Broncos Rave About New Training Facility As Veterans Report

In some ways the Denver Broncos’ upcoming season is about doing more of the same and taking that next step to the Super Bowl, but the Broncos veteran players are also raving about the team’s brand new training facilities, according to reports from Jeff Legwold of ESPN and Luca Evans of the Denver Post. 

The facility was formally opened ysterday, and it cost $175 million to build the 205,000 square-foot structure, per Legwold. It drew some noteworthy reactions from players, with cornerback Pat Surtain II taking the lead. 

“It’s been a long time coming,” Surtain said. “The locker room is crazy. It’s quite unique as well, too. And it just gives a different feel, different vibe. Leaving that in the past, and we’re entering a new state, new years.”

The old locker room had become a bit cramped by current standards, according to reports, but the Walton-Penner ownership group spared no expense with the new one, which had players still finding their way through the hallways as they arrived. 

“My expectations was high, and it definitely exceeded my expectations,” Surtain said. “I don’t think there’s nothing like this in the league. I mean, it’s state-of-the-art. Very nice facilities, everything. And it seems like, when you look at it, obviously you look at the locker rooms, the facilities — it just seemed like it was meant to be.”

There were some practical issues to address with the new facility as well, according to Evans. The old locker room got an “F” grade from players last year, and according to coach Sean Payton the new one is “three to four times” larger. 

The Broncos also took pains to measure the distance from the locker room to the field in the faciilities of other teams, then duplicate or exceed the convenience factor with the new building. 

“You saw, ours was just, these big, massive spikes,” said team preseidnet Damani Leech as he described the old facility last year. “Whereas, these other facilities were tighter. And so, our question was like, ‘How can we make ours the tightest as possible, for our players?’”

Guard Quinn Meinerz was another player who was duly impressed as he noted the array of amenities that have been included. 

“I mean, you come here and you see the first-class everywhere,” Meinerz said “I went to the cafeteria. That’s wild. Like, the new nutritionist area is incredible. The training room, the amount of tables that are in there, the pools, the tubs, the amenities.

“I would assume whenever people come here and they take a tour, their mind’s going to be blown. Because we already had a really good setup. But this just blows it out of the water.”