CENTENNIAL, Colo. — Bo Nix has gone from end of the line with the other rookies on the Denver Broncos’ depth chart to the very top of Broncos’ history.
Named as the Broncos’ starting quarterback two weeks ago — even though he was still the No. 3 QB on Sean Payton’s depth chart — Nix on Wednesday was elected as one of one of the team’s six captains in a vote by the players.
The Broncos say Nix is the first rookie to become a team captain since Floyd Little in 1967.
"It's an honor, it's a privilege, I'm excited to be with this group, excited to be a captain,'' Nix said. "I don't take it lightly. I know it's a big deal and it hasn't happened often but I'm not going to take it for granted. I've got to come to work every single day and just prove that you can be a captain.
"I'm excited to work with these other guys and I think it's good to get out there and set the tone and it's always good to be a captain."
The other Broncos’ captains for the 2024 season: Newly mega-paid cornerback Pat Surtain II and inside linebacker Alex Singleton on defense, right guard Quinn Meinerz and receiver Courtland Sutton, and kicker Wil Lutz for special teams.
Sutton is a captain for a fourth consecutive year. Te others are first-time captains.
Little, who later became known as “The Francise,” was the first of the Broncos’ first-round drafts pick to sign with Denver’s American Football League team, as the previous first rounders all wound up signing with the National Football League teams that drafted them.
Little also was the first pick of new head coach Lou Saban, who was hired to much fanfare and a then-unprecedented 10-year contract to resurrect the moribund Broncos’ franchise.
It didn’t work out for Saban, who never posted a winning record in his five seasons in Denver, but it did for Little who was elected as a team captain in each of his 9 seasons with the Broncos, won the NFL rushing title with 1,133 yards in 1971, and was eventually elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Ordinarily, it’s difficult for a rookie to become a team captain. Rookies are to be deferential to veterans and educated by them. How does this work? Where do we go?
Even John Elway was not a Broncos’ captain during his rookie year in 1983, a season when Denver was laden with the veteran likes of Bill Bryan, Paul Howard and Steve Watson on offense, and most of the remaining Orange Crush members like Randy Gradishar, Tom Jackson, Louis Wright, Barney Chavous, Rubin Carter and Steve Foley on defense.
Nix, though, is no ordinary rookie. Having played five years of college at two major programs – Auburn and Oregon – he is older than most rookies at 24 years old. He also is among the most experienced as he started an NCAA record 61 college games at quarterback.
“He’s definitely a lot further along than I’ve seen of rookie quarterbacks in the past,’’ said Broncos receiver Josh Reynolds of Nix this week. “He carries himself in the same way, off the field as well. I think he’s got a great mindset coming into this thing. He doesn’t have real big highs, he doesn’t have real big lows. He’s just even-keel and that’s all you can look for in a quarterback.”
Broncos 2024 team captains
- Quarterback Bo Nix
- Cornerback Pat Surtain II
- Inside linebacker Alex Singleton
- Right guard Quinn Meinerz
- Receiver Courtland Sutton
- Kicker Wil Lutz
