Denver’s center isn’t dealing with injury issues for the first time since his sophomore year in college. That fact alone should get Broncos fans excited about the coming season.

Good morning, Broncos Country!

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There is ample reason to be excited about the Denver Broncos.

After the first week of organized team activities, it looks like the team finally has a capable quarterback. Just consider the weapons Denver’s offense could have for that QB. The defense is primed for a big season with the selection of Bradley Chubb to pair with Von Miller, and the addition of Su’a Cravens to the secondary. Fans can celebrate that defense with the Orange Rush shirt, and if you use the code MEMORIAL20 you get 20 percent off.

Broncos fans should also be excited about the heath status of center Matt Paradis. His quotes this week boggle the mind. This plays off MHR’s story a few days ago, but goes more in-depth on Paradis. As that story notes, he’s dealt with hip and injury issues since his sophomore year at Boise State University. Remember: He hasn’t missed a snap the last three seasons, so take what he said through that lens.

“The entire quality of life is better, so it’s pretty exciting,” Paradis told the media. “That surgery can be kind of a temperamental surgery. Not everyone that gets it, recovers. I think the doctors I went to are phenomenal. I think they have a very high percentage rate of success. I’ve dealt with this since my sophomore year of college. So every time I talk to a doctor, they just go, ‘Well, only about 60 percent of people get pain recovery from it.’ You just kind of delay it and delay it until you can’t play anymore. Luckily we delayed it long enough to where they could send me up the mountain to the world’s best surgeons.”

On the latest MHR Radio Podcast, Adam Malnati and I couldn’t believe Paradis was able to walk let alone play in the NFL with his hips in the condition they were in. To get an idea of how bad it was for him, he hasn’t been able to do squats since he was a sophomore. That is remarkable. And it’s not like Paradis has been a scrub the last three years, he’s played at a high level.

“It was do (the surgery) or consider retiring,” he said. “It was bad. That last year (2016) was bad. There wasn’t a choice to not do it at that point. I can’t speak for every football player, but I came into professional sports with the mindset that every day can be your last day. So, I was like, ‘If they don’t fix me, then I’ll lose 70 pounds and we’ll try to preserve my quality for the rest of my life.’ But luckily, I can’t speak enough of those doctors up there in Vail and the training staff here. They really improved my life.”

Now that Paradis isn’t anchored by bad hips, he can get even better. He can take reps in the weight room, but every rep on the practice field. In turn that will make Denver’s offensive line better, and, with it, the offense as a whole.

“I thought I improved in certain areas last year, but it was so hard,” Paradis said. “It wasn’t just hard for me, but as an O-Line, we have to come together. It takes all those reps playing against each other to get that unity and the cohesiveness so you’re not tripping over each other’s feet. I wasn’t able to do that. Just for the O-Line, it’s been nice. And then personally, I’m always looking to improve. I got a lot of things I can improve on. So, it’s going in that direction.”

There are a lot of reasons to feel excitement about the Broncos right now, but the health status of Paradis should top the list.

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