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NFL hands Brandon two-game suspension

Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News

Published July 14, 2007 at midnight

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Broncos coach Mike Shanahan has consistently said he agrees with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's get-tough approach on the conduct of players.

Shanahan and the Broncos now have felt their first sting of that policy with a two-game suspension handed down by the league to safety Sam Brandon.

Brandon will appeal the suspension, but if it is upheld, he would miss the first two games of the upcoming regular season.

Shanahan could not be reached for comment. Brandon, the first Broncos player suspended under Goodell's ramped-up conduct policy, is the second Broncos player this month to have been suspended for at least part of the 2007 season.

Defensive end Kenny Peterson was suspended for the first four games for violating the league's steroids and related substances policy.

Goodell has said he would be particularly tough on those he called "repeat offenders" and Brandon's suspension is a result of two previous domestic violence arrests - they occurred in 2004 and 2005 - as well as Brandon turning himself in to Douglas County authorities in September on charges he violated a restraining order and conditions of his bail.

On the field, Brandon also is facing a challenge as he still is trying to return to the lineup after surgery to repair his right anterior cruciate ligament, which he tore Nov. 5 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

His role for much of the past two seasons has been as the fifth defensive back in the Broncos' "big nickel" package, where he has been matched up in coverage on tight ends, including the San Diego Chargers' Antonio Gates and the Kansas City Chiefs' Tony Gonzalez.

He was limited for much of the team's offseason program. The suspension will cost him slightly more than $76,400 of his $650,000 base salary for the season.

Broncos players will report for training camp July 28.

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