Fan Pulse: Broncos fans nostalgic for their former players

By Neal Coolong  |   Friday, July 04, 2008  |  Comments( 6 )

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Normally, fans wouldn't pay much attention to a receiver who left and had considerably less success with his new team.

Ashley Lelie has 38 catches in the last two years, 28 with Atlanta in 2006 and 10 with San Francisco in 2007. He finished with 42 catches with the Broncos in 2004. Yet a thread on Broncos Country is gaining some attention discussing one poster's nostalgia for the former Broncos deep threat.

The poster makes a convincing argument, despite the obscure call of support for a player who is widely labeled as a busted first-round pick from 2002.

"I would love to see (Brandon) Marshall and Lelie on the outsides and (Brandon) Stokley in the slot with (Tony) Scheffler and/or (Daniel) Graham at TE on pasing downs. With defenses having to respect Lelie way deep and then Marshall drawing double-teams, defenses would just have their hands full covering too many options for (Jay) Cutler. As it is, defenses don't have to respect our deep game as much, unless one of our new guys proves to be a reliable deep threat."

Lelie has averaged over 17 yards per catch in his career, and he led the NFL in that category in 2004 and 2005. He had just 10 catches with the 49ers last season, one year after being traded to Atlanta amid complaints about his role in the Broncos' offense.

These are points not lost on one poster.

"Lelie... Couldn't catch a cold, and was a huge bust, our play action roll out helped his career...When he left what happened? All that speed hands of stone...wont go across the middle....Where's Ed (McCaffery) when you need him?"

It extended past Lelie, too. Former Broncos LB Al Wilson came into the discussion. Wilson suffered a neck injury late in the 2006 season with the Broncos, and failed a physical that off-season, voiding a trade to the Giants. Wilson hasn't played since that season, and is fighting the Broncos for damages in regards to how his injury was handled. According to ESPN, a verdict in that case should be rendered soon.

Some on Broncos Country still love him, though.

"It's good to miss former bronco players....I even have a list of some that I miss dearly.....good ole Al is one of them."

Be advised, though, comparing Lelie, even with his sick career yards per catch numbers, is not a wise position to take.

"Wow, Al is a completely different story (than Lelie's). While I kind of miss Lelie, I seriously miss Big Al. He was one of my faves, for sure. Sad to see his career end like that."
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About Neal Coolong

Neal Coolong is a freelance sports writer with contributions to Scout.com, AOL and Steelers Live. He lives with his fiance in St. Paul, Minn., and saves every dime (that she knows about) for their wedding next June. He's already made the prediction that the Steelers 2007 draft class will be one ...
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CommentsComments: 6  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
nhartman		12:42 PM
07/04/2008
Al Wilson was a good player. Ahsley Lelie not so much. But the poster is right in that he did stretch defenses when he was with ...
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No.2
RedskinFan21ST		03:55 PM
07/06/2008
Very true nhartman, after a while even though you are a deep threat, you keep droping the ball and can't get open on man to man ...
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No.3
xX_TRUE-RAIDER_Xx		05:06 PM
07/06/2008
I would say he is on the hot seat and maybe will dodge the bust tag if he has a decent season. It's too bad he's gone from ...
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