INDIANAPOLIS — As he walked the halls of the Indiana Convention Center and the concourses of Lucas Oil Stadium and stood in the line of his downtown hotel coffee shop, Nathaniel Hackett noticed something about people, the same people he has known for years.
“They look at you and say, ‘Hey, look at you now!’ or they just look at you,” he said. “But nothing has changed.”
Kind of, sort of.
Hackett hasn’t changed in that he knows one speed (highest possible gear), one mindset (all-in) and one level of enthusiasm (caffeinated). But instead of attending the NFL combine as a quality control assistant, quarterbacks coach or offensive coordinator, he receives hand-shakes, back-slaps and, yes, gawks, because he is the Broncos’ big whistle.