Finally discarding his crutches about 10 days ago apparently was a lot bigger deal to Rod Smith than turning 37 on Tuesday.
The Broncos’ all-time leader in most receiving categories had to watch in street clothes as his teammates went through a two-hour camp workout at the team’s Dove Valley headquarters Thursday. At least Smith can get around easier, although he remains stiff and sore from late-February hip surgery and he still can’t jog.
As for his birthday, don’t ask.
“I don’t want to talk about age; my age has nothing to do with it,” Smith told reporters Thursday. “If they didn’t think I could go out there and perform, they wouldn’t have me in the building. It’s that simple.”
Smith said he has given absolutely no thought to retirement and vows to help the Broncos rebound from a 9-7 record last season that left them out of the playoffs. But, Smith said, he will not go onto the field unless the hip feels 100 percent.
“I want to make sure I’m out there making the football team better and not worse,” Smith said, then recalled his struggles last season. “It probably never was more than 80 percent during any game.
“My thing is to make plays. I realized how much it limited me after I looked back at it. It was putting way too much strain on my body to make the routine plays I was used to making. I’ll be a lot smarter about my decision to go back on the football field.”
Smith said more damage was discovered in his hip than he and his Vail surgeon anticipated.
“After the doctor went in there and looked, he said, ‘There’s no way you played (last season),”‘ Smith recalled. “There was more than a tear. There was cartilage damage. There was bone on bone. Parts of it was bone spurs. Chips, fragments, all that.
“I told him I played every game. He said, ‘Well, I don’t see how.”‘
Smith never wanted to tell anybody, but his hip began bothering him in 2004.
“I consider myself a little tougher than most people, but after a while it’s ridiculous to do that stuff to your body,” Smith said.
Broncos coach Mike Shana- han hopes Smith can get back on the field by the start of training camp in late July. Smith ranks fourth among active NFL receivers with 849 catches in 13 seasons.
“If I can’t be productive – they don’t have to fire me. I’m going to leave, on my own,” Smith said. “I’ll be happy with it either way. But I honestly think I can get back to my 2005 form (85 catches, six TDs), not 2006 (52 catches, three TDs).
“I just feel I have some energy and desire to go back out there to help this football team get to the top.”
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
