**

1. What kind of addition do you think Jamaal Charles can be, and what would it take for him to get there?**

"It's not difficult. It's really just health. If he's healthy, and I think he's in shape, I think he's trained for it, then I think you know what we can get — and I say 'we' as the Broncos, I know [what] the Broncos can get — because he's an exciting running back. I don't know if he's going to be a high-volume guy. I wouldn't see him getting 15-plus carries a game or touches, so I see him probably as an eight-to-10-touch guy until later on when they can say, 'OK, he's healthy.' But you still have C.J. Anderson, you still have [Devontae] Booker when he comes back. So it's really one ball to go around with a lot of backs. But health is a key for that position, big-time."

2. This is obviously an exciting time for you with the Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony coming up in a few days. Recently you got your gold jacket and before that, you had your bust made. What's it like being in the room while this sculptor shapes a mold in your likeness?

"It's weird because he's staring at you the whole time, so you've never been stared at like that in your life, but you know what it represents and you know what's about to happen. So you kind of tune in and out of consciousness in terms of the awareness of what it means. And he's there eight hours, so one minute you're watching him and you're thinking to yourself, 'It's incredible, like this guy is actually making this bust that's going to be in the room forever, and it's going to be stationed among all the other Hall of Famers,' so then you start to think about it. You're like, 'Wow, this is incredible.' And then you kind of get off that for a minute. You might watch some TV and then you get back to it and all of a sudden you get another idea of how incredible it is. Like, there's only 310 of these things made. So anytime there's sort of a landmark or something that happens, whether it's the jacket or the bust, it just reminds you that this is incredible. There's no other way to describe it. And if I tried to describe it, I think I would do it an injustice because it's hard to. There's no other feeling I could compare it to, people say your wedding, they say winning a Super Bowl, there's nothing else I could compare it to."

3. Now I'm going to go back a little ways to "Sesame Street."

"Oh, yeah, you went back. You went back."

What was that experience like to be on set with them to film a show?

"It's great. It was fun. As a kid, you grew up and that's something that … who didn't watch 'Sesame Street?' And it was the one thing I remember that my agent, when he brought it to me, it was one of the few things that I was like, 'I'm doing it.' Everything else he would bring to me, I'm like, 'OK, let's talk about it.' But the minute he said, 'I'm trying to get you on "Sesame Street,"' I was like, 'Dude, I'm on it.' I was pumped for it.

"But I don't know if you remember what happened. We were undefeated and we lost to the Giants. I was supposed to do 'Sesame Street 'on Monday right after the game in New York. But [former head coach] Mike [Shanahan] didn't let me stay. So I had to fly back to Denver, do a workout on Monday, fly back on Monday night to New York and they were gracious enough to move the show to Tuesday for me. So I did the shoot on Tuesday, flew back on Tuesday night and I was back here for practice on Wednesday. So I went out of my way to go back and shoot that thing with 'Sesame Street.' And to this day, what is great about that, it lives forever. So my children now get to see their dad with Elmo and the Count and all those other characters, which were great."

4. And as I understand it, it was a pretty big moment for your mom, too, right?

"Yeah. That was one of the things, as a parent, you don't think about your kids ever being on 'Sesame Street.' No one thought about that. And I wasn't a kid at the time, but still. To her I'm always going to be her kid. But we never thought about me being on that show and having a chance to be that close to the characters. It was the one thing I'm always going to cherish. I'm always going to use that on my resume. How many people can say they were on 'Sesame Street?'"

So it's going to go NFL Network, "Sesame Street," Denver Broncos on your resume.

"Yeah, 'Sesame Street' might be up there. That might be number one. 'Sesame Street,' then the Hall of Fame, then the other stuff."

**

5. During your visit, you did the Mile High Salute with Big Bird. Is that the coolest person — bird? — you've done the salute with?**

I've done it with a lot of people. He's one of them. It's incredible how many people know me from that, and whether it's Denzel Washington —

You've done the salute with Denzel.

Yeah, I got a salute from Denzel, which was cool. You don't realize how many people were actually watching you or who were fans of yours until they salute or they sit there and rattle off your stats or [say], 'Yeah, when you guys beat the Packers, I was here.' Football is powerful, man.

6. I saw your oldest son is going into first grade. What's it been like for you, seeing him grow up, find his own personality and go off to school?

That's been the best thing. I'm more proud of that [than football] — and it's such a joy to watch him grow, because you're curious about how your son is going to turn out. Does he have any athletic ability? Is he going to be good in sports? Does he even want to play sports? But my oldest son, Jackson, he's gravitated toward sports. He loves football, he loves basketball and he loves golf, now.

I watched him in his first game. In his first game where he broke off his first touchdown in a flag football game, I'm on the sideline and of course everybody's looking at me as he gets the ball. I'm going nuts on the sideline. I'm going completely nuts because he came this way, reversed fields and came back the other way and he scored, like, a 60-yard touchdown. And I am going nuts and I have to remind myself these are all 6-year-olds, 6- and 7-year-olds. You can cheer but you can't just be 'YEAHHH, GO!' and I was over the top. The coach, he came over afterwards and he was like, 'Hey, parents. I know you guys are excited but we've got to just kind of, you know, it's little league.' I'm like, 'Man, speak for yourself, I'm going to cheer when my son scores.'

*Previously on The Pick Six:
*• Beth Mowins, "Monday Night Football" broadcaster
• Peter King, Sports Illustrated senior writer and The MMQB editor