As Ware prepared to fly out to Denver, he kept an eye on other edge rushers around the league. He saw Julius Peppers accept a free-agent deal to sign in Green Bay, and that led him to wonder where he would end up. Then, as he boarded the plane to Denver, he noticed someone on his flight that would help make the decision a little easier.

"I got on the plane and I saw Aqib Talib. I didn't know anything about Aqib Talib coming to the Denver Broncos," Ware said. "And I thought to myself, 'Is he going to try and sign in Denver?' I said, 'OK, then. If I can get Chris Harris and Aqib Talib on the same team, that means I have at least one more second to get to the quarterback.' And then I also said, 'If I can also get right with Von, we can be the best tandem ever at the outside linebacker position to play together.' I was already sold after that.

"I remember sitting in the[locker room] and Aqib Talib was getting dressed … and I was getting dressed as well. You put on your nice gear and your suit and make sure you're presentable at the time to the owners and also to the press if you were going to sign at that time, so you need to be prepared. I remember when we were sitting in [there], I looked at Aqib and Aqib looked at me, and we smiled at each other. Because we knew exactly what we had to do. And that was one of those cool moments where I knew that it was that time."

The Broncos rolled to a 12-4 record during Ware's first season in Denver, but they lost in the divisional round to the Indianapolis Colts. In 2015, the team wouldn't let another opportunity get away.

"Our motto that year of Super Bowl 50 was 'iron sharpens iron, and another man sharpens another,'" Ware said. "We knew what that meant before the season started. We had that motto during OTAs and minicamp and training camp, and it was crazy, but that year everybody stuck with that motto of each person being for another. Me and Peyton got hurt that year, a couple of other guys got hurt that year, but we were still winning football games. We didn't think that we could be stopped. It didn't matter about the name that was on your jersey. We were a living witness of ourselves that the hard work we did in the offseason actually paid off during the season. When me and Peyton came back, it was like full steam ahead after that. That brotherhood that we gained from just the turmoil and anguish that we had during the season, we still have that now. And it's going to last forever."

Six years after joining the Broncos, Ware realizes the unique place the free-agent class holds in NFL history. Four big-name players arrived in Denver in 2014 and departed several years later with Super Bowl rings.

"Being part of that class was an opportunity for me that I can never get back again and I will never take that for granted," Ware said. "I feel like, for me, that was the best defense I've ever played on from a team camaraderie standpoint, from a guys wanting to play [standpoint]. That was one of those memories that's going to last forever, especially with a monumental Super Bowl 50 championship to where each and every day, I can open that box up and see that Super Bowl ring and know how hard each one of us worked throughout the season, from injuries and ups and downs that we had.