In since he announced his retirement from the NFL, sat down with The Denver Post on Thursday and opened up about his bout with injuries, his reasons for stepping away and some of his favorite moments in Denver.
But during the 90-minute conversation, Ware shared much more about his his 12-year NFL career, from his 138.5 career sacks, to his time with and , to the top highlight of his career that left him tears.
What do your 138.5 career sacks mean to you now?
“I look at all these sacks and think about how I got there. It wasn’t from always being the best or being the most heavily recruited or the guy that was the most-sought-after. I went back home last year and I went to the apartment I stayed in and it was No. 56. The person I tried to always model my play after was Lawrence Taylor, but I never thought about 56 that was on that apartment door. You start thinking about those small things and how they progress.
“I look at this right here (the list of quarterbacks he sacked) and look at all the accolades and I feel like it started as a child, wanting to have my own identity instead of just being a football player. I never thought about being a football player because everybody in my family was a football player. I wanted to play baseball. I wanted to run track. I blew my arm out in baseball so I started playing football. It was happenstance. I started playing football and I go to Troy and I’m a 180-pound wide receiver and they stick me at defensive end.
“Itap just really amazing to think about where you start and how you finish your career.”
What are you most proud of in your NFL career?
“I’m most proud of all the lives that I touched. Thatap what itap about. The guys in the locker room, from , to Von Miller, to , to even from the Dallas Cowboys — Jason Witten, Tony Romo, all the guys that I played with — effecting some type of change in their lives. Because thatap everlasting. The relationships.”
Is Von ready to be the next leader of the Broncos?
“Yeah, I think he is. He’s matured so much from his play, his mentality and his knack for football. I know he’s ready. And Shane, same way. The way that he’s really stepped up big time.”
What do you think you’ll miss most about playing?
“I think the locker room. There’s nothing like the locker room because you got guys coming in with UGGs, Christian Louboutins, suits, sweats — everyone is different, but we all come together for the same thing: to win championships. That camaraderie is one thing I know I’m going to miss, just being able to reach out to guys and talk about football.”
Would you consider coaching in the future?
“I don’t know. Right now, I’m spending a lot of time with family and I’m enjoying that time. Coaching is a high demand, but I know I love to teach. I love to mentor to guys and thatap one thing coaches do well.”
In the span of a month, the Cowboys’ all-time sack leader and all-time passing leader retired. Have you talked to Tony Romo since he signed with CBS?
“I haven’t talked to him. He’s been so busy. I know we’ll be talking. I look forward to that conversation. I’ll go back to Dallas and I’ll see him and just chat it up. Especially now, we can just be open about everything.”
You still see the players here in Denver?
“I do. ), Von, Wolfe. Guys still hit me up or I’ll hit them up. I hit Demaryius up because we always used to talk about his weight. He’s a big dude. Not like fat, but a big wide receiver. So I text him and am like, ‘Hey are you 255 right now?’ He’s like, ‘I hate you D-Ware. You’re only 230.’ So we just goof around. I’m always going to have those relationships.”
Do you think it’ll be weird for you when training camp opens?
“Itap going to be weird because my training now is just for health. I train everyday. I still train two hours a day, still jumping over stuff and everything. I can still walk around and be jacked (laughs).
“But itap going to feel really weird when the games start and I’ll want to talk to Shane or Von. Like, ‘Von, this is what you need to do,’ or, ‘You guys know that on 12-personnel, this is whatap coming.’ Because I used to prepare that way. So now, I’m gonna get me some hot wings, get me some pizza and some popcorn with my son and daughter and watch.”
I bet itap nice spending more time with your kids.
“I’m doing more stuff with them and they’re enjoying it. I had them on Facetime and I said, ‘Daddy retired!’ My daughter said, ‘So that means you can come to my lunchtime at school?’ I said, ‘Yep, I’ll come to your lunchtime.’ I had just told her I retired and she said, ‘I have this event coming up. Itap Daddy Doughnut Day on Friday. You can bring doughnuts to my class.’ I’m like, ‘I’ll be there.’”
Do you think they really grasp what you did or what it means now that you’re retired?
“Nah. I don’t think they’re old enough to understand, but they know now that they’re getting a lot more time and having a lot more fun. Instead of coming home on the weekends — because if I had to train, I’d stay here Monday through Thursday and then I’d go home through Sunday and return to Denver on Monday. That was my training regimen. Now I can stay there for five days and come back here. They’re enjoying that a lot more now.”
Your son plays football?
“He plays flag football and soccer. And my daughter, she’s in competition cheer and volleyball.”
Is she the one they throw in the air?
“No, she’s the holder. She’s strong. I went last weekend to a cheer competition and I had to be there at like 7 a.m. and I didn’t know they were screaming and yelling by 8. They’re coming out of the tunnel and doing everything, and I’m like, ‘Are you freaking kidding me?’ And my daughter, the night before, she was like, ‘Dad I have a present for you. I want you to wear this.’ She pulls out a shirt that says “Cheer Dad” on the front. I was like, ‘You want me to wear that?’ She said, ‘Yes. I want you to wear it to cheer.’ This is what I have to look forward to.”
Do you want your son to go on to play tackle football?
“I want him to learn football before he puts pads on. He wants to play and I’ll let him play. But usually kids will be scared to get hit, so learn the game so you’re confident and when you get hit, you’re smarter about it.”
We talked about this before, on who showed you the ropes in the NFL and you mentioned Greg Ellis, your former Cowboys teammate who mentored you when you entered the league. Was he the one who showed you the value of mentoring, or has this been your nature all along?
“Itap always been my nature and thatap why I always gravitated toward guys who are giving and want to see someone else do better. Greg he told me all the time: ‘D-Ware, I’m not fast. The thing is, I’m a technician and if you learn technique, you can learn to be fast, you can learn to be quick, you can learn to overcome your inefficiencies and become a better player. But if you’re very good AND you have the technique, then you’re unstoppable. Because now you’re a thinking machine.’”
Do you think about the Hall of Fame?
“I don’t. I’ll think about it when the time comes. Because I’m not the judge of that. I’ve done everything I can do.”
If given the chance is there anything in your career you’d do differently now?
“I gave it everything that I had, so from a football standpoint, I feel like there was nothing else I could do. But from a mentor standpoint, I feel like I should have done more, not just in the locker room, but have like a group and bring all the guys together and talk about life and delve even deeper so you can change guys off the field.”
What was it like for you last year as you were recovering from multiple injuries but also seeing Shane really come into his own on the field.
“Like I did what I needed to do. From when he first came in as a young pup, I could see the change in him. In life, change is going to happen and you have to be able to accept it and change with it. I saw how he progressed so much — started listening and put his ego to the side.”
If you had a year or two left on your contract with the Broncos, would you have come back?
“I would. Yeah, I would have come back because I would’ve felt like I had something to prove. Thatap everything, because I’ve always been the underdog.”
How bad was your back injury over the last two years or so?
“The last year it was really hard. Really, really hard. I messed it up like the fifth game of the Super Bowl season. After that Raiders game (Oct. 11, 2015), it was never the same. But I was smart enough to be able to play with it. My 70 percent was good enough. I wasn’t 100 percent. I felt it every once in a while, but it took a long time to recover afterward. On Sunday, I could go out there and play, but it would take like five days of recovery to get back there.”
Were the back problems you dealt with here in Denver the same ones you dealt with in Dallas?
“Every year, I’ve always had some type of back problems. My whole career.”
Is that just your body or is that because of the position (DE/OLB)?
“The position. Pass-rushers always have it. Which one doesn’t? The main guys, all of them have it. You’re twisting and bending in an unorthodox position with a 6-foot-6, 350-pound lineman on your back.”
Go back to 2014, that stretch where you were released by Dallas and then you sign with Denver. Kind of a whirlwind. What was that experience like?
“It was really emotional, because you start with a team and play with them for so long (10 years) and then all of a sudden … Itap a business. It wasn’t because I couldn’t play anymore. It was because of the salary cap. I had the opportunity to pick up and start over, which is hard, but I accept change. I also knew what Elway was trying to do by bringing T.J. in, bringing Talib in, bringing me in, and I thought to myself, ‘I get to pass rush with Von, too.’ I thought about how much I could help Von to where we could be the best tandem to ever play in the NFL while I’m here.
“So it was hard, but I accepted and, like I said, once I do that, I don’t turn back.”
What did it feel like to finally win a Super Bowl?
“I got a story for you. So when we beat the Patriots in the AFC championship that year, I was already thinking about the next game. I walk to the locker room and everyone was outside with the confetti and everything. Pat or Seth (Patrick Smyth, the Broncos’ vice president of public relations, and Seth Medvin, Broncos strategic communications manager) came and got me out of the locker room and said, ‘DeMarcus, they’re all out there celebrating.’ So I went outside and was like, ‘This is cool.’ But it didn’t really sink in. I said, ‘I get to go to the Super Bowl and prove a point. I still have something I need to prove.’
“That was the message I gave the guys all week. I told them, ‘They put me in this Super Bowl and we are NOT losing. We’re here now.’
“Once the clock wound down and we won the Super Bowl, it was unreal, but I didn’t quite feel it. I’m a mellow dude. I don’t get too high or too low. I saw the confetti, I saw Peyton (Manning), I saw Von, I had my family there.
“But it really hit me when I walked into the locker room. I’m not a big celebration person, so I walked into the locker room — I was the first person in the locker room — and ‘Flip’ (Chris Valenti, Broncos equipment manager) put the trophy in my locker. Itap sitting there and nobody was in there, so I picked it up and thatap when I got really emotional. This is what I worked for. This is why I lead. All the blood, sweat and tears. And then Peyton comes in and itap just me and Peyton. Everyone else is out there celebrating. We look at each other and we hugged each other with the trophy in between.”
Thatap the highest highlight for you?
“Thatap the highest. Walking in at the quietest time in the locker room and seeing that trophy in my locker. That was … I can’t even describe the feeling.”
Will you get a copy of the Lombardi Trophy?
“I will. I’ll put it in the house.”
