The Adman Of Denver

For the fourth time in his life, TigerBlog received a jury duty notice in the mail.

He had to go online and fill out a long form that asked the kinds of questions you would expect (Is there any reason you couldn't impartially judge a case) and one that you wouldn't (what's your favorite book?).

Guess what TB answered for that one. HERE it is.

It took about 15 minutes to fill in all of his answers. When he hit submit, he was told to log back in after 4 on the day before he was scheduled to see what time to report.

The big moment came Wednesday afternoon, since he was supposed to go in yesterday. When he logged on, he saw this message:

"You are not required to report. This concludes your jury service."

And so, once again, TB has not been called to be on a jury. He's now 0 for 4. He's had the same thought each time: "It might be interesting to see what it's all about."

Maybe next time, though not for at least three years. The closest he's come is when his number was picked for a civil case but one of the party's lawyers dismissed him before he took two steps towards the jury box. TB regrets not asking why.

Seriously. Would you be judged by TigerBlog?

Anyway, the original plan for today was to talk about TB's experience on jury duty. At one point, he considered what he would do if he ended up on a case where he was sequestered. Would the judge allow him to write about Princeton Athletics every day? 

In need of something else to write, TB found it in the news of the new president of the Denver Broncos. It's none other than Damani Leech, Class of 1998, one of Princeton's best defensive backs of all time.

#BroncosCountry Let’s Ride!!! https://t.co/Pxn4yIPnhJ

— Damani Leech (@dleech9) August 11, 2022

TigerBlog has always been a huge fan of Damani Leech, and he'll of course be rooting for the Broncos going forward. This is what team owner and CEO Greg Penner said about him:

"Damani is highly regarded throughout the National Football League for his leadership, strategic vision and collaborative spirit. As a former college player with executive experience at both the NFL and NCAA levels, Damani understands the value of teamwork and knows what it takes to win—on and off the field. Most importantly, he leads with integrity, empathy and respect. I'm confident Damani will help the Broncos grow across all areas of our business and make our staff, partners and fans proud of this organization."

Integrity, empathy and respect. Teamwork. They're all the perfect words to describe him.

TB can't really talk about Leech without mentioning two non-football things first.

Back in the 1990s, when publications were a huge part of what was done in the Office of Athletic Communications and technology hadn't yet caught up, it was required to actually make prints of photos, size them proportionally to the hole left in the layout and then drive them over to campus printing (at the Forrestal Village) to have them scanned.

Eventually, the OAC got an actual scanner in its office. The first picture that TB ever scanned was one of Damani Leech.

Also, TB's first experience ever with auto-correct involved Leech. He typed in Leech's name, and it auto-corrected to "adman." TB tried it again yesterday, and again it came back "adman."

The adman, as it were, has spent the last eight years working for the NFL, including three years as the CEO of NFL International. His resume also includes 17 years of working at the NCAA office in Indianapolis.

Leech was a three-time first-team All-Ivy League selection. Here's the list of Princeton defensive backs who have been first-team All-Ivy League three times: Damani Leech.

Leech is also one of two Princeton players to have at least six interceptions in two different seasons (the other is Frank Leal in 1988 and 1989). Leech is also one of only two players in Ivy League history to have at least 20 career interceptions (the other is Princeton's Dean Cain, who had 22).

Now Leech joins a long line of Princeton alums who are in senior management roles for professional teams. It was great to see the news.