Terrell Davis (Denver Post file)
Terrell Davis continues to get two questions:
"Why aren't you in the Pro Football Hall of Fame?"
"Will you ever get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame?"
Davis answers both in low-key, nonbitter style.
"I don't think I'll get into the Hall through the regular voting procedure. Too much time has passed since I left the game," he told me last week via telephone.
"But I do have a chance of making it by vote of the veterans committee. That would be quite an honor.
"I didn't start playing football to win awards. I played because I loved the game.
"Now I've got another career going strong ? and it still involves football."
Davis recently signed a two-year contract with the NFL Network as an analyst and reporter, a deal that will give him a much higher profile than he had during his previous time (2006-09) with the network.
He will be a major part of "Inside Training Camp Live" beginning Friday (8-11 a.m.) and will appear regularly on the prime-time show "NFL Total Access" (5-6 p.m.), also premiering this month.
A key date for Davis: Aug. 2, when he will report from Broncos training camp.
"I'm really looking forward to that visit," he said. "I fly into Denver regularly to see my mother, Kateree. But this will be the first time in a long time that I'll visit Broncos camp ? professionally. Come to think of it, John (Elway) is the only guy left (with the team) who I really know professionally. Time really does fly."
Davis' NFL season won't end with preseason coverage.
He will be a major part of "NFL AM," the network's live weekday morning show, starting in September. He will be a key contributor to the important Monday program, which will recap all Sunday NFL action.
"The show will be live at 6 a.m on the East Coast," Davis said. "I'll be working in the Los Angeles studio, which means I'll go on air at 3 a.m. Now that's a bit of a challenge.
"In
fact, this television broadcasting is a challenge."I don't look at it as an award for having a strong pro football career. I'm learning as I go along, just as I did on the football field.
"I'm working with and watching TV professionals. One of my mentors is Solomon Wilcots (of CBS Sports). I like the way he analyzes teams and reports on what's happening on the field," Davis said.
Broncos fans in particular are aware of Davis' spectacular career, highlighted by a Super Bowl MVP performance Jan. 25, 1998, when Denver beat the Green Bay Packers.
But ingrained in Davis' Broncos memory bank is the team's second preseason game in 1995, played against the San Francisco 49ers.
As a rookie sixth-round draft choice, Davis was almost forgotten on the Denver roster.
"I hadn't played during the first three quarters of that game," he recalled. "I was getting antsy.
"Running backs coach Bobby Turner put me on special teams during a kickoff situation in the fourth quarter. I made a jarring tackle. When we got the ball back, Turner let me play as a runner. That's how it all started."
By the time the regular season started, Davis was Denver's No. 1 running back. He eventually became the Broncos' all-time leading rusher with 7,607 yards. He rushed for 2,008 yards in the 1998 season.
While induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame has eluded him, Davis' Southern California home in Temecula is filled with a variety of plaques and honors.
Tamiko, his wife, appreciates them.
But two sons, Jaxon, 2, and Niles, 4 months, obviously aren't particularly interested in their dad's football accomplishments.
Only one distinctive award has been given away.
At the end of his career, Davis was honored with a Blue Baby Beanie Doll named Terrell.
"My nieces and nephews cherish it," Davis said.
Longtime Denver journalist Dusty Saunders writes about sports media each Monday in The Denver Post. Contact him at tvtime@comcast.net.
"The Press Box" makes move to TV
In baseball, a triple play is considered unusual.
In sports coverage, a quadruple play is unique.
"The Press Box," a weeknight 10 p.m. half-hour show on KCDO-TV (K3), is a graphic example of how local sports coverage can move into the multimedia digital age, utilizing TV, radio, newspaper and online resources.
The program, produced and taped in studios at The Denver Post, is similar in format to the sports talk show featuring Mark Kiszla and Peter Burns that airs weekdays 7-9 a.m. on Mile High Sports radio (1510 AM and 93.7 FM). Also featured on the TV show is Oren Lomena, a local sports media personality.
"The Press Box" has a logical connection with The Denver Post, because the programs can be viewed on the paper's website.
The often-controversial Kiszla has been lobbying for many years for The Post to move into the digital age.
Key executives in the project are Tim Rasmussen, The Post's assistant managing editor for photography and multimedia, and Greg Armstrong, a veteran TV executive now running K3.
Both say "The Press Box" project is the first of its kind in the country.
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