PonyFans.com Q&A: Emmanuel Sanders on move to Denver, Peyton Manning, fatherhood
Former SMU star made Pro Bowl in first year with Broncos
Posted on 02/27/2015 by PonyFans.com
During a recent visit to Dallas, former SMU wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders visited with PonyFans.com to discuss a number of subjects, including his move from Pittsburgh to Denver, whether he expects Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning back for another year, playing in his first Pro Bowl … and becoming a father.

Former SMU receiver Emmanuel Sanders capped off his first season with the Broncos by playing in his first Pro Bowl (photo by Broncos PR).
PonyFans.com: You started your career in Pittsburgh, and then signed as a free agent last offseason with Denver. What was your first year as a Bronco like?

Emmanuel Sanders: It was fun. When I went over there, I said that I was going to “Wide Receiver Heaven.” Everybody was like, “what is he talking about? ‘Wide Receiver Heaven?’” But I knew I had an opportunity to play with Peyton Manning, and I wanted to make the most of it. I ended up with the opportunity to go to the Pro Bowl and get a playoff berth. I really enjoyed it.

PonyFans.com: Since you mentioned it … there has been a lot of speculation since the end of the season — are we going to see Peyton Manning throwing to you next year?

Sanders: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It has been confirmed — not 100 percent, but I think he’s coming back.

PonyFans.com: Ben Roethlisberger is a great quarterback, and Peyton Manning is a great quarterback … but they’re very different. From a receiver’s standpoint, how is it different playing with them?

Sanders: Both of them are really good quarterbacks — both of them are first-ballot Hall of Famers, in my eyes. Both of them are veterans, both of them love to win, both of them are elite quarterbacks. Ben is in a system where they run the football more, and they have got a great running back in LeVeon Bell over there, who gets the majority of the carries, and Peyton … he loves to throw the football. But if you put Ben in Peyton’s offense, he would flourish, also. Both of them are really good, and the difference in them is really the difference in the offenses they run — that’s what it was. In the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense, I didn’t get as many targets. With Peyton, I got a lot of targets, I got an opportunity to make a lot of plays, and I got an opportunity to allow my talents to showcase. That’s all I wanted. In Pittsburgh, that’s their system, that’s the way that they ran it, and they win a lot of games that way, so you can’t complain about the offense they run. But when I entered free agency, I wanted to go somewhere that I had a chance to catch a lot of footballs, and I could be productive, and I chose Denver.

Sanders said he is confident he will be catching passes from Peyton Manning for at least one more season (photo by Broncos PR).
PonyFans.com: During the course of the season, there were stories out there that Manning’s arm was getting tired. You’re one of the guys running routes and catching passes from him — did it look to you that his arm was wearing down later in the year?

Sanders: You know what? The thing is, playing with Peyton, people are going to say that about Peyton Manning because the expectations for him are so high — the bar is so high. If Peyton doesn’t go out and throw for six touchdowns and 300 yards, it’s “a bad game” for him. That’s the expectations that everyone, even the fans, have for him. When you’re playing in a city like Denver, and you go to other cities that have cold weather, , you’ve got to switch it up. You can’t pass as well in cold conditions. It’s hard to catch the football, it’s hard to throw the football. So we switched to more of a run game, and we’ve got a good, young back in C.J. Anderson, who is very productive, and obviously, when you’re running the ball more, the passing game is less productive, and that was the reason why some people were saying his arm was kind of dying. But he was still making spectacular throws. Obviously, we know Father Time will kill anybody — it’s going to happen to anybody — but honestly, I think he’s got one or two years left playing at a really high level.

PonyFans.com: When you left SMU to go to Pittsburgh, you said you were going out to prove every day that you belong in the NFL. What was it like to get to Hawaii at the end of this season, to be able to say, “I’m not only in the NFL, but I’m in the Pro Bowl, playing with the best of the best”?

Sanders: It felt good, because everything that I knew I was, I became. I wanted to really prove what I really felt. I always told myself that I was an elite wide receiver in the National Football League, I don’t care where I came from, I don’t care how small I am, how big I am … I’m good. I know that my numbers didn’t always show that, but to get a Pro Bowl bid, with a hundred-something catches, over 1,400 yards and nine touchdowns, it was a lot of weight off my back. I could say, “hey, man, you are who you thought you were,” you know? It feels good, The bad thing is I’ve got to let it go, but the good thing is that I’ve got an opportunity to prove it again.

PonyFans.com: What’s (new Denver head) Coach (Gary) Kubiak like, and how does your role change in his offense?

Sanders: I haven’t met him yet. I talked to him on the phone for a few minutes, but I haven’t had the opportunity to meet him, to sit down and talk about the offense yet. But he’s very optimistic about the organization, about the offense he’s going to run, about how the players we have running it. You’ve got some good energy coming in. We’ve got a lot of talent, so we’ll see how it goes.

PonyFans.com: Most important question: how’s fatherhood treating you?

Sanders: Aw, man, fatherhood is the hardest job in the world, but it’s also the greatest job in the world — I love it. My son has brought a lot of blessings that I never would have received if he wasn’t here. He’s brought a kind of stability to our lives. It’s been good.

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