ENGLEWOOD, Colo. --As expected, the past 24 hours have been quite a whirlwind for Broncos first-round pick Bradley Roby.
"It's been kind of wild," Roby said during his first visit to Dove Valley Friday. "I've got about 400 text messages from people I've met throughout my whole life. I think everybody knows this is a great position for me so I think they're happy for me as well. It's been great."
A big surprise for the rookie was that one of those 400 came from a five-time NFL MVP.
"Peyton Manning also sent me a text message last night, just talking about how I just need to come in and just be ready to help the team win and he's glad that I'm his teammate and he's just ready to play," Roby recalled. "That was a shock to me. Watching a guy like that my whole life, now that's my teammate, someone I'm going to compete against every day, so I'm very excited about that."
Manning has made a habit of texting the Broncos' selections on draft day -- last year, second-rounder Montee Ball and third-rounder Kayvon Webster both acknowledged they received a message from the Denver quarterback.
And every time, it's just as exciting for the newcomers.
"That was so surreal. I almost didn't believe it," Roby said. "But that just shows the type of guy he is. It shows where he's at in his career — he knows that it's only, to be honest, a few more years left. He wants to get a Super Bowl. That's what I got from the text message. It's like, OK, you've been drafted, but let's get to work. I'm with that 100 percent, and I look forward to competing against him every day."
Manning wasn't the only Bronco to welcome Roby to the club -- safety T.J. Ward was one of a handful who tweeted at the cornerback, and Ward and Roby had already met when the rookie was training for the NFL Scouting Combine.
"At that time, he was with the Browns, so we were talking about possibly being together with the Browns but now we're with the Broncos," he smiled.
