When Karl Mecklenburg was drafted in the 12th round in 1983, he was such an afterthought that I can remember no members of the media even wishing to ask him a question.
Despite being the 310th player selected in the draft, he made an immediate positive impression in training camp, and it is now impossible to think of “Meck” as anything less than a part of the fabric of the Mile High City.
It was very early in his first camp when the young man from Minnesota made his mark. Broncos coach Dan Reeves was trying to put in his offense, lining them up and running plays against the very end of the defensive depth chart, which included Mecklenburg — except Meck was playing like a guy who would not be spending very long at the end of the rotation.