The Broncos are quickly fixing a self-diagnosed problem

DENVER — John Elway identified a problem in the Denver Broncos’ organization.

One week later, he had made significant strides in fixing, if not completely eliminating, the problem altogether.

At Case Keenum’s introductory press conference on Friday, Mar. 16, there was an uplifting feeling of positivity and optimism as the Broncos showcased their new quarterback. That was except for one comment Elway made that flew under the radar when discussing how great of a person Keenum is.

The problem Elway identified had nothing to do with Keenum, however.

“We know that locker room is something that we’ve got to continue to work on,” Elway said, before quickly moving on.

Wait, what?

While it would be fun to imagine John putting on his interior decorating hat and redesigning the physical locker room itself, he most certainly had his general manager cap on thinking about the players with this comment.

The fact that there was work to do in the locker room isn’t a surprise to anyone after rumors and reports the last two seasons continued to surface about a locker-room divide. But this comment was made over a week after Aqib Talib was traded, and came from the team’s general manager completely unprompted and out of the blue.

Almost exactly one week later, however, Elway was placing the finishing touches on the redesigned locker room.

The fact Elway fixed the problem wasn’t a surprise, but the speed at which he did was remarkable.

In that week’s time, ol’ No. 7 made two acquisitions. The first was signing defensive lineman Clinton McDonald. The second was trading for offensive tackle Jared Veldheer. While both will, and should, have a significant impact on the field, their impact off of the field, specifically in the locker room, could be priceless.

You see, Elway didn’t just sign two team captains in those two moves, he signed locker-room-changing caliber player—one on each side of the ball.

Mission accomplished.

At 6-foot-8, 321 pounds, Veldheer could demand respect out of anyone just based on his physical stature alone. However, that’s not what earned him the “C” on his jersey with the Cardinals. No, what earned him that was his leadership.

“[Jared] is an awesome teammate,” Carson Palmer said, who spent six seasons with Veldheer during stints with the Oakland Raiders and Cardinals. “[He] is awesome in the locker room.”

Just 48 hours before acquiring an “awesome” person for the locker room, Elway signed a nearly too-good-to-be-true type teammate.

“Clinton McDonald is a perfect teammate,” Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defensive coordinator Mike Smith said, after spending two seasons with McDonald in Tampa. “He’s there to support other guys on the team, whether it’s in the d-line room, whether it’s the linebacker room or even on the offensive side of the ball.”

After years of locker-room divide, the Broncos so desperately needed a player like McDonald who will reach across the aisle to bring the offense and defense together. In fact, he’s been influential in developing the Buccaneers’ most important player on the other side of the ball.

“He’s a strong man. In the locker room you look for those men that you can lean on, those men that you aspire to be,” quarterback Jameis Winston said about McDonald. “His leadership, his ability to serve, he’s just a motivator. It’s hard to sum up all he really is. I can just tell you about how he’s helped me so much in my career of my development as a young man. He displays so many characteristics of who you want to grow up to be like.”

These comments by Winston and Smith, while they are glowing, barely scrape the surface with the type of teammate and, more importantly, person McDonald is. Last year, when Hurricane Irma hit the Tampa area, McDonald provided more than 15,000 meals to residents who were without power through sponsoring and organizing food trucks.

To say the Broncos’ new defensive lineman is a great person and teammate wouldn’t be close to doing him justice.

Finally, a bonus move for the locker room Elway made during free agency was re-signing linebacker Todd Davis. At the end of last seasons tough year, Broncos’ head coach Vance Joseph couldn’t speak highly enough of Davis as a teammate after the team named the linebacker their Ed Block Courage Award Recipient.

“Todd is special. Todd is one of our best leaders,” Joseph said. “Todd is an example of being a great pro. Through the good times and through the bad times, Todd has never changed. His work ethic has never changed… Todd is what I want all of our guys to aspire to be.”

While talent is undoubtedly important in building successful football teams, over the past two years—specifically after losing Peyton Manning and DeMarcus Ware—John Elway has found out the hard way how important leadership in the locker room is.

In a matter of a week, Elway substantially helped, if not fixed, that problem.