Details Emerge on DeMarcus Ware's 'Greatest Speech' in Playoff History

DeMarcus Ware is simply epic.

DeMarcus Ware was one of the indispensable heroes of the Denver Broncos' Super Bowl 50 championship run back in 2015. Ware arrived as a free-agent addition in 2014 after a storied career with the Dallas Cowboys, where he stacked up individual accolades but didn't experience much playoff success. 

After going to the playoffs in Year 1 with the Broncos, and promptly being bounced in the Divisional Round by Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts, Ware perceived that 2015 team as perhaps his last best chance to win a Super Bowl. Thus, when the Broncos managed to overcome losing Peyton Manning for half the season, earning the No. 1 playoff seed in the AFC, Ware geared up to make the most of it. 

After a first-round bye, the Broncos got past the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers in the Divisional Round, advancing to the AFC Championship game vs. the New England Patriots, to be hosted in Denver. We all know how that game shook out, with Ware and company hitting Tom Brady a whopping 23 times and narrowly staving off a comeback to advance to Super Bowl 50. 

The Broncos dug deep to get that win, and we learned recently that a speech Ware gave before the AFC title game may have had much to do with how the game shook out. Former Broncos offensive tackle Ryan Harris recently provided The Denver Gazette's Chris Tomasson with some details of Ware's speech ahead of that pivotal matchup with Brady and company. 

“He walked up with luggage on wheels, and I’m like, ‘Where’s he going?’ Then he got to the front of the room and he opened it up and there was the Lombardi Trophy,’’ Ryan Harris, then a Denver tackle, recalled of Ware pulling out the first Super Bowl trophy won by the Broncos, in January 1998. “He slammed it down on the table and said, ‘This is what they’re trying to take from us. This is what we were built for, this moment.’ It was the greatest speech in the history of the playoffs.”

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Epic. 

Brady was indeed trying to take what became Denver's third Lombardi Trophy, and if not for a valiant defensive effort by Ware and the Broncos defense, the legendary quarterback most certainly would have. A greatly diminished Manning helped the Broncos get out in front of the Patriots that January afternoon with a couple of touchdown passes to former tight end Owen Daniels, but it was mostly downhill from there offensively. 

Brady was hell-bent on inching past the Broncos and orchestrated a phenomenal touchdown drive in the closing seconds of the game in the face of Wade Phillips' relentless pass rush Ware led opposite Von Miller. Forced to attempt a two-point conversion trailing 20-18 with 12 seconds left in the game, Brady was flushed right by pressure from a gassed Ware and targeting Julian Edelman on the run, unleashed a pass that was tipped up and intercepted by Bradley Roby. 

Ball game. 

Ware's speech worked, providing his teammates with an emotional lift and visual motivation to overcome a massive obstacle that included Brady, Bill Belichick, and tight end Rob Gronkowski, who finished the game with eight receptions for 144 yards and a touchdown. Perhaps there were some residual effects of Ware's speech because the Broncos absolutely curb-stomped the reigning NFL MVP Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50. 

Newton had led a romping Panthers offense through the NFC playoff gauntlet like a hot knife through butter. As good as that Broncos defense was, few analysts expected it to put the brakes on the Newton hot rod as it did. 

How glorious it was to see the underdog Broncos defy the oddsmakers and vanquish Newton and company 24-10. Ware saved one of his most indelible performances of the season for last, finishing with two sacks on Newton and four hits on the QB. Ware got to savor that Super Bowl win alongside Manning and Miller. 

Ware stuck around one more season in Denver before hanging up his cleats. Father Time remains undefeated, but Ware's three-year tenure as a Bronco allowed him to punctuate his career with a coveted World Championship, which helped seal the deal when it came to his resume as a Hall-of-Fame candidate. 

Ware was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame earlier this year. He'll enter Canton for all time later this summer as a member of the Hall of Fame's 2023 Class. 

“That feeling, those memories of winning the Super Bowl, are near and dear to me,’’ Ware said via Tomasson. “They’re going to last forever. But now being inducted into the Hall of Fame, having all those guys come back, how cool is it going to be now to sort of relive those moments again?”

There's zero doubt that Miller will be among Ware's former Broncos teammates in Canton to witness his friend and mentor's enshrinement this summer. Broncos fans are aware of the unique connection Ware had with Miller. Some credit Ware's influence and mentorship as the key component to Miller saving his NFL career from the brink of ruin. 

Ware joined the Broncos the spring following the 2013 season. Although Denver made it to Super Bowl XLVIII that year, it was a campaign marred by a Miller six-game suspension and a torn ACL. Miller was in the NFL's crosshairs for violating the league's substance abuse policy and coming back from an ACL tear, there's no guarantee an elite player will return to form. 

But Miller did overcome both obstacles, thanks, in large part, to Ware's influence. Miller was named Super Bowl 50 MVP for his phenomenal role in Denver's victory. Whenever Miller hangs up his cleats, he'll only have to wait six short years before his bust will join Ware's in the Hall of Fame. 

Believe that. 

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