They stand united, grizzled and wise. They are NFL redwoods, only with greater mobility and limbs that wrap.
It’s not enough to say that in John Lynch and Nick Ferguson, the Broncos’ safety tandem is among the NFL’s oldest. Lynch and Ferguson are the oldest.
“I think anybody you put with me is going to be part of the oldest tandem in the league,” Lynch said. “But a guy like Nick, who’s been all over the world, I think he’s deserving of being part of it.”
Lynch, 35, is the senior statesman of NFL defensive backs. He has enjoyed somewhat of a Golden Boy career, with a few stiff fines mixed in for hard hits. A former quarterback at Stanford, a second-round draft pick of baseball’s Florida Marlins, a third- round pick of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Lynch has won a Super Bowl and been named to eight Pro Bowls.
By comparison, Ferguson is a football vagabond whose career path finally settled a few years ago. He is 32 and coming off season-ending knee surgery – mere nuisances next to the challenges he has already conquered. One of 11 children who grew up in the projects of Miami, Ferguson walked on at two colleges, joined the NFL as an undrafted free agent, played two seasons in Canadian cities of Saskatchewan and Winnipeg, two more in NFL Europe and has been cut by three NFL teams. As recently as 2003, Ferguson was a coaching intern in Europe.
“I love his story,” Lynch said. “The guy’s so passionate about football. He had a dream and kept after it when a lot of people would have moved on.”
These divergent backgrounds have come together for a third season as the Broncos’ starting safeties.
Young in life, downright kids at play, Lynch and Ferguson nevertheless constantly hear cracks about their old age. In the relatively brief lifespan that is an NFL career, graybeards are classified as anyone older than 30. For the Broncos’ safety tandem, the chronological milestone will only fall further from memory during the 2007 season when Lynch (36 in September) and Ferguson (33 in November) celebrate birthdays.
“The last time I checked, I didn’t find any gray hairs in my beard,” Ferguson said recently during a mini-camp media gathering. “I’m not dying my hair, either. But, yeah, the big thing this past offseason was not just the injury, but the sense that both me and John are getting older. But to us, age is nothing. It’s an afterthought. That’s something for you guys to write about.”
While Ferguson’s defiance is palpable, Lynch accepts his relative advanced years with honor. It sure beats the alternative. Think Al Wilson, the Broncos’ Pro Bowl middle linebacker who was just released at 29 amid health concerns, wouldn’t mind growing a little older in the NFL?
“It’s a blessing,” Lynch said. “I say it over and over again, I wouldn’t still be here if I didn’t think I could play. And, for that matter, this organization – I’m sure they like me and all, but unless you’re playing well they aren’t going to have you here just to be here. Some people will say, ‘He brings leadership.’ But believe me, leadership doesn’t come unless you can play in this league.”
There’s not another pair like Lynch and Ferguson, not even close. Only two other teams, New England and New Orleans, have two 30-something safeties on their roster. And from that group, only the Patriots’ Rodney Harrison, who is coming off a major knee injury, tops the respective depth charts.
The Patriots just compensated, drafting University of Miami safety Brandon Meriweather with their first-round pick.
Broncos coach Mike Shana- han shared no such concerns. Each of the Broncos’ four draft picks last month were linemen – three on defense (Jarvis Moss, Tim Crowder, Marcus Thomas), one on offense (Ryan Harris).
Safety? Wait until next year, at least. The Broncos believed a high-round pick on a safety this year would have gone wasted.
“Who was he going to beat out?” Shanahan said. “Age has nothing to do with it. It’s playing ability. Nick played very well and John was in the Pro Bowl. We have good depth at the backup position, when you look at Curome Cox, when you look at Domonique Foxworth, when you look at Sam Brandon. There was a good chance a draft choice would not have made our football team.”
Ferguson’s wayward travels help explain why he brings so much versatility to his strong safety position. He has played in so many systems, learned from so many coaches, accepted so many roles.
“He’s a great cover safety,” Broncos tight end Daniel Graham said. “He’s very aggressive.”
Graham played five previous years with New England and often matched up against the Broncos’ safeties, as he does now during mini-camp. While Ferguson often is assigned to covering tight ends such as Antonio Gates and Tony Gonzalez, Lynch usually is free to create havoc from either “the box,” where he serves as a fourth linebacker, or farther back to the space where a receiver dares to cross.
Wherever he goes, Lynch often is found seeping inside a pass-catcher’s mind.
“Oh, yeah, you’re always aware of him,” Graham said. “You’re always aware of the guy who wants to hit you. You’ve got to keep your head on a swivel.”
Different upbringings and different styles have converged to form the NFL’s oldest set of safeties. It’s a distinction, not an insult. The Broncos’ safeties never would have lived past draft day if Shanahan didn’t also think Lynch and Ferguson were among the best.
“As you know, Coach Shana- han is a smart man, and that’s a smart decision,” Ferguson said. “As far as me and John are concerned, it doesn’t matter who you bring in here, they’re just going to be standing next to him on the sideline.”
Staff writer Mike Klis can be reached at 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com.
