Patrick Surtain II wants more than just winning the Defensive Player of the Year award.
The 24-year-old shutdown cornerback is coming off of the finest season of his four-year career, becoming the first cornerback since the 2019 season to win the Defensive Player of the Year award. Surtain received 26 of the 50 first-place votes to beat out Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson for the award.
While the honor is notable considering he plays a position that doesn’t normally win the award and considering he’s just the second Broncos defender to win it, Surtain is aiming for something bigger — a Super Bowl.
”My individual accolades, I’ve reached the highest mark, I believe,” says Surtain II in an exclusive interview with The Sports Daily. “Obviously there’s still more to chase as far as accolades, but with me right now, I think team goals is where I’m trying to head to. Reaching that Super Bowl level, reaching team success.”
The Broncos are coming off of a surprise playoff appearance — something that Surtain II wasn’t surprised by — in which they went 10-7. It was their first playoff appearance since 2015 and the first of Surtain II’s four-year career.
However, Denver is clearly building something bigger as they enter the second year of the Bo Nix era.
”We finished off the season pretty well,” says Surtain II. “We didn’t finish it exactly off like how we wanted to, but it’s a great cap towards the season on where we are trying to go in the near future. I think just building off of that team success is what’s at the top of my mind right now.”
Surtain: Honored to Beat Out Edge Rushers For DPOY
Surtain II details what it was like winning the Defensive Player of the Year award for the first time in his career.
”I could say that the award itself, I felt the magnitude of it,” says Surtain II. “I felt the energy that I was going to win it. A lot of things were telling me I was. When you hear people around the league saying that you are highly favored to win it, I feel like that gives you a lot of confidence going into it.”
Entering the announcement at the NFL Honors award show during Super Bowl week, Surtain II was favored to win, but he entered with a “humble” approach.
“I wasn’t generally too sure about it,” says Surtain II. “I always wanted to not think the most of it — I wanted to be surprised at the end of the day. I didn’t want to feel like this was a given, you know what I mean? There were a lot of other defensive players that highly deserved it as well too. I came into it with a bit of a humbled approach to it.”
However, Surtain — who became just the second defensive back since 2010 to win the Defensive Player of the Year award — makes sure to mention how “grateful” he was to hear his name called when he won the award.
”Once I heard my name called, I sort of was at ease,” says Surtain II. “I just felt grateful and thankful to be in that moment.”
He makes sure to mention how important it was for him to win the Defensive Player of the Year honor as a cornerback, since it’s historically an award that’s won by edge rushers. In fact, the prior three award winners had been pass rushers.
”Yeah, it is a huge deal,” says Surtain II. “Sometimes defensive backs don’t get the recognition on the field because sometimes as a corner, some teams may not throw your way or your stat line may not be as significant as edge rushers. But to be prevalent in making an impact the same as edge rushers, I think that’s a huge dividends to the work I put in and the preparation I had this season That pays off a lot.
“When you go into the year with all those goals on your mind and being able to succeed and for it to come to fruition, it’s honestly a blessing,” Surtain II continues to say.
Surtain: Free Agent Additions ‘Cherry On Top’ Of Already-Formidable Roster
Unsurprisingly, the Broncos have been active in free agency, signing former San Francisco 49ers standouts linebacker Dre Greenlaw and safety Talanoa Hufanga. They’ve also added two-time Pro Bowl tight end Evan Engram and wide receiver Trent Sherfield as weapons for Nix entering his second season.
”That’s just adding on to the success that we already had and that we already built,” says Surtain II of the Broncos’ free agency additions. “I like where we are going. I feel like the direction is right in front of us and we control our own destiny. I’m excited that we added those additions because it was much needed and it was much warranted I could say as well too.”
The Broncos obviously had a good team last season, but they were a tier below the elite teams. That showed in the playoffs was Denver was blown out by the Buffalo Bills, 31-7, in the wild card round.
It was also evidenced by the fact that the Broncos went 1-5 against playoff teams and 1-7 against squads with winning records — not including their Week 18 finale against the backup-filled Kansas City Chiefs.
”Last year we had a great team as well too, but adding those pieces is like the cherry on top,” says Surtain II.
Surtain: Hufanga, Greenlaw Bring ‘Super Bowl Pedigree’
The Hufanga and Greenlaw additions are notable not just because of their proven resumes, but because they also have made deep playoff runs with the Niners, advancing to the Super Bowl at the conclusion of the 2023 season.
For a team as young as the Broncos are, that’s huge for a squad full of players who are coming off of their first playoff experience last season.
”Obviously, they have that Super Bowl pedigree,” says Surtain II. “They have that experience as well too. And to add it on towards our team, I think that’s a huge factor. That’s very vital towards our success when you get to add guys with that Super Bowl experience. Seeing how it’s done, seeing what it takes to get there, I think that’s a huge addition towards our team and our roster.”
Hufanga is even more notable for Surtain considering he’ll be lining up in the defensive backfield alongside the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. The 25-year-old Hufanga is the same age and entered the NFL the same year (2021) as Surtain II, earning a First-Team All-Pro honor and Pro Bowl bid during his second season.
With Hufanga in the mix, the Broncos should be able to improve upon their defensive ranking of 19th in passing yards last season. Surtain II says he’s already been in contact with his new teammate and is looking forward to working with him as the Broncos seek to take that next step into being a Super Bowl contender.
”Yeah, I talked to Hufanga when he signed his stuff, wishing him congratulations, telling him I can’t wait to work with him,” says Surtain II. “It’s going to be fun, being able to compete with him out there on the field. I’m looking forward to it.”
