Sadnews: The all-time greatest player announce is departure after quarrelling with is coach.
The eight-year veteran of Super Bowl 50 has earned a place among Denver’s finest.
Derek Wolfe was a defensive end for the Denver Broncos who terrified opposition offensive lines and quarterbacks from the start of his career until the end. He was a physical presence on the field, a formidable up front player who contributed significantly to the best defense in NFL history, and he made history in the Super Bowl.
Even though Wolfe was never selected for any Pro Bowls, All-Pros, or annual defensive awards, his career demonstrated his value to the team without the need for any of those honors.
Derek Wolfe was taken by the Broncos in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft, becoming his first teammate. He was chosen together with five other players who will play together in Super Bowl 50. Wolfe attended Cincinnati for his four years of collegiate football, winning the Big East Co-Defensive Player of the Year award to cap off his final season. In addition, he was selected to the All-Big East first team and the All-Pro second team.
With predictions placing Derek Wolfe in the first round, the Broncos might possibly be getting a bit of a steal with him.
Wolfe remarks, “That day was just so weird.” “I was so [angry] over the previous night that I worked out abnormally early in the day. I had to perform some nasty job and clean out the pig stalls because I was living on a farm. After that, it seemed rather weird because I had never thought I would be visiting Denver
In his debut regular season game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Wolfe racked up three tackles and a sack, showing the NFL exactly what he was made of. With 40 tackles and six sacks at the end of his first season, he only behind Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil in terms of the most sacks by a Bronco that season.
“I got my first sack against Ben Roethlisberger in my very first game,” recalls Wolfe. “.. I just start howling as soon as I get this sack. That was never even a mental process; I never gave it any thought.
A spinal cord injury would keep him off the field for five games during the regular season and, more crucially, out of the Super Bowl, making his second year more difficult than his first. Denver would suffer greatly as a result of his absence from the field, along with that of Von Miller, Rahim Moore, Chris Harris Jr., and Kevin Vickerson. What might have been.
One of the biggest seasons in the team’s history would coincide with his best year. He missed the first four games of 2015 because of a PED ban, but he immediately got back on track and regained his status as a powerful run-stopper. Following Denver’s demolition of Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in week eight, Wolfe was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his dominance up front.
In the latter four weeks of the season, he recorded at least a half-sack, which would set him on fire. He would carry on like way for the full three postseason games played by Denver.
In the Divisional Round, he recorded one sack, one TFL, one QB hit, and four tackles against the Steelers. In the AFC Championship game, he recorded six solo tackles, two hits, and one sack on Tom Brady against the Patriots. Naturally, he also hit Cam Newton with a slap late in the third quarter of Super Bowl 50 to force a fourth down and continued to punish Newton for the rest of the game.
He signed a four-year extension in January 2016 and was one of the main reasons the team was competitive at that period. He would play out that contract. And he would play his final season in Denver in 2019, posting a career-high seven sacks in just 12 games.
Wolfe will retire as a Bronco in 2022 after playing one season in free agency with the Ravens in 2020 after departing the Broncos. Wolfe’s decision to return to Denver was expected given the numerous social media messages he received from supporters urging him to retire with the franchise he spent almost his whole playing career with.
Having started the NFL with nothing more than $10 and no bank account, the lifelong underdog who became a lifelong Bronco will go down as one of the all-time greats and a tremendous fan favorite during his time with Denver.
“It’s hard for me to describe how it makes me feel, but my upbringing, where I came from, the things I went through as a child, and the lack of love in my household just felt like —” says Wolfe. “When I consider it, I feel a little emotional since I chose to call Denver home. Since I’m from Ohio, it makes sense for me to come here and, since I clearly adore something about it, to call it home. I also feel as though I was born here. I’ve spent ten years living here. This place is amazing.
