Much to his
surprise
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end Jermaine Gresham an internet hero.
"It was crazy," he said after the Cardinals went through voluntary workouts
Tuesday. "I really wasn't expecting it."
It all started when Gresham was standing in line behind Delilah Cassidy at an
American Airlines gate at Los Angeles International Airport.
He could hear her being told that under the airline's policy, she had to pay
$25 for each of two carry-ons that wouldn't fit under her seat. She had cash but
it wasn't accepted at the gate so she was in danger of missing her flight. So
Gresham pulled out his credit card and paid, a random act of kindness.
"That's pretty much what it was," he said. "I hope anyone would have done
that. I don't know. I just felt that's how I was raised, my core values.
Somebody in distress, just help them out. Nothing more, nothing less."
To say Cassidy was grateful is an understatement.
"She was very nice," Gresham said. "She was very, very, very appreciative.
She thanked me I want to say maybe 20 times."
She told azcentral that she was in tears as she boarded the plane.
"I gave him this huge hug," she said. "I was crying into Jermaine Gresham. I
didn't know it was him."
Cassidy said that when they landed, she offered to pay him in cash but he
declined and told her to pay it forward.
She had her photo taken with Gresham and told her story on Twitter.
It went viral.
Gresham had no idea until he heard from a Cardinals employee who follows such
things.
"He said, 'You're a viral
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said. "He sent me this picture and everything and I was like, 'Oh, wow.'"
He seemed surprised that what he considered a small gesture wound up being
such a big deal.
"I was right there," he said. "I had my wallet in my pocket. Just here, swipe
my card. It's 50 bucks. Catch your flight. There wasn't much to it."
Gresham, who is recovering from Achilles tendon surgery, said he made a great
investment.
"I hope everybody in the world would do something like that," Gresham said.
"Seeing her smile and her appreciation was worth it 10 times over."
Of course he couldn't escape some gentle ribbing from teammates.
"That's the Walter Payton Man of the Year right there," offensive tackle D.J.
Humphries said as he walked by.
KIRK SPEAKS: Rookie wide receiver Christian Kirk spoke to reporters for the
first time since reports surfaced of his Feb. 3 arrest outside the Waste
Management Phoenix Open golf tournament on charges of destruction of property
and disorderly conduct. He and a friend had been accused of throwing rocks at
cars. Police said Kirk appeared intoxicated at the time.
The charges were later dropped.
"Obviously there was a negative response to it," Kirk, a second-round draft
pick out of Texas A&M, said of the publicity surrounding the incident. "But
you've just got to block those things out and hold true to who you are and move
on."
Kirk was a top high school prospect born and raised in
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when they drafted him but said they were confident it was not indicative of a
larger problem.
"I told them the truth and they trusted in me, trusted in the type of person
I was," he said.
Now it's back to football on a team where he figures to play a significant
role.
"I'm just really happy it's all cleared up," Kirk said. "I'm just glad to be
back and showing people I am what I am."
For the Denver Broncos, long-shot
projects are so last year.
Instead, long-term prospects are what dominants their 2018 draft class,
players who spent four years in college and enter the NFL with degrees in
hand.
Picking higher than they¡¯re accustomed to also allowed the Broncos to land
players that initially seemed out of reach. They were thrilled when North
Carolina State pass rusher Bradley Chubb, the draft¡¯s top-ranked defender, fell
to them at No. 5 , and again when SMU receiver Courtland Sutton was there at 40
.
Starting with those two surprising selections, nine of Elway¡¯s 10 picks spent
four years in college. Almost all were captains and all bring a shot of maturity
to a team that was besieged by a generational divide last year when several
exasperated veterans charged the 2017 draft class with wanting playing time
based not on merit but on draft status.
Elway said Saturday he needed to inject a shot of maturity into a team that¡¯s
coming off a five-win season just two years after a Super Bowl parade.
¡±One thing we learned last year when you¡¯re 5-11 and you¡¯re in a losing
streak, you need that maturity and that leadership to get things turned around,¡±
Elway said. ¡±So, these players have that ability.
¡±That¡¯s why we decided to go more in that direction.¡±
Elway copied his cornerstone selection of Chubb on Days 2 and
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his first year at SMU and graduated after his junior season.
¡±I stayed another year and I worked on those things that some people saw as
my weaknesses,¡± said Sutton, suggesting that decision did wonders for his
maturity and his game.
It wasn¡¯t until the sixth round and their seventh pick ¨C Arizona State
guard/center Sam Jones ¨C that the Broncos selected a player who left school
before his eligibility expired.
Jones declared for the draft after Sun Devils coach Todd Graham was
fired.
After Sutton, Elway¡¯s next five picks ¨C Oregon running back Royce Freeman,
Boston College cornerback Isaac Yiadom, Iowa linebacker Josey Jewell, Penn State
wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton and Wisconsin tight end Troy Fumagalli ¨C all
stayed through their senior seasons.
So did Denver¡¯s last two picks, Washington linebacker Keishawn Bierra and
Arkansas running back David Williams, who transferred with his degree in hand
after three seasons at South Carolina.
Aside from Jones, the Broncos¡¯ other nine draft picks have a combined 412
games of FBS experience.
So, unlike last year¡¯s class, which has yet to pay dividends , this group is
expected to make more of an immediate impact as the Broncos try to leave behind
two disappointing seasons and return to the playoff picture for the first time
since winning Super Bowl 50.
SNEAK PEAK:
Fumagalli Youth
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Senior Bowl, which was one bright spot from coach Vance Joseph¡¯s dreadful debut
season.
¡±It was huge for us,¡± Joseph said. ¡±Coaching that game is a clear advantage
going into the draft. We drafted three guys from Senior Bowl game. To have a
chance to work with those guys for a week in meetings and on the practice field
is huge. Taking three guys from that game proves it.¡±
Not that they want to go back to Mobile, Alabama, for the annual all-star
game again any time soon.
¡±You don¡¯t want to coach that for a long time,¡± Elway said. ¡±We had a great
time at the Senior Bowl, but we are good not coaching it for a while.¡±
KEEPING THE FAITH: The Broncos¡¯ decision to bypass a deep class of
quarterbacks shows how much faith Elway maintains in Paxton Lynch, whom he moved
up to grab in the first round out of Memphis two years ago.
Lynch has only started four games in two years, but Elway keeps insisting he
still believes in the raw quarterback even after signing Case Keenum in free
agency and declaring him the starter in 2018.
¡±We are not kicking him to the curb,¡± Elway said of Lynch. ¡±Paxton is going
to compete with Chad (Kelly) for that backup spot.¡±
That marked the first time Elway has thrown Kelly into the mix publicly in
the year since he drafted him out of Mississippi with the final pick in
2017.
HOMETOWN HERO: Among the Broncos¡¯ undrafted signees is Colorado running back
Phillip Lindsay, a Denver native who will compete in the backfield with Devontae
Booker and De¡¯Angelo Henderson to back up Freeman.
¡ª
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