It’s Time for Braxton

Veteran safety Tyrone Braxton of the Denver Broncos, who lost his starting job a week ago to Darrius Johnson, said Sunday’s season finale against the San Diego Chargers will be the last game of his 13-year career.

“I can’t get fired up for a game,” said Braxton, who played for two Super Bowl champions after overcoming long odds just to make it in the NFL. “I wasn’t hungry. My heart’s not in it. It’s just not fun for me anymore.

“As an athlete, you know when you don’t have the fire, the desire, the hunger to keep going out there and battling all the time. You just know you don’t have it, and I knew it a couple or three weeks ago.”

A defensive back and punt-return specialist at North Dakota State, Braxton was the next-to-last player taken in the 1987 draft, 334th overall, but he became a starter in his third season.