Miami Dolphins OLB Bradley Chubb recently made an appearance on Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill's podcast It Needed To Be Said to chat about the NFL offseason and his tenure with the Denver Broncos, where he was drafted with the fifth overall selection in 2018 and was selected to his first career Pro-Bowl.
In the episode, Chubb was asked about his time with the Broncos and being able to play with QB Russell Wilson during a struggling year. He mentioned how he believed it was unfair to Wilson how much flak he received from critics during the 2022 season, despite his work ethic and dedicated drive to the game of football.
"[Russell Wilson] gets so much flak but it's crazy because he does the absolute most that he can possibly do to make sure he's the best he can possibly be. He doesn't miss a step so when he has a fluke year like this, he's just got to chalk it up. But it gets so glorified because who he is, who he's been, [and] what he's done. So he's got to look at it like a nod to who he is as a person too. All the different allegations trying to talk about his [personal] life -- he's just got to sit there and take it. I kind of watched him do that and it was dope to see how he stayed the same person throughout it all."Bradley Chubb on Russell Wilson
Very respectful and appropriate words the former Denver Bronco used when speaking about his former teammate in Russell Wilson. Not only did Chubb give us a reasonable and respectful look at what it was like working with Wilson, but it is very refreshing to see a former teammate of Wilson's to not use social media as a gateway to creating more drama around this "Hollywood" persona that critics have formed around the 34-year-old QB.
When Tyreek Hill joked during the episode about Wilson's motto "Let's Ride", Chubb was quick to defend Wilson and said he was "just trying to keep things going" even when he used the motto after losses. It was clear throughout the episode that Chubb has a lot of respect for Wilson, even though the offense not performing to expectations essentially washed away the successes the defense had throughout the season.
Chubb also spoke on the roller coaster of emotions he had leading up to the trade deadline last season and the feeling of being traded afterward.
"The day of the trade was crazy. We had just came back from London [and] we won so I was like okay, we're back on the winning track, I might stay. I go in Tuesday and workout and everybody's cool. My head's all over the place and there's an hour until [the trade deadline] comes up. I get in the car and start driving and George Paton's [number] comes up. I pulled over to this side and answered the phone and he was like 'we're trading you and we appreciate everything you've done. This brings me sick to my stomach.' In my head, after he said 'we're trading you', everything else went void. Turned around and went back to the house to pack up and was off to Miami. Crazy how it works just like that."Bradley Chubb on being traded
When asked if the trade was a "business over loyalty" move, Chubb promptly stated that the Denver Broncos front office is always going to do what is best for the organization and simply made it clear that there are no hard feelings.
"Is it best for them (Broncos) to lose you?", Chubb was asked. "They felt that they were better without me so that's how I have to approach everything and I'm going to make sure nobody else feels like that ever again."
While trading Bradley Chubb ultimately helped the Broncos land one of the better offensive play-callers in NFL history in Sean Payton, I'll still always have the utmost respect for the effort and hard-fought contribution Chubb gave to the Mile High City. Dealing with injuries and horrible offensive play was never in Chubb's favor and while he didn't live up to the expectations as a fifth-overall pick, he was still very solid during his time with the Broncos.
Most Broncos fans are thrilled that Chubb got the contract that he deserved in Miami and as we saw him beginning to have a vast resurgence in 2022, the days are only going to get better from here on out as long as the 26-year-old pass rusher remains healthy.