Michelle BeisnerBuck talks about her time as a Broncos cheerleader [Music] hey this is bradley chubb and you're listening to the snap hey this is cortland sutton hey this is tim patrick and you're listening to the snap with sydney jones on broncos podcast network yeah hello everyone welcome back to the broncos podcast network in youtube for this week's edition of the snap i'm your host cindy jones and today we have a very special guest joining us here at the uc health training center espn's michelle beissner buck michelle is an nfl feature reporter for espn and her player profiles in other nfl stories appear on sunday nfl countdown in monday night countdown she is also has a special connection to denver as she is a former denver broncos cheerleader michelle cannot thank you enough for being here today and joining me on the podcast absolutely it's my pleasure i'm happy we can make it work me too how does it feel being back bringing back some memories so good i mean i you know all of my my family is still here um my brother and his his family they live up north my dad sadly rest in peace pops he just recently passed away but it's hard to hear that that's okay but he you know he was a die-hard broncos fan um our whole family was and is and so it's it's i get back a lot and um i love it i love but i love just being back whenever i can do something with this organization i jump at the opportunity it's this you know i was a cheerleader you mentioned it i was a broncos cheerleader in another life 1997 to 2000 through i think 2002 or three i don't know how to think about that um good news right right the years you know my first year that's what was so incredible my first year on the team we went to and won super bowl 32 and then it was super bowl 33 and wow by the grace of some sort of god i was i was also i was the pro bowl representative in 99 so i went from the super bowl down in miami to then honolulu to bat i mean it was just like the best run and ah i loved those years so much i just got done talking with some people about how i cannot believe that we are coming up on our 30-year reunion from oh wow broncos cheerleaders like kind of came back you know they had the pony express in the 70s and then they took a little break took a little break there and then they came back in 1993 four three yeah so i mean it's it's just it's pretty incredible that we are that this leggings legacy has kind of lasted the time and it keeps going and absolutely impact we've had it was awesome yeah well it's so great to have you back here and hopefully we'll be back in a super bowl sooner than later fingers crossed i know what are we talking about six year drought right now yeah six year plan good i don't like it i don't like that at all it's not been fun they've been breaking my heart every year well michelle i know you're here Michelle Beisners interview with Russell Wilson for practice today and to catch up with russell wilson for an interview that will air on monday night countdown prior to the broncos season opener in seattle so everyone make sure you check that out michelle i have to ask you what are you gonna be talking to russell about today well you know here's the deal i don't i don't have any interest in going backwards i don't i don't want to talk about how the trade went down and the minutia of the of the departure and the relationships within those walls that's that's old news right so we want to focus on what's in front of us and what's going to be ahead and so it's really just an opportunity for us to sit and talk about you know obviously the emotions of of what it it had to feel like to leave seattle he was there for a decade he won a super bowl with them against the broncos you know he laid down roots there so the emotions of leaving um but then landing here and starting this new chapter this new era and being able to step into something like brand new um and take this team back to the promised land you know it's like these are huge expectations yeah but i i i've known i've known russell since he was drafted in fact i was covering the seahawks the year that they drafted him and i remember you know interviewing him you know when he got to seattle and he you could just tell that there was something so special about about him and what he was going to do was was going to be hugely impactful on the seahawks organization and it was and so you know you're getting somebody that i mean his drive he's he's 34 now he's 34. he's playing like he's 24. he's as hungry as he was in his prime i know it's unbelievable so i um i was thrilled obviously for personal reasons when the train happened right like yeah finally yes but it's gonna be good it'll be good to cover you know just i want to talk to him about this summer and i want to talk to him about how he's been able to bond with the receivers and when they went to san diego and what they did to kind of build that chemistry i want to talk to him about what he wants to do in the community here because he's so big on his charitable you know give back um mentality and so we're gonna hit we're gonna hit all the high notes on this one this is this is a a proof positive piece this is love this is you know puppy dogs and rainbows because that's what that's where we are we're in it we're in a great spot and there's a lot of there's a lot of high hopes and i think that he's he's the right man to like answer that call i agree i'm excited to see that feature i can't believe that we're already talking about this right now the season's only like just over a week away now no it's crazy it is crazy game is what 10 days as we said yeah right nine days i don't know yes it's nuts i'm excited though me too Michelle Beisners thoughts on the Broncos well i want to just get your thoughts on this broncos team overall i mean like you mentioned expectations are an all-time high and i feel like there's so much anticipation to see what this team can do i think i think so too i think that they've got a great a great opportunity offensively obviously and you know it's tough because we've got a new regime here new coaches new ownership new it's it's all brand new right and with with that comes some growing pains i mean even though even though russ is an elder statesman as far as that goes at his position there's going to be adjustments along the way so you know will they make it back to the playoffs they should right will they fingers crossed i don't know time will tell but i think that they've they've had they had a they had a great draft uh i think what they've done during training camp has been great i i think there's a lot of promise again especially offensively defense too man i mean i say this every year it's like i think we all do i think when you bleed orange and blue you and especially now because we've got russ and we've got the guy it's like okay let's ride you know as he says guys that's right you know like we got this i really truly feel there is this restored sense of of hope in this building and energy and that's like part of it too right when you're in this love for so long you need that peace just like when manning came here right you need that peace to to bring you back to like you know just breathe some new life and and that's that's exactly what manning did and i would expect that's what russ is going to do well obviously russell's going to be returning to seattle on night one to face his former teen what are your expectations for him on night one it being such an emotional day for him i this is what i know about russell having covered him for as long as i have even if he is experiencing a lot of emotion he is so locked in on the assignment yeah that he will be able to i would think he will be able to compartmentalize that and go in and get the job done and not and focus on just what's in front of them focus on first down red zone end zone that's that's what i anticipate i don't i don't see that moment as much as it will be emotional getting the best of him that's just not how he is he's too much of a pro i feel like he'll feel comfortable in that stadium right great way to start it he'll use it to his advantage right now it's going to be a little weird though it's got to be yeah it probably will be running out of the visitors locker room i'm sure he'll see so many wilson jerseys still seahawks wilson jerseys yeah yeah yeah i mean the 12s are i would expect that he's going to get a lot of love from the 12th absolutely michelle you mentioned Michelle Beisners love for football being here during super bowl 32 in super bowl 33 did that time during you know while you're around this team really spark your love for football and your want to really be in this industry i grew up loving football my parents as i mentioned they were die hard broncos fans and vikings fans um they also break my heart the vikings do um but i i grew up a dancer as well so when i turned you know 18 at the time that i was auditioning to be a broncos cheerleader you only had to be 18 you 21 was was you could be 18 right god that's a lot of years ago um but the first year that i actually auditioned i didn't make the team i made finals but i did not make the team so i came back the next year and i made it and it was i always knew though because i had such a love for sports and i am i was very much i my uncle was a local sports broadcaster in minneapolis and i really latched onto him at a young age something that i always thought that i wanted to explore and when i made the team and i started just you know getting the opportunity to to utilize and ask questions and take advantage of understanding the game a little bit more and understanding and meeting people within the the business that could introduce me to somebody else in the business that you have to nurture those relationships i mean i went to school for journalism and so i i knew from a young age that that's what i was that's what i wanted to do yeah um it was just you know it's it was it's just a climb to do it certainly yeah you know you know well how did you get into this niche really of this industry in future reporting uh so i was at nfl network i did a lot of local stuff here and i really worked wherever i could i i was a pit reporter for the champ car world series once a while um i knew nothing about open wheel racing but somebody saw something that i did on camera for um the denver grand prix and which was really just kind of an entertainment piece yeah um and i took that chance and i you know i i started i moved to la when i was i moved to la in 2006. and i was able to get an interview at nfl network and i was able to get the job i actually worked under like a trial one season contract and oh wow they then they hired me after that so but i was a utility player there i did everything i did anything and everything that they wanted me to do i did overnight new shifts i did um i did highlights i did you know general field reporting i hosted shows whatever they wanted i i was their girl and i ended up basically settling into a general field reporting role where i was i had kind of my region which was afc west and nfc west and was here all the time and when i went when i left nfl network in 13 and went over to espn i really didn't want to continue you know that the daily reporting i wanted to do something a little bit more meaningful so we we worked in some features for sunday nfl countdown and then that kind of led to this platform that i that i have now at monday night football for monday night countdown which is you know not only the long format kind of tear-jerker features but some fun access pieces or qb convos going into you know that game tonight so it's been fun um i i think this is probably my favorite space to live in is just sitting with someone doing these interviews putting together these these features and being able to convey and tell the story that a lot of times can live forever you know you yeah you know you're on the sidelines and you do a 60-second report well then you're on to the next one and that's that's fine too i mean i did that for a lot of years and it was great but i this is definitely something where there's a lot there's a lot more meat on the bone and with that comes a lot of personal and professional kind of satisfaction and gratification absolutely last one for you michelle you know as you're have been getting ready for this wrestle interview what makes a really good story like what's the key to good storytelling i mean well the subject the person you know i mean you've gotta you're who what's when where and why you have to kind of all line up and sometimes you don't know sometimes you think you've got a great story in front of you and it just doesn't end up working out but i think that if if it's compelling when you read it on paper if you can if you can connect with the person you're interviewing you are likely to get a compelling story um for television and you know i think nine times out of ten if you've got the ability to just have a conversation with someone and let them open up to you and be a little vulnerable you'll get some good stuff that will translate and that ultimately ends up being something that people can learn from and connect yeah connect right because everybody wants to know you know everybody loves the player in the helmet and on the field you want to know what they're like off the field you want to know what makes them tick or maybe what triggers them or who they are as a human rather than a player i mean that's what we're doing we're humanizing the player we're giving them we're taking them out of the uniform and putting them in genes and letting them just be human right you know well michelle it's been such a pleasure having you on the podcast today i really appreciate you taking the time to chat and to tell me your thoughts on this year's team absolutely thank you for having me well that's a wrap on this week's episode of the snap a big thanks again to michelle beisner buck for joining me on today's episode and big thanks to broncos country for tuning in as always make sure to follow the broncos podcast network on twitter and youtube to stay up to date on the snap's latest episodes [Music]