The offseason is long and even though it is a down period on the NFL player's schedule, they are still expected to speak to the media fairly often. We believe it was Albert Einstein who once theorized that speaking amid the absence of true action can create a void in the space-time continuum.
Here's Broncos running back C.J. Anderson to provide an example.
"People forget about (Mark) Sanchez, you know, he has two AFC championship belts," he said Tuesday, via Jeff Rickard and Pat Kirwan's Movin' the Chains. "Even though he lost them (with the New York Jets), he has two under his belt, that he's been to. And it shows, the leadership that he had when he was with the Jets."
He added: "He'll have some better targets to throw to, I believe that. But he's just very calm in the huddle. He's a leader, he works hard at it."
Anderson is right about a few things. This Broncos team will be the best offensive unit Sanchez has played on top to bottom since the 2010 New York Jets, a team that boasted an in-prime Santonio Holmes during a contract year, a still-potent LaDainian Tomlinson, Braylon Edwards and Dustin Keller (plus a downright incredible defense).
And, in a lot of ways, he's right about Sanchez always trying to be an effective leader. Sanchez did everything a franchise quarterback would do, from voluntary summer camps, motivational speeches and showering his offensive linemen with gifts, to beating Tom Brady and Peyton Manning on the road in the playoffs with some pretty big throws.
His star fell when the team, already a veteran-heavy unit, added Plaxico Burress to the mix and handed a toxic Holmes a massive contract and a soap box to stand on. Sanchez's voice was never louder or heavier than that of, say, linebacker Bart Scott or Darrelle Revis or Antonio Cromartie to begin with.
But to say that people have forgotten this, or that this somehow makes him the most effective quarterback for the Denver Broncos in 2016 is absurd. This is not Anderson's fault -- he's trying to give us thoughtful and interesting material at a time when that is almost impossible. If Sanchez succeeds, it will be for the same reasons he succeeded with the Jets in 2010: The skill position players will be great, the locker room will be tenable and the defense will be historic.
