It’s Monday, meaning the punt Todd Sauerbrun launched Sunday afternoon ought to be landing any minute now.
Talk about your cannon shots. That thing left Earth, circled around the sun and made a u-turn at Mars before dropping into the end zone 80 yards away.
The kick elicited a roar from the crowd of 1,900, but a shrug of the shoulders from Mike Shanahan.
“We’ve been watching him do that since he’s been here,” Shanahan said. “He’s trying to make field goals back there.”
Sauerbrun after the kick raised both arms, index fingers extended in the air. No. 1, as in Sauerbrun’s place on the unofficial training-camp depth chart.
His league-mandated suspension in the rear-view mirror, Sauerbrun figures to play a major role in the Broncos’ improved special-teams play. How do we know it will be improved? Because it couldn’t possibly get any worse than last year.
Forget all the other stats. All you need to know is this: The Broncos in 2006 had the worst starting field position of any team in the league. They began their average drive on their own 27-yard line, compared to the 33 for their opponents.
Do not — repeat, do not — underestimate those numbers in trying to explain the Broncos not making the playoffs. They were enough to prompt Shanahan to hire Scott O’Brien, one of the NFL’s most accomplished special-teams coaches, during the offseason.
The return of Sauerbrun after a stint with the Patriots figures to make O’Brien’s job easier. All he has to do is keep Sauerbrun, the ultimate free spirit — OK, flake — on the field. He has had alleged steroids issues and was bounced by the league for four games after testing positive for a banned stimulant.
Sauerbrun, owner of the league’s highest net average (37.1 yards) in the 21st century, has vowed his issues are a thing of the past. If so, he’ll be free to keep launching moon shots on the field.
So what did he think of his 80-yarder?
“Nice,” Sauerbrun said. “That will work, won’t it?”
Jim Armstrong issues regular reports from training camp throughout the day along with video takes from the sidelines and snippets where fans get to do the talking. Visit .
