DENVER BRONCOS QUOTES (9/14/15)
KICKER BRANDON MCMANUS
On his 57-yard field goal
“I think I said it's probably the toughest kick anyone ever has to start the season with. I've hit those kicks in practice, so I just
wanted to come out there and start the game off right and start the season off right the way I wanted to. Definitely helped with
a little confidence boost for the next kick—56 [yarder].”
On feeling confident after connecting on 57-yarder
“I wouldn't say playing with house money. I definitely liked the first one a little better. The second one just squeaked in there. I
came back and had to hit a 43-yarder into the wind right before the end of the half. I think the biggest kick was the 33-yarder at
the end just because it put us up six [points]. Baltimore was in the red zone at the end of the game. They would have tied it up.
That six-point differential was huge.”
On his key to being consistent
“I think just this offseason I was able to make that change from my adjustment from my routine. Just going out there and being
smooth and comfortable. Don't rush into my technique. Sometimes when I get there and kind of get a little antsy to get the kick,
try to get the play started, I might not have the tempo or the groove that I want to be in. [P] Britton [Colquitt] and [LS] Aaron
Brewer do a good job of kind of keeping me slowed down out there and kind of keeping me smooth.”
On the direction of the wind for his first two kicks
“It's tough to read. I think it's a tough stadium to kick in just because it's constantly swirling. If you look at the flags, it's usually
kind of opposite. On the field, it kind of felt like the wind was at my back and maybe a little right to left, but both of my two
longer kicks, the ball didn't move at all right-to-left. I was surprised at that. If anything, I would say it was slightly behind my
back.”
On if the wind was swirling due to the heat
“Yeah, it looked like it. Then again, we both were hitting touch backs back into the wind. It is tough. It kind of switches every
quarter based off this stadium. It does change all the time. You're constantly going out there in the middle of timeouts and stuff
trying to read what the wind's doing.”
On what he felt during warm-ups would be the longest he could kick that day
“[Special Teams Coordinator] Joe De[Camillis] and I go through a routine whether I have about an 85 percent make kick, we'll do
a distance of that and then we'll do I guess a desperation kick, which would be at the half, the farthest field goal you can make. I
don't go out there in pregame—I used to when I was a young kid in college—and go out there and hit 70 or 80-yarders just to
swing away to see how far. I know I can hit those, so I don't need to practice those. I usually go to maybe 65 max just to stay in
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my rhythm. Even with my snap and hold, I get to about 55 and shut it down, just because you want to look at kicks that are
realistic instead of something that's kind of out of the moon.”
On if he would have been asked to kick the 57-yarder if the wind was against him
“You'd have to ask him [DeCamillis] that. I think was still right around my yards line I gave them which would be my make kicks.
You'd have to ask them. All along, I knew I was most likely going to go out and kick those.”
On if the kick would have been good from a farther distance
“Obviously, we could speculate how much it would go in by. If we did it the other way, I'm sure he still would have sent me out
there. I think it might have been a little bit more of a challenging kick, but obviously, it's still my job.”
On when during a drive he knows he will be asked to kick
“No one comes over to me. We kind of set that stone in pregame—what yard line we've got to get to for certain kicks, as I said.
I'm watching the game. I'm seeing it. I'm out there ready to go. On third down, I'm standing on the sideline kind of right next to
[Head Coach Gary] Kubiak. It kind of works out that way. Not that he tells me we're kicking or not, but it just works out that way.
I basically know whether we're going to kick it or not. If I run out there and they want to go for it, I'll jog back off.”
On if he knew he would be asked to kick from 57 yards
“I'm guessing certain times of the game, though, they might not want to kick that just because of how defensive a game it was
yesterday—pin them deep and obviously our defense did a great job of keeping their offense off the field and making them
punt.”
©2015 Denver Broncos Football Club. All rights reserved. The individual quotes cited in this document may be used for the purpose of news reporting and other
fair uses as defined by Section 107 of the Copyright Act. Duplication or posting of this quote sheet, in its entirety, or any other use of this material which is not a
fair use as defined by Section 107 of the Copyright Act is strictly prohibited without the prior written consent of the Denver Broncos Football Club.