Keary Colbert: In His Own Words

"That's how life is sometimes," Colbert says. "You've got to take each lesson in football and apply it to life. Everything is not always going to go the way you plan it to go or want it go, but what do you do?

"How do you respond? How do you come back? How do you fight?"

"Regardless if I was the first guy or the last guy they signed, everybody's responsibility is the same," Colbert said.

"You're supposed to come in here and make plays, compete and help the team get better. But I was ready to get to a new place, a new opportunity. I had a good time in Carolina, but my time was up. I was anxious and excited to move on."

"It just didn't happen there, but that doesn't mean it will never happen," Colbert said. "It just means I have to continue to work, to get better, to compete. That stuff will come.

"And if it doesn't come, then maybe God has another plan. Sometimes those personal goals, the numbers, can be a little overrated in the big scheme of things because, really, everybody's goal should be to go to a Super Bowl and win. And that's always my goal - that hasn't changed."

"It's about winning," Colbert said. "I was careful about where I wanted to sign because you want to go to a good place where you can contribute to something. This is the place for me; I'm excited about what could happen."

"I just go by what I see," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. "(Colbert) plays hard, I liked him coming out (of the University of Southern California in the 2004 draft), and I think we've shown over the years a guy can be productive in a new place."

Keary Colbert was the most expensive wide receiver the Broncos picked up this season, signing a three-year, $7.2 million deal. Shanahan's compared him to both Ed McCaffrey and Rod Smith in the last week. Pointing out that no one wanted McCaffrey (or Smith for that matter) when they were signed by Denver.

"That's what you look at," Shanahan said. "What a guy can do in your offense, what kind of offense he was in. . . . You look at the whole situation, then you make your decisions."

Generally you see a receiver in the NFL come into his own around his third season. It didn't happen for Colbert though, whose best season thus far was his rookie season. However he's only 26 years old (Brandon Marshall is 24), although it's been too often more-so lately in Denver that players have come in full of potential and have died off into football obscurity a season or two later.

thanks to rmn.