Shane Ray’s mother sets Broncos reporter Mike Klis straight
Denver Broncos first round pick Shane Ray set a big time goal for his rookie season by declaring he wanted to be the NFL’s defensive rookie of the year.
Broncos reporter Mike Klis of 9News disagreed with Ray, politely so, and suggested that he might be able to win an unofficial award as the NFL’s top sophomore defender in 2016 when he presumably takes over for DeMarcus Ware.
Ray’s mother, Sebrina Johnson, took exception to Klis’ comments…
@MikeKlis Sorry Mike. You don't know my son. When he sets goals he plans to achieve them. Look at the records he set his JR year.
— Sebrina Johnson (@brisupermom47) July 26, 2015
Klis had some fun with it, saying that Ray’s mother had set him straight.
It’s exciting for Broncos fans that Ray, the 23rd overall pick in this year’s draft, has set such lofty goals even for his rookie season. Coming out of college, it was easy to see why people thought so highly of Ray, though I didn’t ever really understand the overly harsh detractors.
There was nothing about Ray’s game that stood out to me as overly poor or needing a ton of attention before he could make an impact as an NFL player. This is a guy who simply knows how to get pressure on the quarterback, and he is constantly able to make plays in the backfield.
The Broncos are going to have to get creative about it, but just because Ray isn’t a starter doesn’t mean he can’t make a splash and enough of an impression on whoever is in charge of voting to be a defensive rookie of the year. Pass rushers are some of the more glamorized position players defensively in the league because sacks are a signature statistic. If Ray is able to get to the quarterback enough, he might just fulfill his dream and be the defensive rookie of the year.