ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Paris Lenon is the answer to a trivia question: He is the last former XFL player standing in the NFL, and now he’s going to the Super Bowl.
This is only one of numerous distinctions the Broncos middle linebacker carries with him. He can look forward to countless questions about his XFL past, and journeyman NFL career, in the media blitz this week leading up to Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
Lenon, 36, is the second-oldest player in this Super Bowl, behind only Peyton Manning (37). The Broncos are his eighth NFL team (he even spent two weeks with the Seahawks in 2001), and he is on his 13th contract. That does not included Lenon’s stops in the NFL Europe and the XFL (both now defunct).
The Broncos signed him to a one-year, $940,000 contract before this season as veteran depth, but Lenon replaced Wesley Woodyard as the starting middle linebacker in Week 14 and remains the starter.
No player in this Super Bowl has taken a more arduous path to this game than Lenon.
“Everybody has different paths and different experiences,’’ Broncos coach John Fox said. “We’ve just been pleased to have him. He’s been a productive player for us and a good teammate to the rest of the team. All of these guys have different backgrounds. I look at Paris Lenon for what his body of work is, what he’s done here, and what he’s done for the Denver Broncos.”
Lenon has been a key cog in the Broncos’ improved run defense, which was at its best last week, shutting down the newfound Patriots running game in the AFC Championship.
“The guy has a lot starts under his belt,’’ Fox said. “He brought some experience. He was new to us this year so like all new players, it takes you a minute to figure out their strengths and weaknesses. We think he’s slid into a role that has helped us be productive on defense.”
In a quirky twist to his already tangled-web story, Lenon’s former XFL coach with the Memphis Maniax, former Jets running backs coach Kippy Brown, is the Seahawks receivers coach.
“Playing in that league, all it did was it gave me more playing experience,” Lenon said of the XFL, which was the brainchild of pro wrestling maven Vince McMahon. “Anytime you get more experience, get more comfortable, the better you are from it.
“I’m pretty sure people have a lot of jokes about the league, but at the time for me, it was a situation where I had the opportunity to play in NFL Europe or stay in the states and make more money. And that’s what it boiled down to.”
Given his nomadic existence, you can understand when Lenon said he’s “never felt comfortable’’ with any team.
“And I still don’t,” he said. “I always approach it like they’re trying to get rid of me.”