Change is a constant in life and football and nobody has endured more change this season than the Denver Broncos. Despite losing on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Broncos played their heart out for each other according to interim head coach Jerry Rosburg.
Denver Broncos rally behind each other amidst disappointing season
4-12 wasn’t in the plans for the 2022 Denver Broncos. Unfortunately, the record has become their reality looking back on this season. New year, new quarterback Russell Wilson, and new head coach summarized off-season excitement regarding this Broncos team, but little did anybody know, the change would define their season.
Fast forward months later, after firing first-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett just 15 games into his first season, interim head coach Jerry Rosburg inherited the difficult task of trying to rally a team that had lost its confidence. However, Rosburg didn’t take credit for how Denver responded this week amidst change and adversity, instead highlighting how the players rallied behind each other.
“I hate to disagree with your question, but they didn’t rally for me,” Rosburg told Mile High Sports. “I had nothing to do with it. It was them. They rallied for them. They rallied for these fans. They have so much more invested than me. These coaches have so much more invested than me. I was sitting on my dock drinking coffee, and here I am standing in front of you. It wasn’t about me, and it’s not going to be about me this week. I want those players to come off of the field on Sunday, go into the locker room and hug each other and laugh. I want them to go out into the parking lot with their family as their wives are happy and their children are laughing. I want the fans to be cheering them. I want to see them driving away from the stadium and they’re waving at them instead of giving them the ‘raspberry.’ I want these guys, these families, and these fans to experience—winning is its own reward. We can talk about the streaks and negative things, but I’m not trying to end any negative streak. I’m not going to go tell these guys, ‘Well, don’t lose again.’ That’s silly. We’re going to go out there and we’re going to play with passion. Hopefully, we play better than what we played yesterday, and hopefully we get into the locker room, and we celebrate. That’s what I’m looking for.”
Maybe there is a lesson to be learned here even if Rosburg only gets this final game on Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers. No matter how difficult the road or path may be, no matter what obstacles are thrown in front of you, it’s always bigger than one person, it’s always bigger than one moment. While the end results of the season haven’t been how the Broncos envisioned, there are plenty of things Denver can build on as they look to get back to winning football games next year.
The Broncos will wrap up the 2022 season with a home finale against Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers with kickoff set for 2:25 p.m. MT.