"… When you're young and coming into an organization, you're just trying to make the football team. You don't get to have interaction with the executive team, so to speak. You're dealing with the coaches and the trainer. And I remember Mr. B allowing [former head coach Mike] Shanahan to let everyone on the team have their own room before a game. And you're probably like, 'What does that have to do with anything?' But to me, the reason that was so crucial was, he recognized that everyone gets ready for the game different and he wanted them to have their own space, their own sanctuary to get ready for the game. And, [it was] little stuff like that I started noticing about Mr. B. He was always a personable guy. … He wanted you to treat him honestly, like he was one of the guys.

"Think about it: You had 100 people going to a game. You got 50 some players — [and] every player had to have their own room or we wouldn't even rent the hotel. Every player had to have their own room and that part was really important. You look at all those facilities that the Broncos have right now, all of those facilities are things that he [wanted]. Even some of it now, he hasn't even seen, but it was his vision that we have the number one facility in sports — not just the NFL, but all of sports.

"When the Hall of Fame nomination [news] came out and he was on there, I was super excited. … [For] every guy who went into the Hall of Fame, he threw parties and celebrated them. And when we won — AFC Championships and big victories — he is down on the field and he's hugging everybody and he is high-fiving and doing all of this stuff and literally it is a game, so we are all like kids again. And he just poured into everybody and celebrated and I can remember after games, he's down there and this game ball goes to this guy and this game ball goes to this guy and this game ball goes to this guy and this coach, [and he says,] 'Hey, matter of fact, everybody gets a game ball.'

"I can remember so many moments when that happened — and now, it's time to do it for him. The thing that's heart[breaking] for me is that he won't be there when we're doing it for him, because he was always there for everybody. There was no expense that he wouldn't bear to make sure that everybody felt special. … To me it's really bittersweet because he won't be there to enjoy and to know how much we care about him.

"I am looking forward to him going into the Hall of Fame. No one in this organization is more deserving than him, and I am going to embrace it."