Nalen is last champion standing

Center final player from title teams still with Broncos

By Lee Rasizer, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published March 25, 2008 at 11:02 p.m.

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Photo by Doug Pensinger / Getty Images/2007

Center Tom Nalen isn't thrilled he's the only member of the Broncos' Super Bowl-winning teams still on the roster. "I don't sit around with my feet up going, 'Yeah, I outlasted everyone,' " he said.

He survived his recent trip to an Orlando, Fla., resort with his family in tow.

Not Brandon Marshall - Tom Nalen.

"I avoided McDonald's bags and television sets," Nalen, the Broncos' longtime center, quipped in an interview earlier this week. "I'm very proud of that."

Here's something else that also potentially could elicit a sense of gratification from Nalen: With recent moves that have erased Jason Elam, Matt Lepsis and Rod Smith off the Broncos roster, he is the last link to the franchise's two Super Bowl-winning teams.

But Nalen isn't exactly doing handstands over that designation.

"I don't sit around with my feet up going, 'Yeah, I outlasted everyone,' " he said.

But facts are facts. Nalen is the only current Broncos player who predates the Mike Shanahan era. Wade Phillips was at the helm when Nalen was drafted in the seventh round in 1994 with the 218th pick.

Nalen, who will be 37 when he enters the season with 194 games under his belt, probably won't catch Elam (236) for most appearances by a Broncos player. At least he'll get an opportunity, considering he's 42 games short.

Nalen missed the final 11 games of the 2007 season with a torn right biceps but has been finished with rehabilitation for a couple of months and has resumed full workouts.

"There's nothing wrong with my arm anymore," he said.

In the meantime, Smith was placed on the reserve/retired list and almost certainly is done playing. Lepsis retired. And Elam signed a free-agent contract with the Atlanta Falcons.

"I thought Rod would play forever," Nalen said. "Jason, you can't outlast kickers, but Atlanta gave him more money.

"Matt," Nalen added with a laugh, "I figured I'd outlast him."

Nalen, a five-time Pro Bowl selection, chalks up much of his longevity to Shanahan being at the helm for 13 of his 14 seasons. During that period, he has seen countless teammates come and go - and not just from the 1997 and 1998 squads that brought home the Lombardi Trophy.

"Rosters are constantly in turnover and it's bound to happen," he said of the constant flux. "I am surprised to still be playing here, but a lot of that is Mike's been the head coach here and if guys are producing, he keeps the guys around from those teams as long as he can."

Smith's bad hip forced him to step away from the Broncos. He always vowed the team would have to rip the name plate off his locker, and the severity of his injury forced the issue.

Lepsis and Elam were much different cases.

Lepsis rebounded from two serious knee ailments to become a top-flight NFL offensive tackle but eventually lost his passion for the game and wasn't satisfied with his level of performance.

Elam toyed with the idea of retirement when the Broncos didn't budge off essentially a one-year free-agent offer but eventually was wooed away by a $3.3 million signing bonus in a $9 million package from Atlanta.

"Jason's still playing and Matt's not. They're both equally happy," Nalen said. "I hope I'm as happy whether I continue playing or I retire."

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