Broncos best player interested in becoming a two-way star

There’s a lot of talk about two-way players across football these days, and those conversations seem to be headquartered in Boulder where Deion Sanders and Travis Hunter do their thing.

Hunter broke numerous records for his contributions on both sides of the ball for the Colorado Buffaloes this season. He caught 57 passes for 721 yards and five touchdowns on offense while making 30 tackles and snagging three picks on defense. What most people tend to forget is that his all-athlete head coach Sanders—who notably played both sides of the ball in the NFL and in additional pro sport in MLB—didn’t play offense and defense when he was at Florida State.

Like Sanders and Hunter, another stud athlete from Florida known for his shutdown skills at cornerback is Denver Broncos star Pat Surtain II. Like Sanders just up the road, PS2 seems to be eyeing playing both sides of the ball even though he’s never done it before.

“A couple of weeks ago I was acting like I was lining up at receiver and doing some releases and some routes; I was trying to get Sean’s (Payton) attention, and he looked but kind of brushed me off,” Surtain said on The Insiders. “If there were a time and an opportunity to get those offensive snaps, I would definitely be there. I wanted to be an offensive player growing up; if I get a chance I would do so.”

#Broncos star Patrick Surtain II: All-Pro cornerback … and future wide receiver?

“If there were a time and an opportunity to get those offensive snaps, I would definitely be there.” 👀

📺📱💻 Full episode of The Insiders is on-demand now on #NFLPlus: https://t.co/uRBQKZq36O pic.twitter.com/YlGGhnrw4b

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 30, 2023

Sanders didn’t score his first offensive touchdown until his fourth season and didn’t seriously play wide receiver besides the 1996 season. That year the Dallas Cowboys used Sanders in place of Hall of Famer Michael Irvin, who fought cocaine charges and a collarbone injury. Sanders ended his NFL career with similar stats to Hunter at CU this year, snagging 60 catches for 784 yards and three offensive touchdowns. Of course, Sanders is also one of the best returners in NFL history, taking back six kicks in his career.

Three seasons into his career, Surtain has stood above the rest at his position. He hasn’t had the ball much, not playing returner and only snagging seven interceptions since most quarterbacks just avoid throwing to his side of the field. Last year Broncos Special Teams Coach Dwayne Stukes laughed off the idea of using Surtain as a returner. The reason being Surtain is the team’s top player and they couldn’t afford to lose him to an injury. At the same time, wouldn’t anyone want to see the best player in the field with the ball in his hands more?

A year later, or down the line, it would be fascinating to see Payton use some of the things he learned in coaching against Prime Time the player on PS2. If not, we might have to wait until the Olympics to see Surtain get a shot on offense.