Texarkana native Rod Smith’s first NFL reception was a gamewinning touchdown pass from John Elway, and more than 14 years later, Smith still knows how to make an entrance.

“Just got my Super Bowl rings cleaned,” said Smith, kicking off a brief online chat on NFL.com Monday afternoon. “How about that?”

Smith has earned the right to casually mention his championship jewelry. He remains one of the state’s alltime unlikely success stories, going undrafted out of NCAA Division II Missouri Southern but eventually becoming a threetime Pro Bowl selection who was part of two Super Bowl championship teams for the Denver Broncos. He retired in 2008 and ended his career with 11,389 receiving yards and 70 touchdowns.

Befitting someone who spent his entire career with one team, Smith remains a rabid Broncos fan. There have been plenty of reasons for Smith to keep up with his former squad, as much of the NFL’s off-season news has centered on the imbroglio between newly hired Broncos Coach Josh McDaniels and 2008 Pro Bowl quarterback Jay Cutler, who demanded a trade and was dealt to the Chicago Bears.

Smith said he’s a fan of Cutler, but added the trade was likely necessary due to the gulf between the quarterback and coach.

“I think separation is good for both parties,” Smith said. “Don’t let it drag out and spill over to the rest of the roster.”

Smith, who played his entire career for Mike Shanahan, said he’s been impressed by McDaniels, the man who has replaced his old coach.

“He’s earning respect by the discipline he’s demanding each and every day,” Smith said. “Not only from the players, but from the coaches.”

Don’t expect Smith to join those coaching ranks, or a staff elsewhere, anytime soon. Smith said that while he enjoys keeping up with football, his time has been mostly taken up by his family and work he’s doing with a health beverage company.

“I don’t see myself coaching,” Smith said. “I love to teach football, but not coach. I have teenage kids, so my time is limited.”

Article via NWANews, written by Doug Crise – http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Sports/264239/

During the off-season, the Broncos decided that they had – had enough with disgruntled quarterback Jay Cutler and shipped him off to the Chicago Bears. When the draft had arrived, The Broncos didn’t feel a need to select a quarterback, but instead they opted to go with a running back with their first round pick (12th) and a defensive end/linebacker with the 18th pick. They did eventually select a quarterback in the sixth round, but there is no reason to think he’ll be seeing any immediate playing time. Instead, Kyle Orton is believed to be the favorite to start for the Broncos. He has expierence as starting, but he hasn’t been one to light up the statsheet nor the score board when he was starting with the Bears in the past.

There’s no question that the Broncos will miss Cutler’s huge arm and his fearlessness to be a play maker. He had what appeared to be a good relationship with his receivers and expressed plenty of confidence and trust and them all. Kyle Orton now has to win those guys over and show them that he’ll still be able to make the same throws that Cutler made and if he can do that, he should have no problems with gaining their trust, thus making the transition of the changing of quarterbacks on this team smooth and painless.

I heard on the radio the other day the possibility of trading Tatum Bell to the Detroit Lions for Cornerback Dre Bly.

This is a deal to me which makes sense for both teams.  Dre Bly isn’t happy in Detroit where he seems undervalued and under-appreciated by the management, players and fans. Detroit has a questionable future of runningback Kevin Jones, and even if he was healthy could sport a nice 1-2 punch with Tatum and Kevin.

The Broncos pull Runningbacks out of their asses every single year, and while you can’t figure it out, they will replace Tatum Bell like it’s nothing.  Dre Bly gives the Broncos a tremendous cornerback combination and the ability to make quarterbacks think twice before they go to either side of the field.

This is a deal which I could REALLY see happening.