And still, he returned for a Broncos curtain call, on Monday, in the building where he helped lay the current foundation.

Ten years to the day that the Broncos drafted him in 2016, the 32-year-old Simmons announced the end of his playing days on Wednesday morning through a video announcement on the Broncos’ account. After a one-year stint with the Falcons and a year-long absence from football, Simmons also signed a ceremonial deal to retire with the Broncos.

Simmons welled up several times in a 30-minute-long press conference later Wednesday afternoon in Dove Valley, thanking a seemingly never-ending slew of backers: wife Taryn for supporting him, Broncos executive John Elway for drafting him, general manager George Paton for extending him, and the Denver fanbase for sticking with him.

“It just felt like there was a lot asked, and I feel like I fell short,” Simmons said, on his eight-year career in Denver. “So, that’s why — a lot of the emotional aspect of it. And so, I felt like I let a lot of people down over the years.”

“And so, to see that type of reaction for me is more than I deserve,” he continued, on the response to his retirement. “It’s heartwarming. I’m thankful. I’m blessed, I’m honored.”

The heartbeat of the Broncos’ defense

For eight seasons after Elway took him with the final pick of the third round in 2016, Simmons led the Broncos’ secondary, defense and locker room at large. His 30 interceptions are tied for seventh all-time in Denver franchise history. And he lives in rooms he’s never touched — still flashing across the tape that Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker shows players, a deep-safety model for the defense that the former Broncos secondary coach wants to install in Dallas.

Parker has a simpler lasting memory of his years with Simmons, though.

By Jan. 8, 2021, the Vic Fangio era as the Broncos’ head coach was over. The locker room, Parker remembered, had a “feeling” about that, heading into a Week 18 matchup with the Chiefs. For a fifth straight season in Denver, they had nothing to play for. Simmons’ safety partner, Kareem Jackson, was hurt. Future Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain II was hurt. Ronald Darby, the other starting corner, was hurt.

And yet Simmons trotted out to play like everything was on the line.

“He was still scratching,” Parker said, remembering. “He was clawing, out there.”

One’s football legacy is strange, Simmons said. His is no exception. He was a two-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro, and tied for seventh all-time in Broncos history in interceptions. He showed up, as Parker pointed out, playing 118 of a possible 131 games in Denver. He also had one season with a winning record but never made the playoffs.

It ate at him, as Simmons said. He told reporters on Wednesday that he believed each passing year would be the year. Behind the scenes, he had “a lot of talks” with Parker about a burning desire to simply make the postseason, as the Dallas defensive coordinator recounted.

“That����ap really all he wanted to do, to be honest with you,” Parker said. “I think if you asked if he would trade some of those career accolades relative to the interceptions and All-Pro nominees, and all that kinda stuff — to have that taste of January and February football, he would trade it in a heartbeat.”

That never came, and the Broncos cut Simmons for his price tag while rebuilding under Payton after the 2023 season. He signed in Atlanta in 2024 to try and chase a playoff berth — but found it “miserable,” as he said, to be away from his wife and FaceTime-parenting his three children, who were still living in Denver.

Simmons continued to train throughout the 2025 season but never signed with a franchise. The time he regained with family, though, was invaluable, as he recounted. Eventually, he found peace in realizing that it was “just time” to move away from his playing days, he said.

The safety had always wanted to retire a Bronco, even after being cut, Parker said. And the two years away from Denver helped Simmons find peace, too, with a tenure that lacked wins but had a much greater effect on the orbit around him.

“My overall goal was to leave here, and continue the legacy and to be a Hall of Fame player,” Simmons said. “Obviously, I fell short of that, I think. Not I think — I know I fell short of that.

“I think what I’m the most proud of, though, is the adversity that popped up in those eight seasons … it����ap hard to get recognized as a player when your team is not doing well,” Simmons continued. “It����ap a very difficult thing. So I’m proud of the way I was able to fight through some adversity in that aspect. It����ap hard when you have a lot going on. It helped me, though. It����ap part of my journey and my career. I’m thankful for it.”

Simmons has been a bridge between eras in Denver. He was drafted in 2016, the year after the Broncos’ Super Bowl 50 win. His time ended in 2023, the year before the Broncos returned to the playoffs. Denver went 52-79 in Simmons’ eight seasons, and saw six different coaches don a headset, and pivoted through a massive ownership change from the late Pat Bowlen to the Walton-Penner Group.

Still, Simmons became a “legend in his own way,” as former teammate Melvin Gordon told The Post. He organized Thursday bowling sessions and dinners with the defensive backs, and took care of the youngsters, Gordon said. Simmons was named a three-time captain and remained consistently accountable to local media during losing seasons. His impact ripples through foundational pieces still on the Broncos’ roster — Garett Bolles, Courtland Sutton, Surtain and Alex Singleton.

Gordon, a former Pro Bowler who played for the Broncos for three seasons, is quick to admit he fell into a bad place in Denver by his final year. He fumbled five times in 2022 and said he began to lose his “love for the game.”

Simmons, Gordon said, helped keep that passion burning through simple words and simple locker-room games of UNO.

“Sometimes, you do need a leader to show you the way,” Gordon said. “And I think he made his mark that way.”

The safety made his mark in the community, too, serving as an active mentor at the Broncos Boys and Girls Club. And after retirement, Simmons said he intends to try to wedge a foot into the broadcasting world — and explore a potential position at a local high school program, similar to Cherry Creek High head coach Dave Logan.

“I want to be the guy in the community that����ap a consistent, reliable figure for kids to look up to,” Simmons said.

And he hopes he left a legacy, as he said Wednesday, of a man who cared.

“I passionately cared,” Simmons said. “I wanted to do well. I really wanted to win. Didn’t work out. And I’m so glad that they’re winning now.”

Safety Justin Simmons, who spent all but one of his active seasons with Denver, announced his retirement Wednesday at the age of 32. He did so as a Bronco, where he spent the better part of a decade building a legacy as a fan favorite on the field and a model in the community.

Simmons’ announcement came 10 years to the day after Denver drafted him.

“My time in Denver literally shaped me into the man that I am,” Simmons said in a retirement announcement video shared by the team. “To the best fans in the world and ����apountry, thank you so much for all your support both for myself and for my family.”

Simmons was selected in the third round of the 2016 draft by the Broncos and played eight years in blue and orange, earning a pair of Pro Bowl nods and making second-team All-Pro four times. He blossomed into one of the best safeties in football, logging 30 interceptions over his eight seasons in Denver.

Simmons was released by the Broncos in the spring of 2024 and spent the ensuing season with the Atlanta Falcons on a one-year deal. A free agent through the 2025 season, Simmons never latched on to a team and has not played in a game since Atlanta’s regular-season finale on Jan. 5, 2025.

Simmons, his wife Taryn and their children still call Denver home and Simmons’ legacy off the field will endure every bit as long and perhaps even more profoundly than his on-field exploits.

Simmons has done extensive work with the Boys & Girls Club in Denver among many other endeavors through the Justin Simmons Foundation.

Simmons occupies a unique place in Broncos history. His numbers and impact are that of a Ring of Fame-type player. His time with the franchise, though, did not feature much winning.

Simmons arrived to the Broncos as the club came off a Super Bowl victory to cap the 2015 season.

Selected by then-general manager John Elway to play for head coach Gary Kubiak, Simmons saw the field as a rookie but Denver finished in third place in the AFC West at 9-7 and missed the postseason. They didn’t make the playoffs in any of the following seven seasons under head coaches Vance Joseph, Vic Fangio, Nathaniel Hackett or Sean Payton, either.

Then Simmons was released but took some solace in latching on with the Falcons, who looked like a contender in the NFC South. Instead Atlanta missed the postseason and the Broncos have made it each of the past two years, following up a 10-7 Wild Card year in 2024 with a 14-3 campaign and subsequent run to the AFC Championship Game last season.

Still, Simmons will be universally revered by ����apountry for who he was as a player and who he is as a man.

Peyton Manning is more organized than Kim Kardashian’s closet. His life operates on routines, consistency. Complete the task. Move on.

So after several weeks of rehabbing a plantar fasciitis foot injury that season, throwing to Jordan “Sunshine” Taylor in the Pat Bowlen Fieldhouse, Manning was ready to return.

Feeling like he was being spied on, Manning delivered a message to coach Gary Kubiak.

“When you are hurt, you feel left out. Like the kid that doesn’t get to go on the playground. I felt like I was throwing the ball well,” Manning said. “I wanted to see if someone was really watching.”

Turns out, Kubiak was indeed checking on the former MVP. What he saw surprised him. And more than a decade later, it still does.

“The first video I saw, it only had one barrel (flipping him off),” Kubiak said with a laugh. “I knew he was mad. Really he was saying, ‘Hey, dumb (bleep), are you going to put me in?’^”

Wednesday night provided a reminder of how it turned out when Manning returned to the lineup. Joined by five teammates and Kubiak, the 2015 Broncos celebrated the Night of Champions at the Paramount Theatre.

The bulk of the team came together last fall for a 10-year reunion and the induction of the late Demaryius Thomas into the Ring of Fame.

But this was different, more personal, more laughs, showing why Manning decided to hold live events honoring the 2006 Colts, 1989 San Francisco 49ers and Pat Summitt����ap legacy at the University of Tennessee.

“It was special (in October), but we didn’t have the MVP of the team there, Von Miller, because he is still out there playing. So we felt like it was missing something,” Manning said. “This was a chance for the fans to go behind the ropes. When you have a team honored in a stadium it is not the most intimate. This event was all about the fans.”

Based on the reaction of the orange bleached crowd, it is clear Manning read the room like he did defenses for 18 seasons. Manning received a standing ovation. And the roar that greeted Von Miller pierced ears down the 16th Street Mall.

There is a common refrain about seasons that end in rings. The players, it is said, walk together forever as champions.

But the fans become part of the connective tissue as well.

“Why come here? Why wouldn’t I? This was such a special team. This gives us a chance to hear the stories and relive it,” said Leroy Garcia from Colorado Springs, before posing with a replica of the Super Bowl 50 trophy. “There was no way I was going to miss this.”

Manning brought together a cross-section of players whose stories highlighted the special talent and personalities on the Super Bowl 50 team. DeMarcus Ware and Manning are football immortals, enshrined in the Hall of Fame. If Miller ever retires, he will join them.

Star power was required, but unselfishness defined the locker room. Kubiak spoke of the importance of everybody contributing, of playing for the person next to you in the locker room.

The Broncos knew during minicamp that something different was percolating. The offensive had weapons and the defense boasted two fang-bearing edge rushers and a No Fly Zone secondary that humbled All-Pros, MVPs and journeymen without remorse.

“I remember when I joined the team, I thought I was going to be The Man. Then we went through a walk-through and I was like, ‘(Bleep) I am not going to be The Man,’^” Talib said. “We didn’t have one hole. Not one.”

The Broncos opened the season with seven straight wins. The confidence was tangible. Denver believed they could beat anyone because of a defense that closed better than the Yankees’ Mariano Rivera.

“Legendary. The D-line, they had their own special relationship. Our linebackers (Danny Trevathan and Brandon Marshall) were two of the best in the league, straight ballers. And obviously we knew as a secondary we were always going to do what we needed to,” Pro Bowl safety T.J. Ward said. “When you perform the way we did, that’s how you become legendary.”

The way sports operate, however, titles are required to bring people together years later. Greatness is measured in championships.

Miller and Ware wrote a diary of havoc in the postseason. And the offense did just enough, squeaking past the Steelers and Patriots. The New England game remains the loudest the new stadium has ever been. The victory required noise and faith.

“I played for (defensive coordinator) Wade Phillips for like 10 years. And he dedicated one game every season to his dad (Bum Phillips). We won all of them,” said Ware. “I am tearing up thinking about it. We couldn’t let him down.”

As the confetti fell, the gravity of what was ahead took shape. Owner Pat Bowlen wanted a third Super Bowl crown. The players wanted one for Ware, who was ringless, and Manning, who was expected to retire. And, they did not know it then, they needed it as a touchstone memory to honor Thomas.

“If there was a Hall of Fame for teammates, he would be in it,” Miller said. “When I had my first child, he was the first person I called and Face-timed. He was one of one.”

The Broncos thrashed the Carolina Panthers, turning regular season MVP Cam Newton into a Fig Newton. That game is remembered in photos of the defense pouncing, taunting, finger-wagging. All of the swag came together in one night.

It took a coach with patience, who was honest and stern. It required role players willing to sacrifice. And it demanded stars meet the moment, no matter how bright the glare and long the odds.

As the calendar has flipped, as the years have passed, the narrative of those Broncos has changed, filling in the gaps. They were characters. But they won because of character.

“Everybody that wins a Super Bowl, they all say it was a unique team. But I am telling you that the word team could not be more personified than with that Super Bowl 50 group,” Manning said. “Everybody had a job. Everybody was completely unselfish. We never argued. It was really special.”

Nobody eats Taco Bell to soothe their belly.

And no whining if you get hacked when your password is “Password.”

Some things are obvious — and require no explanation or debate.

This is where the Avs goalie position stands after watching Scott Wedgewood stand on his head since returning from the Olympic break.

And yet Jared Bednar seems prepared to ignore logic.

Stop messing with Wedgie, already.

Asked about naming a playoff starter after Wedgewood shut out the Dallas Stars last weekend, Bednar answered like a coach handing out varsity letters.

“I feel confident in both of our guys. It����ap not likely going to be just one guy,” Bednar said.

Come on. Don’t treat Wedgewood like he’s a vagabond with marginal talent.

All he has done all season is meet the moment.

Wedgewood performed routine calisthenics Tuesday night, his 18 saves part of a 3-1 suffocating victory over the St. Louis Blues. It clinched the Central Division title and the top seed in the Western Conference.

Everything is falling into place for a Stanley Cup run, except in the net. There is no reason to continue rotating the goalies. No argument for a timeshare.

Bednar needs to follow the lead of former Broncos coach Gary Kubiak. He steered the Broncos to a Super Bowl 50 title by navigating tricky quarterback drama with decisiveness and transparency.

It remains the best coaching job I have covered in 36 years.

He kept the door ajar for Peyton Manning, even as the future Hall of Famer lost his patience, flipping off the camera for Kubiak to see as he studied the quarterback’s rehab reps. He also showed confidence in Brock Osweiler, announcing to the team and the media that he was the starter each week, including when Manning returned to the active roster.

When it came time to rescue homefield advantage in the season finale, Manning came off the bench, his brilliant mind making the difference in the win over the Chargers.

Kubiak recognized what had become a reality: Manning, even compromised by age and a foot injury, brought out the best in the team.

This is happening again. At Ball Arena. And it needs to be recognized with a firm decision.

Wedgewood will never be confused with Manning. But the circumstances are similar. Teams with two quarterbacks have none. Teams with two goalies need one.

The evidence is overwhelming in Wedgewood’s favor.

Since resuming after the NHL’s Italian sojourn, Wedgewood boasts a 9-2-1 record with a .938 save percentage. Mackenzie Blackwood is 6-7 with an .863 mark, though he has flashed dominance during this stretch.

When Bednar says both have been “fantastic” this season, he is right. But then he said this, and was all wrong.

“I don’t know why we would change it, come playoff time,” Bednar said.

Here is a reason. Follow the numbers. One goalie is acing the test and the other is getting a B.

It traces back to Jan. 1. Wedgewood is 12-5-2 in the new year. When anyone else is the goalie of record, the Avs are 9-9-0. This is not an equation for Will Hunting.

Wedgewood is a candidate for the Vezina Trophy as the game’s top goalie. Which makes general manager Chris MacFarland inking him to a one-year, $2.5 million contract extension in November his shrewdest move of the season.

Wedgewood leads the NHL at 2.10 goals against. Blackwood ranks 10th at 2.58. He is no slouch. And it always feels like the Avs, Bednar included, want him to start.

But he needs to be insurance, a reliable breather to keep Wedgewood fresh through June 21.

Bednar has made a point of not using Wedgewood’s journeyman history against him. He earned more playing time, and no qualifiers were placed on his success, like puck luck, or an average netminder just getting hot.

Dividing games in the playoffs, however, suggests a lack of trust, fair or not.

Doubt is the last thing needed when facing the Stars, for instance.

Last Saturday’s victory was more important for the psyche than the points. Colorado played efficiently and, unlike two weeks prior, was rewarded rather than demoralized.

Wedgewood was in the net. This cannot be dismissed or overlooked. He is 2-0 against Dallas this season, the expected second-round opponent, with a .925 save percentage. Blackwood has managed only 21-plus minutes of ice time against the Stars, yielding four goals in 11 shots.

So why is this even a conversation?

For starters, Blackwood looks like a playoff starter straight out of Hollywood casting. He fills the net like a walrus, standing 6-foot-4 and weighing 225 pounds. He can steal a game.

For whatever reason, though, the defense has not played as well recently in front of him. That is not his fault, but it is a fact.

Wedgewood, meanwhile, has always been a backup — meaning it would be easier to go to him if Blackwood melted down in the playoffs.

Wedgewood also plays a little chaotically. He pounces, shifts, and slides, his 6-foot-2, 201-pound frame sometimes looking like a fox “mousing” for prey in the snow.

It is a little unorthodox. But it is working.

So Bednar needs to let the line out a little bit, give him some slack. He deserves it. And without polling every member privately, my assumption is that his teammates know it.

This is important. Not committing to Wedgewood creates the potential for controversy, for the 33-year-old to look over his shoulder after one bad game.

This does not mean put Blackwood in the cooler. He will be needed. Everyone plays a role in a championship season, and sometimes sacrificing minutes is the greatest contribution.

Working in the Avs’ favor is that the “Lumber Yard” goalies get along famously. There is no tension. Neither one will make it weird if the other starts.

There is no reason not to give Wedgewood more time. Even as Bednar takes his time.

Bednar owns a ring and has established himself as a calming influence.

But the playoffs offer narrow margins. Legacies are shaped. Decisions are amplified.

So why not follow Kubiak’s blueprint and make an easy one?

Make Wedgewood the guy. And watch him put on the mask and conceal the most recent playoff failures.

On April 22, the Night of Champions series comes to Denver featuring the Broncos’ 2015 Super Bowl 50 team at the historic Paramount Theatre.

Hosted by Omaha Productions, the event will include Hall of Famers Peyton Manning and DeMarcus Ware, future Canton inductee Von Miller, former Pro Bowl receiver Emmanuel Sanders and the soundtrack of the No Fly Zone, cornerback Aqib Talib and .

Coach Gary Kubiak will join the players for what is likely to be a raucous discussion moderated by CBS NFL sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson. The event is designed to give fans all-access insight into the Broncos’ third and most recent Super Bowl title season, which culminated with a 24-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers at Levi’s Stadium.

Tickets can be purchased at beginning at 10 a.m. on March 31.

Kubiak and the aforementioned players gathered with their coaches and teammates last October when the Broncos unveiled Demaryius Thomas’ Ring of Fame bust and celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the Super Bowl 50 team and Thomas at halftime of the New York Giants game.

Anyone who is familiar with Manning’s humor and Talib’s candor knows the April stroll down memory lane will be entertaining.

From the ESPN “Manningcast” with brother Eli to launching Omaha Productions, Manning has become a media mogul.

Night of Champions is his latest idea, launched last February when he brought together the 2006 Indianapolis Colts championship team. The most recent event honored the 1989 San Francisco 49ers during Super Bowl week.

The Colorado Avalanche staged something similar last December at the Paramount, reuniting players for the 30th anniversary of the organization’s first championship in Denver.

In 2016, Gary Kubiak hired his 28-year-old son, Klint, onto his staff in Denver, a little over a week after coaching the Broncos to a Super Bowl 50 win in the Bay. Still, as Klint ascended to the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator and now the Raiders’ next head coach, he talks with his father every day. And before Seattle left for Santa Clara last weekend, Gary gave a key piece of Super Bowl advice to Klint.

“He said, ‘Put the game plan in a week early — don’t wait until you get there,'” Klint Kubiak told The Denver Post, standing in the locker room Sunday night. “So we took his advice.”

“Because when you get to the Super Bowl — there’s just so much stuff going on that it����ap hard to, like, gameplan,” the younger Kubiak continued. “You still keep game-planning, but there’s so many distractions. So we took his advice, and we dialed in the next week. And then we just kinda refined it when we got here.”

Indeed, the Seahawks installed their offensive plan for the Patriots on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of the pre-Super Bowl bye week, Klint Kubiak told The Post. It was the same approach the San Francisco 49ers took in heading to the Super Bowl in 2023 under head coach Kyle Shanahan, when Klint Kubiak was then San Francisco’s passing-game coordinator and current Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold was the backup.

“Super Bowl throughout the week, like — the week leading up to the Super Bowl can be pretty hectic with media,” Darnold told The Post. “So you want to get as much of the game plan in the week before, so you can really focus on it and dive deep on it.”

It worked, as the Seahawks ran over the Patriots 29-13 on Sunday night. Seattle finished just 4 of 16 on third downs offensively, and Darnold wasn’t particularly sharp: 19-of-38 for 202 yards and a touchdown. But the Seahawks controlled time of possession and pace behind running back Kenneth Walker III, named the Super Bowl MVP after running for 135 yards on 27 carries.

“I would do it 30 times over,” Klint Kubiak said, on his father’s advice. “We didn’t have a great night on offense — our defense did great. But I think it was helpful for our players to kinda know what to expect going in.”

In the locker room Sunday night, Klint Kubiak exchanged one final set of moments with Darnold and backup quarterback Drew Lock, a packed satchel slung over his shoulder. After two separate stints in Denver — hired again in 2022 under head coach Nathaniel Hackett and taking over play-calling duties midseason — he will now see the Broncos twice a year, tasked to lead an AFC West rebuild in Las Vegas that’ll likely start with projected No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza.

He’s ascended rapidly as an offensive mind since first calling plays in 2021 for an 8-9 Vikings team, a season in which Klint Kubiak readily admits: “I was not good at my job.” The Broncos didn’t exactly light the world on fire in 2022 with Klint Kubiak holding a play-sheet, either, in the first year of the Russell Wilson tenure.

Such is life, much in any job, Klint Kubiak told The Post ahead of the Super Bowl. Fail. Learn. Grow. He called the shots again in New Orleans in 2024, and authored the third-leading offense in the NFL in 2025 with Darnold and the Super Bowl-winning Seahawks.

“Klint����ap been in his bag all year,” receiver Jaxon-Smith Njigba told The Post Sunday. “And he put a lot on our plate this week to get it done.”

Gary was on hand Sunday, watching his son win a Super Bowl from the sideline in Santa Clara. Kubiak gave his father a “big hug” after the game, he said. And the son smiled postgame, a decade-long loop completed.

“I never could’ve dreamed that 10 years later I’d get to win a Super Bowl here,” Klint Kubiak said. “So, very special.”

1. That fourth-and-1 call … : Hindsight makes geniuses of us all, but man, you’d hope Sean Payton would like that fourth-and-inches at the New England 14 back. With Nix behind center, up 7-0, you’d have No. 10 fall forward, deep the clock running, and give yourself four more downs to play with. Instead, Stidham rolled right and threw a short pass past RJ Harvey for an incompletion. It’s so, so frustrating to imagine what Denver might’ve been able to do with a 10-0 lead in the snow instead of 7-0, for one. For another, the Broncos had run the ball decently up to that point, having rushed it five straight times for 21 yards prior to the fourth-down stop. And then Payton got cute and somehow found a way to stop himself.

2. Special-teams blues: Mother Nature called the tune on the second half, and she had the Broncos singing the blues late. Wil Lutz missed an uncharacteristic two field goals, the first time he’s had more than a single miss in a Broncos game since that gut-wrenching 16-14 loss at Kansas City in November 2024. In all, there were four missed kicks for the ball game, two from each side. That’s the most in an AFC title game since a matchup Broncos fans would rather forget — a 10-7 loss to Buffalo at the ’91 AFC Championship in January 1992. The one Gary Kubiak had to finish for an injured John Elway at Rich Stadium.

3. Deep ball returns: As we found out the hard way on more than one occasion in the first half, there are things Bo Nix can do that Jarrett Stidham just … can’t. Especially when pressured, or when the pocket goes to holy heck in a handbasket. But Stiddy also reminded us why so many in ����apountry fell in love with him in the preseason — that smooth deep ball. That critical 52-yard rainbow to Marvin Mims in the first quarter went 41 air yards. Turns out that was the most “in-air” yards of any throw by a Broncos QB in 2025-26, regular season or postseason. If there’s one throw that Stiddy can make more comfortably and consistently than Nix, it’s a deep ball. Or medium-deep ball.

4. Enjoy snow games while we’ve got ’em: Kicks veering to Lord-knows-where? Funny bounces? Slippery footing? Snowballs? Enjoy those moments at the AFC Championship while we’ve got ’em. Playoff snow games, such as we got Sunday, could soon be a relic of the past — and not just in Denver. The Broncos, who are planning to move to a stadium with a retractable roof in 2031, told FrontOfficeSports.com earlier this month that while the team makes the call on open vs. closed during the regular season, and the wild-card and divisional rounds, the NFL commissioner makes that decision for conference title games and at the Super Bowl. Guess which way the league is more likely to lean?

Stiddy is the guy who throws no-look passes in practice and talks smack to the starting defense. He is the good vibes guy, who provides the soundtrack in the locker room and golf course with Mr. Turtle, his white boom box.

He is humble, hardworking and lives life with a smirk that hints of his confidence.

Stiddy will be ready. That was the prevailing opinion of Broncos players on Wednesday.

Stidham is attempting to follow in the footsteps of former New York Giants quarterback Jeff Hostetler 35 years later. And Sean Payton is borrowing from the script written by his mentor Bill Parcells.

Hostetler took over for Phil Simms with two weeks remaining in the 1990 season, fire alarms blaring. The Giants had dropped three of their previous four games, and Hostetler was replacing a former Super Bowl MVP.

At a team meeting the day after Simms was hurt, Parcells addressed his team.

“I stood up in front of the group and said, ‘I just want you guys to know if we lose this game, it����ap not going to be because of Jeff Hostetler,” Parcells told The Post, “it����ap going to be because one of you dumb mother (bleepers) is doing something (bleeping) stupid.”

The vote of confidence resonates with Hostetler to this day. His coach believed in him. So, too does Payton with Stidham.

“His message to us (Monday) might have been similar,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said with a grin. “Listen, we are not worried about (No.) 8. It’s on us to be accountable and play for each other like we have done all season.”

The words of the coaches remain colorful and crystal clear. The Broncos expect Stidham to play well given his mental aptitude, preparation and personality.

“What’s not fun about this?” Stidham asked rhetorically after Wednesday’s practice.

Well, how about everything? They’re laughing around the NFL at Stidham, at the idea of a quarterback who hasn’t completed a pass in a regular-season game in two years playing his best against the Patriots with the highest of stakes.

You know who is not cackling? Hostetler.

Reached at his home in West Virginia this week, Hostetler admitted the Stidham storyline has brought back a flood of memories. First, he is praying for a full recovery for Bo Nix, “who was having such a great season, so I feel terribly for him.”

In Stidham, Hostetler sees several parallels to his own experience. Hostetler, a third-round pick, was 29 when he stepped into the fire, same as Stidham, a fourth-round selection.

Hostetler was in his sixth season. Stidham as well. Hostetler had made two previous starts, Stidham four. And both played for coaches who were experts at the mental game, famous for pushing the right buttons to motivate quarterbacks and everyone around them.

“Before Simms got hurt, I had told my wife earlier that week that I was done playing. I couldn’t handle the frustration anymore. Lo and behold, the Lord had a different plan for me,” Hostetler said. “Seven weeks later I was standing at a podium with a Super Bowl trophy in my hand.”

Can Stiddy go full Disney? Sure.

But the challenge is daunting. He is jumping on a moving train, trying to match the speed and intensity of teammates who have been on board for five months.

Former players and analysts are quick to compliment Stidham as a pro’s pro, a guy who operates with a slow heartbeat. But none of them is giving Denver a chance on Sunday to upset the upstart New England Patriots.

Hostetler still remembers Hall of Fame coaches Bill Walsh and John Madden saying he had no hope.

“In Stidham’s case, he knows what he has to do. And he has to put the blinders on. That’s what I did. All the talking heads, the ones who supposedly know everything, they don’t know what you can do,” Hostetler said. “Parcells told me, ‘Play within yourself.’ I couldn’t run the routes, block or pick up the blitz. But I could make the reads and put us in the right position. You can’t try to prove yourself. You have to focus on your job.”

Stidham, who is wisely not on social media, repeated that idea multiple times Wednesday. He knows this opportunity could change his life, but he is looking through the lens of this week, not future late night talk show appearances.

Hostetler provided CliffsNotes on how Stidham can walk a narrow path to victory. He did not throw an interception, despite brutal sacks, and fired five touchdowns.

He won five straight games, including at San Francisco in the NFC Championship game, where his mobility provided a difference not available from Simms. Stidham requires two victories for a title, and one, frankly, to be remembered in Denver forever.

Payton was built for this. He talks regularly with Parcells on his way into work. He heeds his advice. And like the “Big Tuna,” Payton is comfortable in a crisis.

He provided a master class last Saturday. After digesting the medical information about Nix’s fractured ankle, he weighed all options — waiting until a Sunday media conference call to address it or after Monday’s team meeting — and quickly agreed that it was best to conduct a second press conference.

He was decisive, and while speaking to the media, he was really speaking to his team. It brought back memories of when Gary Kubiak, the last Broncos coach to win a Super Bowl, committed to a recovered Peyton Manning for Denver’s playoff run a decade ago.

“Watch out,” Payton said of Stidham.

It was not a warning, but a missive, followed by a clear message. Just like Parcells.

“Well, I was trying to show confidence in Hostetler. He had been with us for six years. His teammates knew what he could do. They are smart,” Parcells said. “They had to know we could win with him, and if we didn’t it was because of the other guys.”

Isn’t, I asked, Payton doing the same thing?

“He knows the truth about his players,” Parcells said.

The Patriots, who pursued signing Stidham this offseason as a free agent, will have something nasty in store for the longtime reserve. They rank top 10 in multiple categories, including points per game (18.8) and passing yards against (193.5).

Hostetler stared down worse numbers in the NFC Championship game, facing a 49ers defense that beat the Giants five weeks earlier without allowing a touchdown.

The Hoss pulled it off. Why can’t Stiddy get jiggy with it?

“He has things going for him, like being at home. I hated playing in Denver. Talk about a tough place. It’s hard for an old Raider (1993-96) to say, but the Broncos have great fans,” Hostetler said. “These are the types of games you dream about playing in your whole life. It will be tough to handle. But I am sure he will be prepared. Tell him I said good luck and that I am pulling for him.”

“Oh shoot, I mean, he knows what he’s doing,” Gary Kubiak said of quarterback Jarrett Stidham, who’s slated to start Sunday’s AFC championship against New England. “He’s been preparing with Sean (Payton), he’s been preparing with Bo (Nix), each and every day.

“I just think, as a coach, and I’m sure Sean (and Bo) have done that, just remind the kid what kind of team he’s on.”

Funny how history rhymes, isn’t it? Kubiak wore No. 8 as John Elway’s understudy . Stidham now sports that same 8, Kubiak’s old number, as Nix’s relief, one cruel ankle twist away from the throne, over the last two seasons.

Speaking as one No. 8 to another, our man Kubes, who coached the Broncos to the franchise’s last Super Bowl win a decade ago, offered Stidham eight simple words of advice.

“Just get in there,” the ex-Broncos backup QB told me by phone earlier this week, “and do your job.”

Handed the keys to a stock car in the middle of the race? Thrust into the driver’s seat on short notice? Asked to drive your team to the Super Bowl? Kubes has been there.

Kubiak was Elway’s stand-in from 1983-91, a couple of buds shaking and baking all over the AFC West. While Elway was forging one of the great QB careers in NFL history, years of preparing and processing alongside No. 7 molded Kubiak into a championship coach.

“Sometimes, you’ve got stretches where you may go a year or two years (of not playing),” Kubiak said. “Or you may get out there in a crazy spot.”

Kubes landed one of the absolute craziest, right at the very end. He was carrying the clipboard for Elway at the ’91-’92 AFC Championship Game in Buffalo when the Broncos icon had to leave the game with a deep bruise in his right thigh.

Kubiak had already made up his mind before the playoffs that the 1991 season would be his last, that he would retire whenever the ride came to an end.

“And all of a sudden, there I am in the game,” the former Broncos signal-caller recalled. “It was kind of ironic for me, (spending) all those years backing up John, here I am playing in the AFC Championship Game and had a really good chance to win.”

Gary literally went into that contest cold. Although he does remember it being surprisingly warm for upstate New York in mid-January.

“It was an unseasonable 32 degrees in Buffalo,”  he laughed. “I couldn’t have played if it was cold. My back was too bad. I’m glad the Good Lord gave me a game I could play in.”

Kubes played admirably, too. No. 8 completed 11 of 12 throws for 136 yards. His touchdown run with 1:46 left got the Broncos to within 10-6 before the extra point.

Denver recovered the ensuing onside kick, but, alas, on the next play, Steve Sewell fumbled the ball back to Buffalo. Three missed field goals at Rich Stadium proved fatal. The Broncos ultimately fell, 10-7.

“Our defense was really good (in ’91) — a lot like this Broncos team,” Kubiak said. “We were in a lot of low-scoring games. We missed a few plays in the second half. We had ourselves in a position there at the end and unfortunately, the ballgame got away from us … we had our opportunity, but it just didn’t end the right way.”

How can this one end better? Kubiak likes that Payton doubled down on Stidham publicly, and almost immediately, after getting the worst injury news imaginable.

“I used to tell my teams, when you’re a coach, you’re going to go through some QB issues and lose a QB,” Kubiak explained. “And I used to always remind guys that when you start to worry about what’s going on at other spots on the team, then you don’t take care of your job. Just stay focused on your job, what you do. ‘We’ve got Stiddy here, he’s going to be ready to play.’ You have to stay focused and (then do) what you have to do to help him out.”

Bubby Brister went 4-0 as Elway’s No. 2 in the fall of 1998, keeping things afloat as the Broncos eventually repeated as Super Bowl champions. Brister told me Tuesday that he thinks 90% of the battle for Stiddy, to paraphrase Yogi Berra, will be half mental.

“I believe Jarrett knows he can do the job,” Brister said via text. “He also knows he has a great team and staff around him. Not to mention Sean Payton is in his ear, one of the best ever at calling plays.

“To top it off, (there’s a) big advantage playing at home with our awesome fans and at Mile High. Just go play! Just go do your job.”

Even if that means jumping on a moving train. Stidham is only the seventh NFL QB since 1950 to start a playoff game during a season in which he never started once.

The last three guys who’ve been thrust into that position since 2000 — Joe Webb (Minnesota, 2012), Connor Cook (Oakland, 2016) and Taylor Heinicke (Washington, 2020) — went 0-3. Their average stat line? 216 passing yards, one passing TD, two picks.

Their teams scored 10 points, 14 points and 23 points, respectively. That’s about 16 per game. Which is asking an awful, awful lot of your defense. Even one as good as Vance Joseph’s.

“He’ll be all right,” Kubiak said of Stidham. “The thing I always go back to is, it’s all about the team.

“Denver’s got a great football team. Stidham, that’s Sean’s hand-picked guy. He trusts him. And he’s on a great football team. It’ll be fun to watch the young man. He’ll do a great job.”

. And just because doesn’t mean you can’t get lucky all over again.

The job stuff?

“It’s been on the back burner,” Joseph said on Wednesday. “For me, winning is a priority. What happens after that happens. I can’t control that.”

Win three more games and the Broncos will be Super Bowl champions for the first time in a decade, and the defensive coordinator’s calendar will undoubtedly be stuffed with more job interviews.

Joseph quickly and quietly dismissed any notions that he’s been distracted by future employment possibilities.

“What you learn in the process is that the (preparation) is overrated,” he said. “Most of all, you realize that winning helps. I’ve been focused the entire time on winning games for the Broncos.”

In other words, he didn’t spend last week cramming until midnight for job interviews.

“It’s more about a conversation about what they need and what I can bring to the job,” he said.

Linebacker Justin Strnad said his coach is all Broncos, all the time.

“It����ap obviously always a difficult time when you have a bunch of interviews,” Strnad said. “And obviously, that����ap a huge opportunity for him and stuff like that. But once this week started, I can assure you, he’s got nothing going on with that. It����ap all us. All ball. Because we all just want to win. So I think he does a great job of handling both.”

Joseph steers an aggressive unit that finished the regular season No. 1 in sacks (68) and No. 1 in red zone defense, allowing touchdowns on 42.6% of drives inside the 20-yard line. Opposing QBs posted the third-lowest QBR against Denver (49.2).

Joseph’s schemes and ability to concoct defensive chemistry are major reasons Denver (14-3) earned the AFC’s top seed, a first-round bye, and a date with the Bills in the divisional playoffs on Saturday at Empower Field at Mile High.

Joseph took time during the bye week for preliminary interviews for head coaching jobs with the Cardinals, Ravens, Raiders, Giants and Titans. The Falcons have also requested an interview, though Joseph is off-limits until Denver’s season is done. The Steelers and Dolphins might also come calling.

“It’s flattering, but it speaks to the entire program,” he said. “Again, when teams want to hire a coach from a winning program, they want the recipe. It speaks to ownership here, it speaks to the coaches, it speaks to our players. It’s everyone’s reward, so to speak.

“Obviously, when teams are struggling and need a change, they look towards teams that are winning and how we flipped it here in the last three years. It’s pretty special. So, that secret lies with us … they want that secret.”

Not so secret has been Joseph’s ability to focus on the task at hand. Most of all, his calm demeanor has him in a good place — both in preparing for the Bills and in getting a chance to be a head coach again.

“I think the most hidden gem with V.J. is his patience,” defensive line coach Jamar Cain said. “I don’t have patience. And I try to focus on that and try to get better at having patience.

“But to see V.J. be so patient and stay calm and be the same person every day, that makes me want to be better. That����ap the sign of a true leader to me. There’s times he could blow up, but he stays patient, stays calm, takes a deep, deep breath, talks to the guys and talks us through it.

“Everybody always wants to talk about the schematics and what he brings to the table, but (his) patience is crazy. That����ap one of those virtues that we all wish we had.”

Joseph’s first tenure as Broncos head coach did not go well. He replaced Gary Kubiak, who stepped down after the 2016 season for health reasons. Joseph took over a team that had gone 9-7, but was sliding toward disaster.

In 2017, Denver started 3-1 but finished the season 5-11, a record that included a franchise-worst eight-game losing streak. There was scant improvement in 2018 when the Broncos finished 6-10, leading to Joseph’s termination.

But now he’s on the doorstep of a second chance. That’s no surprise to Strnad, who is slated to become a free agent at the end of the season. Might he follow Joseph if he lands another head coaching gig?

“Honestly, I’m so thankful for him, and I’ll obviously get the chance to talk to him about that when the season ends,” Strnad said. “But I really haven’t thought about that stuff. I know, obviously … things are going to change.

“People are going to be free agents and things like that. But, I haven’t really taken the time to think about (what happens) if Vance goes somewhere or whatever.”

If everything works out for Joseph, Denver special teams coach Darren Rizzi said a new team will be getting someone special. Rizzi and Joseph coached together with the Dolphins.

“Vance as a human being is the thing that I would (promote) the most,” said Rizzi, who interviewed for the Giants head coaching job last Saturday.  “He’s a fantastic person and he’s got great character.

“I just love being around him, and I haven’t even talked about his coaching yet. He’s a players’ coach and they love being around him. He commands respect. I have nothing but superlatives for him. As a human being, Vance Joseph is an A-plus guy.”