ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — It took a while for Emmanuel Sanders to prove the Pittsburgh Steelers correct for drafting him ahead of Antonio Brown.
But in the end, Sanders got his own retirement ceremony. Who knows what’s going on with Brown whose behavioral issues since the end of the 2018 season marred his career.
Sanders, 35, played 5 ½ of his 12 NFL seasons with the Denver Broncos. He announced his retirement Wednesday even though with all those crushing blows his body took on catches across the middle he still a little more pop in his legs.
"When is it ever a right time?'' Sanders said about his decision to call it. "Even the Bills, I had a couple teams reach out. And I told myself when is it the right time for me to hang it up? Is it for me to go out and get hurt for me to be like, I'm done? How I'm built, what am I risking? What is it worth?
"I got two kids. I got a beautiful wife. I have something that's bigger than football. I want to see my grandkids. I want to see them grow old and I want to grow old. And the game of football is tough on the body. And I lost a close friend -- and we all know him, Demaryius Thomas. And for me it's about longevity of life now."
Sanders said he has a football analyst TV gig lined up, although he wouldn't identify the network.
He had 704 catches in his career with 404 coming in a Bronco uniform. He accumulated 5,361 of his 9,245 receiving yards with the Broncos and 28 of his 51 touchdowns.
In other words, well more than half his production in Denver, where from 2014-17 he joined the late Demaryius Thomas to form one of the league’s best receiving duos. In the postseason, Sanders’ best was during the Broncos’ run to Super Bowl 50 in 2015 when in three games he had 16 catches for 230 yards. His six catches for 83 yards against the Carolina Panthers helped set up field goals on the first possession of each half in the Broncos’ 24-10 victory.
It’s no wonder, then, that now that Sanders has decided his slender body for all its Gumby-like flexibility but remarkable toughness has absorbed enough punishment, he announced his retirement Wednesday with the Broncos.
"Look at me,'' said the 5-foot-11, 175-pound Sanders. "Anytime I go out in public one of the first things somebody tells me: You do not look like an NFL player.''
Drafted out of SMU by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round, No. 82 overall, in 2010, Sanders was selected three rounds and 113 spots ahead of Brown. Sanders had the better rookie season but it wasn’t until his fourth year of 2013 that he took a quantum leap with 67 catches for 740 yards and 6 touchdowns.
That same year, though, Brown was well on his way to becoming one of the NFL’s top receivers as he gathered 110 catches for 1,499 yards and 8 touchdowns – the first of six consecutive years he had at least 101 catches, 1,284 yards and 8 scores.
Sanders became a free agent prior to the 2014 season when he first seemed to have a verbal agreement with the Kansas City Chiefs before winding up with the Broncos on a three-year, $15 million contract. The Chiefs cried foul but Sanders said there was disagreement regarding incentives with Kansas City’s proposal.
He said Wednesday the Chiefs wanted to sign him to a four-year deal but he wanted a three. As he talked it through, though, he said it was the chance to play with Peyton Manning that had him pulling out of the Chiefs' facility without a deal.
Upon arriving in Denver as part of the greatest free-agent class in Broncos’ history – defensive stalwarts Aqib Talib, DeMarcus Ware and T.J. Ward signed their respective deals a week earlier -- Sanders called the Broncos’ organization “wide receiver heaven” as quarterback Peyton Manning was coming off the best single-season passing year in NFL history with 55 touchdowns and 5,477 yards while the team set a record by averaging 37.9 points a game – all records that still stand going on 9 years later.
While Manning and the Broncos’ offense slowed from there – gradually at first, then drastically starting in 2015, Sanders and Thomas each had 100-catch seasons for a combined 3,000-plus yards in 2014. It was the first of three consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons for Sanders.
But after Manning retired in 2015 and his replacement Trevor Siemian couldn’t duplicate his fine season of 2016, Sanders and Thomas became increasingly frustrated with the Broncos’ passing game. Thomas was traded away halfway through the 2018 season and Sanders – an admitted diva at times in the second half of his term with the Broncos – was dealt at his own request to San Francisco halfway through the following season.
Sanders again returned to the Super Bowl to finish the 2019 season, this time with the 49ers, but his signature moment was missed when he was wide open down the middle for a go-ahead touchdown only to be overthrown by quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
Sanders then continued to bounce around, catching 61 passes for New Orleans in 2020 and 42 for Buffalo last season, when he also caught a touchdown pass in a first-round playoff rout of New England.
But in the end, Sanders circled back to the Broncos. He finishes his career ranked 52nd all-time in receptions and 62nd in receiving yards. Below Brown in statistical standing, perhaps, but it was Sanders’ career that was celebrated with his retirement announcement Wednesday.
Playing alongside Brown and then D.T. for the majority of his career, Sanders should be remembered as the quintessential No. 2 receiver. Which isn't all bad.
"I was willing to accept that,'' Sanders said. "I remember when I was with Antonio Brown going to war with this guy. Mike Tomlin came out with a quote, "I got two dogs and one bone.' ... That made me stronger. That made me better. Not only that going against Antonio Brown, you can say there was a stretch where Antonio Brown was one of the greatest receivers of all time.
"So then when I got here, I saw Demaryius, I sat back and said, 'Oh man, this guy is special. But I told him, I said, 'You're Batman but I'm going to be the best Robin you've ever had.''
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