The Denver Broncos enjoyed a tremendous season in 2013 that ended with an ugly exclamation point. A trip to the Super Bowl is always a great accomplishment, but losing by 35 points would leave a foul taste in any athlete’s mouth. That’s why the Broncos have been using the number 35 as motivation throughout the offseason.
“Whenever someone gets tired, you just say 35, and they just start picking it up again,” defensive end Malik Jackson told the Broncos’ official website on Monday. “We know we have to come back strong this year. We had a disappointing loss. But that’s last season. We’re ready to move on.”
Peyton Manning and company lost to the Seattle Seahawks 43-8 after entering the Super Bowl as the favorite. The game had disaster written all over it when the opening offensive snap went over Manning’s head and into the end zone. That’s something Jackson said the team thinks about every day.
“We use it every day,” he said. “These workouts, we come in and we say – we lost by 35, so that’s our motivation.”
Safety TJ Ward echoed Jackson’s comments.
“Right now, it is still a hunger,” Ward said. “You can tell it was a bad taste in the team’s mouth from last year. Everybody is looking to improve and get better. The goal is to win that Super Bowl, so we’re working really hard right now.”
It’s hard to win the AFC Championship two years in a row, so Denver will need all the motivation it can get. Being embarrassed on the biggest stage in American sports should help the Broncos going forward.
