Knowshon Moreno didn’t get much done on the ground during the Broncos’ win over Kansas City on Sunday, but his display of pregame patriotism was second to none.
Cameras captured the running back with tears flowing like rivers down his face during the singing of the national anthem — seriously, these were some serious tears. When asked about his crying after the game, Moreno said the emotion of the moment simply overwhelmed him.
“The emotion always gets to me,” he told Yahoo! Sports. “I am just thinking about everything in general through your whole life, just balled up into one. Yeah, it helps me. Sometimes I don’t even notice it, it just comes.”
Some may say a football field is no place for tears, but fellow Broncos running back Montee Ball countered that Moreno’s willingness to wear his emotions on his sleeve is actually evidence of just how fierce a competitor he is.
“The [tears] are actually toughness,” Ball said. “I see it all the time. He does it in practice and he does it in games. It is all heart, it is his passion for the game. It is massive. We all feed off that energy. A lot of stuff sets him off. He just brings that energy when we need it.”
Moreno was held to a season-low 18 yards on 15 carries against the Chiefs one week after gashing the Patriots defense for 224 in an overtime loss. He came through with a huge late-game reception, though — a 31-yard gain on 2nd-and-20 — and Ball picked up his backfield mate by rushing for a career-high 117 yards on just 13 carries.
