We could all use a teammate like Bo Nix.
The Denver Broncos rookie quarterback hit back against criticism of his former college teammate and current Broncos center Alex Forsyth after the Broncos’ 16-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 10.
Nix drove the Broncos down the field in the final moments of the game to set up what could have been a 35-yard, game-winning field goal by Will Lutz as time expired — instead, Chiefs linebacker Leo Chenal flew in for the game-winning field goal block to send the Chiefs to 9-0 and leave the Broncos stunned.
A quick look at the film showed Forsyth get run over by Chenal before making the play/ Nix, along with several other Broncos, gave an impassioned defense of Forsyth following the loss.
“There is a lot of negative talk when somebody messes up, but I think it should be known how valuable (Forsyth) is to our team, how much he is respected throughout our locker room,” Nix told reporters on November 13. “It really ticks me off that people can say those things about him and not even see how he works, or how he responds or how he plays. I have no doubt that Alex Forsyth’s going to respond probably better than anybody in that situation. He cares more than anybody would in that situation, and I know that every single one of our team, every single guy in our locker room believes in him to move on and respond.”
“… He’s been through tougher life moments than probably any of us. So he knows how to handle adversity … I hate that he’s having to go through all this, but sometimes it’s part of the game, and it is what we signed up for. I’m happy to be on his team. I’m proud to call him a teammate … ”
The loss dropped the Broncos to 5-5 headed into a critical stretch of 3 games before their bye in Week 14; at home against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 11, on the road at the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 12 and back home to face the Cleveland Browns in Week 13.
Nix, Forsyth College Teammates at Oregon
Nix and Forsyth were teammates at Oregon, where Forsyth was a 2-time All-Pac-12 pick in 2021 and 2022 before the Broncos selected him in the seventh round (No. 257 overall) in the 2023 NFL draft.
Nix’s reference to “tougher life moments” for Forsyth puts things in stark perspective. On December 11, 2012, when Forsyth was just 13 years old, his father, 45-year-old Steven Forsyth, was one of 2 people killed during the Clackamas Town Center shooting in Portland, Oregon.
Nix wasn’t the only teammate to stick up for Forsyth.
“The blame is ridiculous … playing that position is one of the hardest jobs in the sport and arguably across all sports,” Broncos offensive guard Quinn Meinerz said on November 13.
Payton, Coaches Take Blame for Mistake
Another person who came to Forsyth’s defense — and perhaps the only person with an opinion who matters — was head coach Sean Payton.
“I felt sick watching it,” Payton said. “I felt like, ‘Hey that’s on us.’ In other words, technique and then also, ‘Are we asking the right players to do the right things?’ (Offensive line coach) Zach Strief played forever in that position and he’s someone after watching it — every one of us felt as coaches that we let the players down and we needed to see that and correct that. That’s difficult when that happens. You as a coach . . . that’s how we felt.”
