The news sunk in slowly Thursday for Broncos players that their final mandatory minicamp practice would not go as planned. It dropped in a morning meeting with coach Vic Fangio leading the room with a projector. Safety Justin Simmons tells the rest from the team’s official Twitter account.
Simmons said: “(Fangio) flipped a slide that said ‘no practice.’ Nobody believed him, so it was dead quiet. Then he followed through just like, ‘For real, no practice.’ And we just started cheering.”
Fangio then detailed a new plan, call it a “field day”, where Broncos competed in events such as a home run derby, dunk-tank throws, basketball shootout, water-balloon toss, a watermelon-eating contest and more. Denver did not open the event for reporters, but social media posts gave an inside look at the festivities. A few highlights:
Dunking Elway — Not even the GM was safe from the shenanigans.
The only appropriate response when you dunk the GM is “apologies” 😂
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos)
“Eat Man!” — Cornerback Kareem Jackson encourages defensive tackle Shelby Harris to speed up his watermelon intake.
This is gold: “Shelby! Eat man! What are you doing?! We’re going to lose!” — Kareem Jackson to Shelby Harris during a watermelon-eating contest at Broncos’ field day (via Jackson’s IG)
— Kyle Fredrickson (@kylefredrickson)
Hoop dreams — Come for Joe Jones jacking up 3-pointers, stay for the excellent teammate video commentary.
When basketball on grass isn’t just a metaphor. Broncos’ linebacker Joe Jones from deeeep (via Jones’ IG)
— Kyle Fredrickson (@kylefredrickson)
