By After Begging for Opportunity to Return Punts, Eddie Royal Doesn’t Disappoint in Denver’s Impressive Week 9 Win over Oakland
November 8, 2011 – 8:00 am by Steven Cuce
Any and all conversations about the Denver Broncos begin and end with Tim Tebow talk, but it was Eddie Royal who came up big for the Broncos in Sunday’s resounding road win over the Oakland Raiders. Royal pleaded with the Broncos coaching staff to give him a chance to return at least one punt, and he rewarded his coaches for heeding his request with an 85-yard punt return touchdown late in the 4th quarter helped propel the Broncos to a 38-24 victory over the Raiders.
Tim Tebow would also hit Royal on a 26-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter to give No.19 two touchdowns on the day.
Eddie Royal joined 104.3 The Fan in Denver on The Drive to discuss his two touchdown performance against the Raiders in Week 9, why he finally got the opportunity to return a punt at that particular moment in Sunday’s game, the improvement and evolution of Denver’s offense since training camp, the feeling of being wide open on a touchdown pass, and what it’s like being in the locker room with Tim Tebow as a teammate.
Tell us how it felt to get into the end zone?
“It felt great. It was a good feeling just to do it in crunch time when we needed it. The punt return was a big play for us and kind of pushed us over the top to beat the Raiders. It was just a good feeling especially to do it on special teams. A part of the game that people don’t really pay too much attention to unless you get a big play like that from it.”
Why did you go in to return that particular kick?
“It was something we kind of talked about all year. They kind of wanted to limit how much I was returning because of how much offense I was going to be playing this year and I was just begging them up until this game that kind of get me back there and give me a couple of returns cause I had missed it. Coach gave me the okay to get back there and the guys did a great job of blocking and we were able to score.”
How much different is this offense compared to the one in training camp?
“We’re still running a lot of the same plays we have and we just added a few more to kind of add on to what Tim [Tebow] can help us do on offense using his feet and we use that option play a lot against the Raiders because we kind of saw something that we liked and we kept going to it because it was working, so I don’t know if that is the game plan moving forward, but it worked for us on Sunday.”
When you play against a defense and they totally screw up and you find yourself literally wide open does the game slow down? Does it feel like slow motion before the ball gets there?
“A little bit you just really want to focus in and make the play. You see it too many times with guys wide open and they drop the ball, but something bad happens. You really just want to focus in and make sure you make that play for your team.”
What’s it like being in the locker room with Tim Tebow?
“It’s weird because he actually is just a normal guy. He is just like one of us. He sits in like everyone else. It’s not like he is expecting any special treatment or anything. He is there and working just as hard as everybody else, if not harder. He is just a normal guy in the locker room.”
Listen to Eddie Royal on 104.3 The Fan in Denver here [Interview begins at the 27:00 mark of the podcast]
Tags: 104.3 The Fan in Denver, Denver Broncos, Eddie Royal, NFL, The Drive, Tim Tebow
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