The Broncos who Prank Together, Win Together

December 30, 2012; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning reacts on the sidelines during the second half against the Kansas City Chiefs at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Broncos won 38-3. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

On Tuesday night, the Colorado Rockies hosted some very special dignitaries during their 2-0 win over the New York Yankees at Coors Field: the Denver Broncos. Well many of them anyway. Peyton Manning, Orlando Franklin, Eric Decker, Champ Bailey, Von Miller, and Wes Welker were among the lot of Broncos who occupied a suite for the game. While they were probably there to watch the game and engage in a team-building adventure, Manning and Decker had ulterior motives. It seems that quarterback sent his favorite possession receiver on a post pattern to perpetrate a prank on the mountainous Franklin.

The plan, as described by Root Sports’ Jenny Cavnar on the Evans and Klatt Show on FM 104.3 The Fan Wednesday morning was to interview Franklin, creating a distraction (and trust me, the lovely Ms. Cavnar is quite the distraction). So during this interview, Decker was to come up from behind the big man and give him the whipped cream pie in the face. The prank was pulled off without a hitch. What is even more intriguing about, this per Cavnar is that Decker approached her ahead of time and simply asked where she would be doing the interview so he could plan out his route to Franklin. However that was too simplistic for Manning. True to form, the future hall of fame QB and world class prankster practically took over the production of the interview segment. According to Cavnar, he started to talk about the placement of her and the “mark”, which direction they should face, and all sorts of seemingly miniscule details.

There are two parts this story which are encouraging as a Broncos fan. First of all the camaraderie of the team, including the newly acquired Welker. The fun, close-knit environment that I picked up on while watching this prank play out appeared to be similar to the vibe that we felt around that team in the late 1990’s when the Broncos hoisted the Lombardi Trophy twice. Secondly, the precision in which Manning directed the prank clearly showed that this is in fact his team. In addition, there is the vigilance which he approaches aspects outside of football. We  knew this already about Manning, but he seems as determined to create the harmony within the team off the field as the game plan on it. I am guarded about crowning the Broncos anything before the first weekend in February but I am getting THAT feeling again. I just hope it is an omen instead of indigestion.

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