were immediately quarantined and ruled ineligible for that week’s game against the Saints.
“John Elway, Denver’s president of football operations, made several frustrated pleas to Goodell to postpone the Sunday game until Tuesday, when the quarterbacks would be available,” Farmer wrote Tuesday in a profile chronicling the NFL’s handling of COVID-19. “The league denied those requests because surveillance video from Denver’s facility showed the quarterbacks had tried to fool the system.”
So essentially, the Broncos dug their own grave, dooming their chances by trying to pull a fast one on Roger Goodell. The NFL’s “no-nonsense” approach to fighting COVID has been met with some resistance by players, though others have applauded the league for taking matters seriously amid the deadliest global pandemic of our lifetime.
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram