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The horse whisperer
By Lee Rasizer, News Staff Writer The doors to the new Broncos locker room swung open. The mouths of Denver's players, seeing the team's dressing quarters for the first time, were next. "Oh yeah," tight end Desmond Clark said. "That's kind of tight," quarterback Jarious Jackson added. The start of the tour of Invesco Field at Mile High had drawn praise by the trio, but the nearly 7,500-square-foot area where the Broncos dress, psych themselves, celebrate wins and curse defeats, brought the most emotional reaction. The home locker room at the new $400 million-plus stadium is three times the size of the one the Broncos abandoned at Mile High Stadium. Tight end Billy Miller stood smiling, imagining the pregame game scene there with teammates. "It's going to be like, 'Hey! What time is it over there?' " he joked. The adjacent training room also drew raves. The above-ground silver tubs that served as whirlpools next door have been replaced by large sunken spas. "We're winning right now," Miller said as he surveyed the scene. The tour had just made its way down from the upper reaches of the facility, from the glitzy company suites through the concrete labyrinth of hallways. Dust was still on the steps down to the field level. Yellow caution tape was hanging everywhere. A wet-paint sign adorned an orange wall. Jackhammering provided a beat for the tour. The stop in the home locker room was followed by a peek at the visitors' version. The players remarked that it was bigger than their old Mile High locker room. "I don't think visitors should be treated this nice," Clark said. Perhaps to placate him, the next stop was an area where visitors can expect nothing but outward hostility. The group headed up the ramp at the 50-yard line and walked onto the playing field. The players surveyed the hybrid turf, a blend of synthetic and natural grasses. They did a model's runway spin to check out the seats full circle. The tour guide explained that the walls on the outside of the playing field were lower than those at Mile High. "We can jump in the stands now" Clark said, smiling. The two oversized video boards on the north upper deck and the huge, rectangular single screen on the south side were also big hits. Words like "lovely," "beautiful" and "nice" -- those rarely associated with football players -- filled the air. "It blows away the old field just from first glance," Miller said. Kind words were replaced by raised eyebrows, as the tour began drawing to a close. The sculpture on the exterior of the stadium of seven bronze horses had been uncovered just a few days before. And it wasn't the Italian artist's vision that took the players aback -- it was the price tag to sculpt the steeds, reportedly as much as $2 million. "Me and Jarious would do that for $2 million," Miller said. "Yeah, $1 million for me, $1 million for him," Jackson said. Not 100 feet away was a dirt area earmarked for the players' parking lot. They were told that there would be fencing surrounding that area and a cordoned-off walkway leading into the south tunnel and the locker room. "I plan on having a big year," Miller said. "They'll need some extra security." Contact Lee Rasizer at (303) 892-5100 or rasizerl@RockyMountainNews.com.
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