Will Parks. My favorite Bronco.

This Sunday, America was introduced to the Denver Broncos' rookie safety Will Parks:

Now, not only do I share a first name with Will, I've also been a big fan of his ever since the Broncos drafted him out of Arizona in the sixth round of the 2016 draft. Parks has been, to this point, the biggest steal of what seems to be one of John Elway's better draft classes. Why did he fall? Well, ever since the Seahawks gave a woodshed beating to the Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII, the NFL has decided that they want their safeties to be built like Kam Chancellor (6'3" 235 lbs), and the general wisdom has been that you need big bodied defensive backs to keep up with the increasingly huge wide receivers coming out of college. At 6'1" and 192 lbs, Parks isn't leaping off the page to scouts, who assume that he lacks the physicality to keep up with the likes of Dez Bryant and Kalvin Benjamin. 

Those scouts shouldn't have been so lazy, and maybe watch some game film. Such as this little beauty showing just how well Parks holds up in coverage on 6'5", 245 lbs Oregon St. WR Jordan Villamin:

So... he seems pretty capable of covering big-bodied receivers to me. 

Another reason I'm such a fan of Parks, stems from a lot of similarities in our personalities. Like me, Parks has a goofy, energetic personality and an almost childlike wonder for the world of the NFL in which he has found himself. Just listen as he bubbles over with enthusiasm after his first ever career interception:

Notice how, when asked about being 3-0, he just seems genuinely psyched and amazed. "Damn, damn" he says. 

Damn indeed.

And, another similarity: 

Will Parks appreciates the art of a sports training montage:

I too have dabbled in "Sports Training Montages":

(Montage starts at 3:24)

As have Colorado heroes Trey Parker and Matt Stone:

Bonus bit of Broncos #hottakes for you. Apparently, placekicker Brandon McManus can tackle:

Who knew?

A Week at the Creek

This past Saturday, I headed to Indian Creek, a climbing area in the desert south of Moab, Utah. What follows is a photo journal documenting our adventure!

On the morning of the first day, we hiked up to Sister Superior (tower on the left) to climb the ULTRA classic route Jah Man (Castleton tower on far right)

I was SUPER stoked to tick off this classic tower

That little dot in the top, left-hand corner of the picture is Kourtney as she raps to the ground off Jah Man with the La Sal Mountains (12,001'-12,721') in the background. 

It's traditional in the desert to mark the start of a climb with the name and rating of the route etched into a flat bit of sandstone. This was the marker for Jah Man Grade II 5.10+

The next day, we were all pretty tired, and decided to head over to the Super Crack Buttress. 

Kourtney, Cameron and John take in the views from atop the South Six Shooter (pano, double click to open full picture in new window) 

You know that I'm bringing that #realnoflyzone

Second tower summit in one trip! Everyone is PSYCHED!!!

Looking out towards the North Six Shooter with Canyonlands National Park in the background

Nick cruises the crux of The Incredible Hand Crack 5.10+ at the Supercrack Buttress.