ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — When Pat Surtain II hoisted the Defensive Player of the Year trophy on Thursday night, the moment represented more than just personal validation for his standout 2024 season.
The win was also significant to a series of men who built the Denver cornerback legacy that Surtain has continued — and elevated — during the start to his career.
For Ring of Famer Louis Wright, Hall of Famer Champ Bailey and Super Bowl 50 champions Chris Harris Jr. and Aqib Talib, Surtain's win served as a point of personal pride as they saw one of their own earn the league's top defensive honor.
"I think it's just a kind of validation of the organization," Wright told DenverBroncos.com. "Even though you're not doing it, he's actually doing it and it's his reward. But kind of on the side, it's like, 'Yeah, we have standards around here, and he's an example.' He gives you the pride. It makes me feel good, like, 'Oh yeah, that's my boy right there.'
"… It's almost like your son doing that. You're so proud of him. I'm proud like he's my son. That's the way to play the cornerback position. He does it. The run game, pass game, the attitude, the leadership. He does it all."
Wright began the lineage of great cornerbacks in Denver, as the five-time Pro Bowler and two-time first-team All-Pro earned a reputation as one of the league's best. And while he's overly humble as he reflects on his career — he recently referred to his tenure as "pretty good" — he set a standard that has lasted.
"Starting with Louis, he was somebody I looked up to," Bailey told DenverBroncos.com. "It was just good to kind of carry on that legacy."
Bailey's own legendary career led to him being a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection, and his 100-yard interception return in a postseason win over the Patriots is one of the franchise's indelible moments.
Talib and Harris added their own mark, using pick-sixes and seemingly limitless confidence to help form the vaunted No-Fly Zone that guided Denver to a Super Bowl 50 win.
"It's a legacy," Talib told DenverBroncos.com. "I felt it when I came. Like, 'OK, Champ used to play here? I got to ball.' Louis used to play here. I know the line of corners who went there, so I felt like I had to do it when I got there."
Harris referenced a wall at Denver's facility adorned with photos of former All-Pros and Pro Bowlers that served as motivation and a reminder of what was expected.
"Just walking in the room every day seeing all those guys, that was just motivation to want to be on that wall," Harris told DenverBroncos.com. "It was kind of the standard. If you make it on that wall, you know you're balling."
The impressive group now has another member, and Surtain's success offers an opportunity to recognize the lineage of strong cornerback play in Denver.
"When you really look at us, we do have some elite guys that have come through," said Bailey, who finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2006. "It's only fitting that now we have a guy like Pat that kind of rounds this thing off. We've had some ballers in the secondary, it's just finally good to see someone recognized for it."
Wright said being part of the lineage is "something people can't take away from you," and Harris believes great cornerback play is at the point of being a Denver tradition.
"You definitely want to root for those guys," Harris said. "It's a brotherhood at corner and with the DBs for the Broncos. It's pretty much tradition now. Kind of like DBU. You want to see those young guys ball."
Surtan has done that, and even through just four seasons, he may already be making a push for the top spot in a dominant group of players. With his recent honor, Surtain became the first cornerback in NFL history to win Defensive Player of the Year and post two first-team All-Pro selections within his first four seasons. The sustained success — which also includes three Pro Bowl selections — is enough to convince Wright of Surtain's standing.
"If you're great and spectacular for one year or two, well that's good, but now, four complete years of just extraordinary ability, I think it's kind of cemented now," Wright said. "Four years, no matter what happens, he's solid. He might be the best corner Denver's ever had, without a doubt."
Added Talib: "We've all kind of got our own style, and I think P2, he's like all of us in one. He came in with perfect technique from the jump. He was just so polished so early to me. That really stamps him to be one of the greatest Broncos corners of all time in Year 4. He's definitely already stamped."
Surtain's next challenge, in the eyes of those who came before him, is to maintain his standard — and to put himself in a class of the game's all-time greats.
"He should be a Hall of Famer," Harris said. "When you have the size and athleticism of Pat Surtain and you bring that along with the football smarts and technique, he should be a surefire Hall of Famer. Some people, you can tell right out of the gate that they're a Hall of Famer. You could tell pretty fast that Pat would be a Hall of Famer, just the way he plays. He's right there on pace."
Bailey, who has been promoting Surtain's potential since the moment he was drafted, cannot wait to see what's next for the man who is the latest to carry on the legacy of great cornerback play in the Mile High City.
"He is one of the best to ever do it at this point," Bailey said. "Now let's see how he does the next four or five years. And now he becomes one of the best ever. This dude, the sky's the limit for him."
And as Surtain pushes to continue his torrid start to his career, Wright, Bailey, Harris and Talib will be there watching with pride.
