ENGLEWOOD, Colo — Bo knows Denver is a passionate sports town.
As a big basketball fan, Bo Nix during his introductory press conference as the Broncos’ new rookie quarterback gave a shoutout to Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets. He knows the Colorado Avalanche are good, even if he wasn’t quite sure if they’re good at playing a hockey game or a hockey match. Either way, he wants to go to a game. Or match.
And whether Bo knows it or not, Denver more specifically is a quarterbacks town. A Mile High city with high standards for its quarterbacks after its fan base was spoiled with 16 years of John Elway and four seasons of Peyton Manning, two of the best to ever play the position.
Is Bo ready as Denver’s next Quarterback Hope?
“Well, I hope so,’’ Nix said Friday in a sit-down interview with 9NEWS. “I definitively believe I am. I’m going to compete as hard as I can to be talked about like that. It’s no small thing to be talked about with those guys who have been there and done everything that has made them Hall of Famers and so successful over time.
Bo Nix
“But I know I’m not going to do it in one night. I know I’m not going to do it right now. I’m going to just take it day by day and be the best I can be around the coaches and players and get to know them so that we’re all finding success.”
The draft process is not easy for any top-round prospect. To separate one from the other often leads to tearing down one as a means to distinguishing the other. In Nix’s case, he was the oldest at 24 years old of the six first-round quarterbacks. Most prospects coming into the NFL are 21 or 22 years old. Most play three years with a max of four years. He played five college seasons – three at Auburn and two at Oregon.
That doesn’t make him bad. It’s just being good for so long in college, his prospect grade got knocked compared to the 21-year-old likes of Caleb Williams and J.J. McCarthy.
“Experience is not a bad thing and it sure wasn’t a bad thing for Denver because they saw right through it and they see that experience is a good thing,’’ Nix said. “Michael (Penix) is a grade older than me. Jayden (Daniels) is the same age. We had an older class this year. I think the college landscape has helped that.
“But we were all wiser and more mature by the time we came out and that helped us and set us apart. I’m excited because the things I have now I didn’t have when I was 21 so I’m glad I’m starting right now, fresh, with this mindset and can’t wait to make a first impression.”
For his introduction press conference, Nix wore an understated light orange, blue plain sports coat, white shirt, blue tie, dark pants, white sneakers and no socks. The young generation’s look.
Bo knows the Broncos.
“That has a good ring to it,’’ he said.
Wait a minute. What has it been like to hear ‘Bo knows this’ and ‘Bo knows that’ all his life?
“Obviously that was happening with Bo Jackson, grew up very familiar with him,” Nix said.
His dad, Patrick Nix, had to have known what his son was getting into when he named him Bo. Ten years before Patrick Nix played quarterback at Auburn, Bo Jackson was all that for the program.
“I was actually named after my grandfather,’’ Bo Nix said. “Everybody thinks that I’m named after Bo Jackson.’’
It’s easy to see why Broncos head coach Sean Payton fell for Bo. Compared to Broncos’ previous quarterback Russell Wilson, who carried himself as a star with privileges, Nix tries to blend in.
More than that, Payton and Nix talk the same language. Football, Xs and Os language. Payton loves to describe offensive plays in detail, sometimes using football jargon the common fan and media are unfamiliar with.
Nix is a coach’s kid and a quarterback coach’s kid at that.
“I love talking football, too,’’ Nix said. “I think there’s a lot of positives in that because we’ll be able to connect on a level and be able to talk and have a deep conversation and really get to the important parts, the reason behind plays and why they’re efficient.
“Because it’s my job to be an outlet from him to make the play efficient.”
Patrick Nix was Auburn’s starting quarterback in 1994-95, guiding the Tigers to records of 9-1-1 and 8-4 for head coach Terry Bowden.
“Sometimes it seems like yesterday,’’ said Patrick Nix, who attended his son’s whirlwind tour of Broncos headquarters Friday. “But it was a long time ago.”
Dad later became a football coach, still is. With dad as coach, Bo led Pinson Valley to two state football championships and was named Alabama's Mr. Football as a senior. Better believe dad had a strong influence on the Broncos’ new quarterback.
“He’s huge,’’ Bo Nix said. “He taught me so much at a young age. Continued to develop me and when I got to the 7th grade and started playing football for my school it was whatever I could to get better and better and better. And as his coaching elevated he started getting harder and harder on me but I think he saw something and he pushed me to be the best I can be.”
Yes, there were times, dad admitted with a smile, he may have been tough on his son. But quarterback is a position that requires thick skin, calm under pressure, and the ability to think intelligently at all times. It’s not easy instilling those traits with constant attaboys.
To fully appreciate how Bo was raised, you have to know the story of Tez Johnson. A troubled youth, Johnson was taken in as a teenager by the Nixes as their unofficial adopted son.
Johnson last year transferred from Troy, where he played three seasons, and joined his brother Bo in Oregon. Had 86 catches for 1,182 yards and 10 touchdowns with Bo as his quarterback.
“Tez is a great kid,’’ Patrick Nix said. “He blessed us as much if not more than we blessed him.”
“It was right after our first year at Pinson (Alabama), I was going into my senior year, he was, you know, in a tough spot,’’ Bo Nix said. “He just came over and hung out with us a few times and he didn’t leave. So he just started staying over a lot more and we took him in. He’s a brother to me now.
“And fortunately we were able to play a year in high school together and a year in college together and hopefully in the future we’ll play together again down the road. But whatever happens he’s been a thrill for our family, we love him and we wouldn’t be the same family without him.”
Bo knows compassion. He’ll return for Broncos rookie minicamp in two weeks, then join fellow quarterbacks Jarrett Stidham, Zach Wilson and Ben DiNucci for the start of OTAs in late May.
“It starts with the relationships,’’ Nix said. “You’ve got to build a relationship with those guys. I think they just want to see me work hard and do whatever I’m supposed to do and there’s a mutual respect there between all of us. We’ve all been through difficult things. Each path is different. They’ve been through things I haven’t gone through and vice versa. I’m excited to be around them. I can learn from them and watch them and just go out there and do my best.”
And with that, Bo Nix and family were headed back to Alabama.
“My plan is to get in great shape, study hard so when I get back I don’t have to think a whole lot, I can just react and play and have fun,’’ Nix said. “Enjoy this moment, enjoy the experience.”
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