“Iron Sharpens Iron.”
“Into the Fire.”
Those were the slogans adopted by the Denver Broncos in each of the last two offseasons, used to provide focus and purpose to the season ahead. They were each emblazoned on t-shirts worn by the team and the coaching staff throughout OTAs and training camp.
The first, from the 2015 season, was a direct reference to the bible verse Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” (New International readers version). Then head coach Gary Kubiak challenged his men to hold one another accountable and make one another greater. They responded by winning a Super Bowl.
The second, from 2016, referred more to the fact that Denver would be facing a tough challenge ahead that season as the defending champions – that other teams would be burning with desire to knock them off their pedestal.
There is a biblical tie to the phrase as well, from the book of Matthew, chapter 3 verse 10:
“The ax is ready to cut the roots of the trees. All the trees that don’t produce good fruit will be cut down. They will be thrown into the fire.”
That’s a more foreboding reference, however, and an unlikely one that players would have embraced. What’s more likely is that it referenced the “fire” other teams had to dethrone the champs and the response to that challenge, as the slogan made clear, was to meet it head on.
On the first day of OTAs in 2017, quarterback Trevor Siemian met the media in a shirt that at first glance had people wondering if it was the new slogan for this year.
I like this one better pic.twitter.com/abPFhRIVXb
— _BroncosFan_13 (@BroncosFan_13) May 23, 2017
As Siemian pointed out, the shirt is actually an old one.
“This is an old shirt,” Siemian said, drawing a chuckle from the pool of reporters. “This is dated. This, yeah, I don’t know where – this was in my locker. It was clean, so, yeah. ‘Keep Your Feet.'”
So, what does “Keep Your Feet” mean?
Kubiak handed out the shirts back in 2015 to remind his players that “the one thing the league always wants you to do is keep players off the ground. So, we preach it, we preach it, we give out T-shirts today saying ‘Keep Your Feet.'”
The irony of the t-shirt was that on the very same day those shirts were handed out, Peyton Manning took a fall at practice.
The “Keep Your Feet” shirt turned out to be a false flag on this year’s slogan, which has yet to be revealed. We’re keeping our eyes peeled, though, as Broncos Country will most certainly want to dress themselves in the gear if and when it’s available.