Emmanuel Sanders came to Denver in 2014 for the ultimate goal but to also display to the National Football League that he could be one of the league’s best. In his two seasons he has accomplished personal goals of a Pro Bowl, and two 1,000-yard seasons on his way to a Super Bowl ring. Yet, Monday, he made it clear where is mind is as he returned to UC Health Training Center for another season.
“I remember talking to John Elway,” Sanders recalled. “We were getting ready to get on the bus. I looked at Elway and I said, ‘After you won your first one did you enjoy it?’ He was like, ‘yeah but I was thinking about the next one.’ And that’s how I feel right now.”
There is a natural paradox to accomplishing all of your goals and then continuing on, but for Sanders the goals are the same and now, he simply has the path to repeat them.
“Same thing. Same thing. Same thing,” Sanders said when asked what motivates him entering the 2016 season. “I want to make the Pro Bowl. I want to make the ‘Top 100’. I want a 1,000-yard season. I want to win a championship.”
He added how he plans to get back to those pinnacles of success when asked seconds later saying, “Same way. You guys are going to see me out there catching footballs after practice, working the same regimen. I feel like I have the blueprint for success for my body and how to go about my work. It has been successful so I’m going to continuously go about the same things.”
His first two seasons with the Broncos will be hard to top, especially with a new quarterback throwing to him. In his first season with the Broncos, Sanders tallied regular season career-highs in catches (101), receiving yards (1,404) and touchdowns (nine). In his second season in Denver, while Peyton Manning split time with Brock Osweiler and both struggled separately at times, he still had a great regular season, posting 76 receptions, 1,135 receiving yards and six touchdowns (all totals only dwarfed by his 2014 season) on his way to a Super Bowl 50 victory.
“Obviously, now, we’re looking forward to this season. We have a new team but the same goals and that’s to win a championship,” Sanders said of the upcoming year. “I’m just excited about the season. This is my seventh year. It is a blessing to say that it’s seven. I can’t believe it but it’s a blessing to play in the National Football league year in and year out.”
Sanders’ focus remains on the field and in the workout room but he did admit Monday that the team is missing an intangible piece as they met for the first time, something he is keenly aware of that will be on him and others to learn to do this season.
“It definitely feels weird not having [Manning] around because I’ve been here the past two years, seeing him around, having his presence in the locker room,” he said. “Guys have to step up. Guys like myself, Demaryius [Thomas], C.J. [Anderson], Mark [Sanchez], everyone is going to step up and we will get the chemistry right. The good thing is Peyton gave us the blueprint of how to go about doing it.”
His goals are the same. His regime and focus are the same. He is healthy as ever but he did gain one thing in the offseason that has forever changed him and may scare the Broncos’ opponents in 2016.
“I don’t think you can ever put 2015 completely behind you,” Sanders said of holding onto last season’s success. “That’s one of those seasons when you say, ‘put something behind you,’ that’s one of those seasons that gives you confidence, that allows you to poke your chest out.”
Sanders came to Denver to be great and he has been. Despite reaching all of the goals he had for himself when he chose the Broncos in free agency in 2014, he has the confidence and now the blueprint to repeat. The scary thing for defenses is he expects to reach those same goals and no signs suggest he won’t.
