ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—Since the start of training camp, the Denver Broncos have seen the last two links to their Super Bowl title teams limp out of Dove Valley.
Rod Smith, the team’s career receiving leader, called it a career in July because of a bum hip and this week 37-year-old center Tom Nalen went on season-ending injured reserve with a bad left knee that hasn’t responded to two recent operations.
In all likelihood, Nalen’s career is over, too. He’s in the final year of his contract and he missed almost all of last season with a torn biceps.
“It’s tough,” quarterback Jay Cutler said Wednesday. “He walked out today and when he’ll be back, we’re not really sure.”
Veteran center Casey Wiegmann is turning out to be Denver’s biggest offseason signing, but the Broncos were still bummed out about Nalen on Wednesday, one day after he was placed on IR.
“I wanted to get the chance to play with him. I’m bummed out,” rookie receiving sensation Eddie Royal said. “I’ve seen film on him. He’s definitely a Hall of Famer.”
Shanahan wouldn’t argue with that.
“It is always hard to lose a great player and a great leader,” Shanahan said. “I’ve been with Tommy right from the start, and he is everything you look for in a person and in a player. It is tough to see a guy like that be injured like he has and go through the rehab he has gone through.
“If there is anybody that can play with pain, it is him. When he can’t play you know it is very serious.”
Until the league mandated that players speak to reporters last season, Nalen was the leading proponent of the Denver offensive line’s long-standing silent treatment, a unifying though sometimes silly practice that was started by Hall of Fame tackle Gary Zimmerman in the 1990s.
Nalen could be engaging, but few people outside of Denver know him well because he refused to let any outsiders into his personal space, even declining to react on the record when opponents who accused him of dirty play.
His teammates saw a different side of him, however.
“He’s funny,” Royal said. “He’s a different guy. He’s always cracking jokes.”
Yet, he was regarded as one of the league’s most menacing offensive linemen for 15 seasons.
“If you didn’t know him, you were intimidated by him just by his look at his demeanor,” Denver defensive tackle Kenny Peterson said. “He gets the job done. He knows the tricks of the trade that most centers don’t know.”
But now he’s probably played his last down in Denver.
“It will be weird,” Cutler said. “I was just with Tom at the meetings. I asked him what he was going to do today because for the past 14, 15, 16 years on Wednesdays, he’s always been here. Tommy, he will be around. He’s one of the leaders on offense, one of the leaders in the offensive meeting rooms, especially the offensive line.
“It’s going to be tough, but I think one of our best pickups in the offseason was getting Casey. He steps right in, doesn’t miss a beat as the leader of the offensive line.”
Coach Mike Shanahan said Wednesday that Wiegmann’s signing was driven by the need for depth and not because of any concern over Nalen’s health.
“To be honest with you, we were not really aware of any setback that Tom had,” Shanahan said. “We thought Tom would be 100 percent. Casey was such a great player from Kansas City for so many years and we were just shocked that he was on the street. When we saw that he was on the street, we just tried to gobble him up as quickly as we could knowing that any injury is possible during the season.”
Wiegmann, in his 13th NFL season, spent the past seven seasons with AFC West rival Kansas City. He is s anchoring a retooled offensive line that has protected Cutler (sacked once so far) and opened up big holes for Selvin Young (a whopping 6.9 yards a carry) despite having no returning starters from last season.
Guard Dylan Gandy replaced Nalen on the team’s 53-man roster Wednesday.
Cutler said that while he and his center aren’t always on the same page yet, Wiegmann is invaluable for a young team long on talent but short on experience.
“Casey has seen it all. He knows all about the AFC West and what the Broncos are about and the teams that we play. He knows everything about schemes,” Cutler said. “It’s really like we never lost Tom.”
Well, there’s one difference between the two.
“Tom is a little grumpier maybe,” Cutler said.
