ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—Dregs on defense a year ago, the Denver Broncos celebrated a trio of Pro Bowl selections Tuesday with pass-rushers Elvis Dumervil and Von Miller joining star cornerback Champ Bailey on the AFC squad.
Bailey was named to his 11th Pro Bowl on Tuesday, extending his own record for cornerbacks.
“What makes it special to me now is I’m in my 13th year, and you don’t see guys going to the Pro Bowl this late in their career,” Bailey said. “For me to be able to do it, it feels good, and it feels like I’ve got a lot more left.”
Bailey said he thinks he can make several more trips to Hawaii, too.
“I just think it’s … being healthy and my competitive nature. I thrive on these Sundays and it keeps me going. I don’t see it diminishing at all right now,” he said. “When I try to think about what’s coming after my career, I can’t even think that far because I feel like I have so much left.
“I’ll have to be real with myself at some point, but right now, I feel good, I feel healthy and I’ve been blessed to be healthy throughout my career.”
Bailey was named a starter, as was Miller, the rookie inside linebacker who has 11 1/2 sacks but has been slowed this month by a cumbersome cast protecting his surgically repaired right thumb. Dumervil is going for a second time, as a backup defensive end—but he’ll also start because Patriots’ pass-rusher Andre Carter is on injured reserve.
So, the Broncos will have three defensive starters in the Pro Bowl.
“It’s definitely promising,” Miller said. “We weren’t always smooth this season … Hopefully we can get a win this weekend and make this playoff run, but it’s definitely showing what type of team that we can be in the future.”
Dumervil missed the entire 2010 season with a torn chest muscle, and he also fought through shoulder and ankle ailments early this season.
“It was kind of tough, but I knew all along that once I got healthier, I could help the team,” Dumervil said. “That’s all I’ve been trying to do, just trying to play big-time football and not worry about too many things at a time.”
Dumervil hit his stride after the first month of the season, playing like he did two years ago, when he led the league in sacks.
“I was happy for him more than anybody,” Bailey said, “just because I know how hard he worked this offseason, and then to overcome the things he went through the early part of the season and then still be able to make it, that’s amazing to me.”
Bailey said he was equally excited for Miller, the second overall pick in the draft who has lived up to his high expectations.
“I don’t even think he understands how special that is,” Bailey said. “Not a lot of guys are fortunate enough to go in as a rookie.”
Humble as usual, Miller said he felt fortunate to make it to the Pro Bowl as a rookie, noting, “I’m still a long way away from being the player that I want to be.”
“I’m probably going to be wide-eyed being around all those great guys and those talented athletes,” Miller said. “It’s going to be hard not to ask everybody for an autograph.”
The Broncos also have a trio of first alternates in tailback Willis McGahee, left tackle Ryan Clady and strong safety Brian Dawkins.
Quarterback Tim Tebow, who supplanted Kyle Orton after the Broncos stumbled to a 1-4 start, is a second alternate, as are punter Britton Colquitt and kicker Matt Prater, who have played key roles in Denver’s turnaround from a franchise-worst 4-12 last year to 8-7 with a chance to clinch the AFC West title Sunday against Orton and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Tebow stands a good chance of playing in the all-star game because it’s common for many quarterbacks to bypass the Pro Bowl, which this year is being played the week before the Super Bowl, instead of after.
“I’m one of Tim Tebow’s biggest fans,” Miller said. “He should be starting in that mug if you ask me.”
Last year, the Broncos ranked at or near the bottom of the league in every major defensive category, and Bailey was a backup Pro Bowler who only got invited to play in Hawaii when Nnamdi Asomugha skipped the annual all-star game for medical reasons.
“I think it’s promising. It’s a good way to say, ‘OK, we’ve got some talent,’ and obviously we’ve got more talent around the three of us,” Bailey said. “It says a lot about what we’ve been able to do lately, and where we go from here is up to us. How good do we want to be? We’re just part of it. It takes 11 guys to be special, so until we’ve got everybody on the same page all the time, that’s when we’ll be great.”
———
Reach out to AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter:
