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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) – Trindon Holliday quickly put his historic playoff performance behind him just as he did all those gasping defenders scattered in his wake. The former college track star dashed across TV screens in January, Denver’s diminutive returner racing right into history when he piled up an NFL-record 248 yards in returns against the Baltimore Ravens. He became the first NFL player ever to take back both a punt and a kickoff for TDs in a playoff game. Moreover, those touchdowns were the longest punt (90 yards) and kickoff (104 yards) returns for scores ever in the postseason. Holliday’s breakout, however, was relegated to a footnote by Rahim Moore’s big blunder on Jacoby Jones’ long TD catch in the waning seconds of regulation that led to Denver’s stunning double-overtime loss to the Ravens. If not for that, it might have been Holliday and not Jones putting his fingerprints on the Lombardi Trophy in New Orleans, appearing on Jimmy Kimmel’s late show and prancing across the floor this offseason with Karina Smirnoff on “Dancing With The Stars.” “I mean, I don’t really look at it like that. It happened for that guy,” Holliday said Tuesday in his first comments since that historic and heartbreaking night in Denver four months ago. “They did what they had to do to win it and he got a chance to be a part of that. It’s not nothing major to me. I just have to work at it this year to try to do the same thing they did.” Holliday was a perfect 16-0 in the regular season last year. He started his season with the Houston Texans, but after their 5-0 start, they jettisoned the returner and the Broncos grabbed him off waivers, then won their next 11 games with Holliday leading the league with a 32.5-yard kick return average and a 10.8-yard punt return average from Week 6 on. The 5-foot-5 sprinter was an eight-time All-American in track and field at LSU, winning the 2009 NCAA title by running the 100-meter dash in 10 seconds flat. But he really made himself a household name on Jan. 12 – until the Broncos blew their late lead and were sent packing by the eventual Super Bowl champs. “It’s been really tough being that we came out and gave it all we had in that game,” Holliday said. “I look back on it sometimes. But it’s nothing that I can dwell on. We lost it as a team, so we’ve just got to come back, get ready this year and try to make it better.” Holliday, who also returned a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns in consecutive games during the regular season, figures he can be even better in 2013 with a full offseason in Denver’s system. He’s also hoping to play more than a cameo role on offense after being used sparingly last season, when he caught a pair of passes from Peyton Manning. “Yeah, I would like to be used more on offense, but it’s the coaches’ call. Whatever coaches need, whatever my team needs, I’ll be ready to go,” Holliday said. Even on an offense loaded with the likes of Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, Jacob Tamme and newcomers Wes Welker and Montee Ball, the Broncos would love to get the ball into Holliday’s hands as much as possible. “I’m glad I’m not kicking to him anymore and he’s on our team now,” teammate Matt Prater said. “He’s a fun guy to watch because any time he touches the ball, it’s exciting. He can score on any play.” He can also put it on the ground at any time, part of what led to the Texans giving up on him. Holliday said he’s working hard on ball security – he fumbled five times last season, often making fans, teammates and coaches cringe as much as celebrate whenever he touched the ball and turned on those jets. “Oh yes, that’s the main priority. You can’t go anywhere without the ball,” Holliday said. “So, starting Monday in OTAs, we’re going to work on more ball security than anything.” With Holliday, Prater and punter Britton Colquitt, who is the franchise leader in career gross (46.1) and net (39.5) punting averages, the Broncos sport one of the most dynamic special teams in the league. After slumping down the stretch last season, Prater said he expects greater consistency this season because this is the first offseason he’s spent in Denver after missing 2011 (lockout) and 2012 (holdout). This is Prater’s first offseason working with Broncos strength coach Luke Richesson, whom Prater said “is doing a great job with all the core stuff, which for kickers and punters is huge. A lot of it is core and legs, feet and everything else. So, hopefully that’ll get me stronger and I’ll have a bigger leg next year going into the season.” Matt Prater (credit: CBS) Colquitt ranked third in the NFL last season in net punting with a 42.1-yard average, second with a 6-yard return average and second with 45 punts inside the 20 with only seven touchbacks. He signed a free agent tender this spring that will pay him $1,323,000 next season, although the Broncos have told Colquitt they hope to discuss a long-term contract before the season. It won’t be anything like what his older brother, Dustin, got with the Kansas City Chiefs this offseason: five years and $18.75 million, making him the highest-paid punter in the NFL. “I pinch myself every day driving to work that I’m blessed to do this job. The fact that you get paid to do this is even better,” Britton Colquitt said. “So I think that’s just icing on the cake. Dustin played eight years in tough situations with tough records. … So he’s earned it.” Notes : The Broncos are showing interest in former Packers DB Charles Woodson. Broncos front-office boss John Elway told 5,000 season ticket-holders in a call last week that he felt good about the safety position but didn’t close the door on adding another veteran. “We’re always looking and we’re not totally done with anything,” Elway said. … Longtime NFL offensive line coach Alex Gibbs, 72, has returned to Denver to serve as offensive line consultant, primarily working on technique with the Broncos’ young linemen. By ARNIE STAPLETON, AP Pro Football Writer (© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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Holliday Hoping For Bigger Role In 2013

DENVER (CBS4) – Orlando Franklin is turning to Twitter as he plots his revenge against Peyton Manning and Eric Denver after he was surprised with a a shaving cream pie-in-the-face on live television last week. Franklin was at Coors Field taking in a Rockies game with more than 30 Broncos teammates from a luxury booth when the interview and sneak attack took place. The Broncos offensive lineman told CBS4′s Vic Lombardi on Xfinity Monday Live that he will give four tickets to any home game this season to any fan who tweets him an idea for a practical joke or prank that he thinks is worthy of trying as retaliation against Manning, the mastermind, and Decker, who did the deed. “My first instinct was to get (Decker) back in some sort (of way). I was just happy that he slipped up when he was trying to get away from me and I was able to catch him and bring him back in front of the camera and wipe a bit of that shaving cream back in his face,” Franklin said. He said he wound up doing the interview because “Peyton set me up.” “Peyton told me that I should do the interview and I wasn’t really thinking. I’d never been to a baseball game before and I didn’t know that was a tradition and they set me up pretty good.” Franklin told Lombardi he’s serious and asks that people contact him here: @OFranklin74 . Watch more of the video with Orlando Franklin in the Xfinity Monday Live section . See photos of other recent Major League Baseball pie-in-the-face gags below: Josh Reddick #16 puts a cream pie on the face of Coco Crisp #4 of the Oakland Athletics after Crisp hit a game-winning single to beat the Detroit Tigers in the ninth inning of Game Four of the American League Division Series at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on October 9, 2012. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) Neil Walker #18 is hit in the face with shaving cream pie by teammate Joel Hanrahan #52 of the Pittsburgh Pirates after a win against the Chicago Cubs on June 1, 2010 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images) Jesus Feliciano #27 of the New York Mets gets a shaving cream pie in the face in celebration from teammate Pedro Feliciano #25 on July 31, 2010 at Citi Field. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) Jason Bay #44 of the New York Mets gets a pie in the face by Jason Pridie #20 on July 3, 2011 at Citi Field. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) Johan Santana #57 of the New York Mets gets a shaving cream pie in the face from Justin Turner #2 after pitching a no hitter on June 1, 2012. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) R.A. Dickey of the New York Mets gets a shaving cream pie in the face after pitching a complete game one hitter on June 18, 2012. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) Jim Thome of the Philadelphia Phillies wipes his face after a teammate hit him with a shaving cream pie at Citizens Bank Park on June 23, 2012. (Photo by Brian Garfinkel/Getty Images) Mat Latos of the Cincinnati Reds receives a shaving cream pie in the face on June 25, 2012 in Cincinnati. (Photo by John Grieshop/Getty Images) Kurt Suzuki #8 and Jemile Weeks #19 smash cream pies in face of Josh Reddick #16 of the Oakland Athletics at O.co Coliseum on July 8, 2012. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) Josh Reddick celebrates afterwards. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) Jeff Francoeur #21 of the Kansas City Royals receives a shaving cream pie in the face from Alex Gordon #4 at Kauffman Stadium on August 5, 2012 in Kansas City. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) Jay Bruce #32 of the Cincinnati Reds gets a shaving cream pie in the face from Mat Latos at Great American Ball Park on Aug. 14, 2012 in Cincinnati. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

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Franklin Out For Revenge After Manning’s Prank

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) – Whether known as Mon-TAY or Mon-TEE, running back Montee Ball made quite a name for himself during his record-setting career at Wisconsin. Apparently he’s got some work to do to become a household name in the NFL, though. The Denver Broncos’ second-round draft pick was a virtual unknown to at least one of his new teammates, veteran tight end Jacob Tamme, who said following the draft, “I really know nothing about him. Look forward to meeting him. He’s from Wisconsin, right?” An NCAA record 83 touchdowns just didn’t ring a bell with Tamme, who confessed he doesn’t keep up with the college game except for Kentucky, his alma mater. On a conference call with Executive Vice President John Elway earlier this week, a season ticket holder identified as Mike from Lakewood told the Broncos boss that he loved the selection of “Monty Hall.” OK, let’s make a deal then. First off, Ball wants to be called Mon-TAY, not Mon-TEE, as he was known for a while in Madison. And it shouldn’t be long before everyone – from Mike in suburban Lakewood to Jacob at Broncos headquarters – knows plenty about the bruising back who can both carry defenders across the goal line and outrace them around the edge. At 5-foot-10 and 217 pounds, Ball is the bigger back coach John Fox so desperately needed in Denver’s playoff loss to Baltimore in January when Willis McGahee and Knowshon Moreno were out with injuries and the Broncos couldn’t pick up the first down to run out the clock. After the draft, Elway pointed to a picture outside his office of running back Terrell Davis, whom he teamed with to lead Denver to back-to-back Super Bowl titles in the 1990s, and flashed that famous toothy grin. “That’s who he reminds me of,” Elway said. “Terrell Davis.” For good reason, too – Ball has been a Broncos fan since he was 7 and patterned himself after T.D. while piling up all those TDs. “When we were watching Montee, the one thing that stood out about his running style is that it’s a lot like Terrell Davis, and so that got us very excited, and we hope that Montee has an even longer career than Terrell had,” Elway said. The big issue with Ball is the wear and tear he had as the Badgers’ featured back the last two years. He carried a school record 356 times last season to go with 307 carries his junior year. Counting catches, he had 697 touches the last two seasons and 983 for his four-year career in Madison. He was also heavily used in high school with 995 career carries at Timberland High School in Wentzville, Mo. That’s a positive, not a problem, Elway insists. “He’s a guy that is durable,” Elway said. “He carried the ball 600 times the last two years, he had 55 touchdowns the last two years. He’s got great short-area quickness, he has a knack to find the holes, he can run inside between the tackles and he can also run outside. Plus, he’s extremely productive and has also proven to be durable and has not missed any games the last couple of years. “We think we found a gem in Montee and I have high expectations for him.” The Broncos felt better about Ball’s durability than that of Alabama’s Eddie Lacy, who was selected by Green Bay three spots after Ball. Many draft analysts had Lacy as the top-rated back in the draft. “We liked both these backs, we had them very similar on the board,” said Matt Russell, the Broncos’ director of player personnel. “The issue with Eddie Lacy at Alabama was that we were worried about a toe injury that he had, which is probably what caused him to slip. “We just were worried about Eddie Lacy’s medical (report) and how long he could play, and we felt like we got a career back in Montee Ball.” Coach John Fox, whose Carolina teams always featured big, one-cut backs like Jonathan Stewart and Stephen Davis who found the lane and didn’t dance, loved watching film of Ball’s 77 TD runs for the Badgers. “He’s got skins on the wall at a high level of competition in college and when you look at running backs, I don’t look at too many of the gymnastics, as I call them – height, weight, speed, all that stuff – it’s a special skill being able to run the ball,” Fox said. “Whether it was Emmitt Smith, who ran a 4.7 coming out, you know you just don’t put a lot of stock in those kinds of things other than the production, and he’s been very productive and really on all three downs. He’s not just a first- and second-down power back.” His junior year, Ball tied Barry Sanders’ NCAA single-season record with 39 touchdowns, while leading the country with 1,923 yards rushing. He rushed for 1,830 yards last year and won the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top back. No. 1 on Ball’s to-do list, however, is protecting Peyton Manning, and he said he got plenty of practice honing his pass-protection skills blocking for quarterback  Russell Wilson  his junior year. He’ll get to practice with Manning for the first time May 20 when the veterans return for a three-day camp. Growing up a Broncos fan, Ball was wide-eyed when he put on his uniform for the first time before taking the field Friday at the start of Denver’s three-day rookie camp. “I was like a little kid, as soon as I put the jersey on, the shorts, the cleats, I wanted to take all sorts of pictures and send them to my friends,” Ball said. “But it’s all about business.” Notes: Ball is wearing No. 38. Davis’ old No. 30, belongs to S David Bruton. Ball’s number in college, 28, belongs to S Quinton Carter. … The Broncos signed two fifth-round draft choices – DE Quanterus Smith and WR Tavarres King – on Friday, one day after signing T Vinston Painter, a sixth-round pick. … Air Force grad Ben Garland, who was on the practice squad last season, has moved from defensive tackle to offensive guard. “We’re just trying to give him the best opportunity we can to help him make our football team,” Fox said. – By Arnie Stapleton, AP Sports Writer (© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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Montee Ball Out To Make A Name For Himself — Again

As evidenced by the proliferating number of pranks he’s pulling, Peyton Manning has gotten pretty comfortable in Denver as he enters his second season with the Broncos.

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Peyton Manning a master at pranking other Denver Broncos

Tim Tebow’s fans are as adrift as the free-agent quarterback himself at this point. You want to root for your guy, but how can you root for him when he doesn’t have a gig? Simple: you help him out by appealing to a higher power. No, not That Higher Power. Tebow still presumably has a contract in force with Him. We’re talking about the President of the United States. Thanks to the White House’s “We The People” petition submission system , a band of Tebow fans sought to get President Obama involved in the Jacksonville Jaguars’ free-agency dealings. They tried to persuade David Caldwell, the Jaguars’ general manager, to rethink his no-Tebow pose. Here’s the text of the petition, all words [sic]‘d: Jacksonville Jaguars fans want the team to sign recently released QB Tim Tebow. However, rookie general manager for the Jacksonville Jaguars David Caldwell is blocking this from happening. If the Jaguars sign & START Tebow, home games will be sold out, sales will spike, the team will win and the fans will be happy.Mr. Caldwell is ignoring lots of facts about the misunderstood Tim Tebow while in Denver: Passer rating of 125.6 is highest ever in Broncos postseason history. Most yards per completion (31.6) in NFL playoff history.100.5 QB rating is best ever for a Broncos QB in his first start.Third most passing yards in a game by a Bronco rookie QB. (308, in his 2nd start), First 15+ point comeback in the final 3 minutes of an NFL game since the merger, 7 game winning drives in just 16 games! Alas, the White House has gracefully excused itself from the entire debate. The petition link is now dead , removed because it violates the site’s terms of service policy. Poor Tebow; not even the White House wants to get involved with him now. Oh, but that’s not all the Tebow news for now, no. Mike Ditka believes that there’s still a place for Tebow in the NFL, as he told the Chicago Sun-Times : “I think [Tebow] can play quarterback in the NFL, but whatever offense you run might have to be tweaked a bit. This kid is a talent and he proved it in college. He is an outstanding leader. Now, does he have an unusual throwing motion? Yes. But there a lot of quarterbacks that didn’t have a perfect throwing motion. Some of them turned out to be great quarterbacks because they were great leaders. I really do think there’s a place for him. If not at quarterback, I think he could play tight end. If I was in the league and coaching today, I would take a chance on him at quarterback.” And if Tebow doesn’t have a future in the league, he’s got plenty of opportunity to talk about it. Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News notes that Tebow could be the focus of a bidding war between ESPN and Fox for college football coverage. “The ESPN faculty is aware Tebow could be in play,” Raissman writes. “Word is they believe he will be playing football somewhere this season. If that’s not the case they ain’t letting Tebow waltz to Fox, or any other outlets (like NBC Sports Network or CBS Sports Network), without pursuing him, big-time.” So, yeah … whether he’s in uniform or out, we’re not done with Tim Tebow. Not by a long shot. -Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee .-

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White House removes petition to get Tim Tebow signed to the Jaguars (Shutdown Corner)