New Broncos Safety Jokes About 'Fighting' Former Teammate

New Denver Broncos safety Talanoa Hufanga was ready to throw down with his former San Francisco 49ers teammate, offensive tackle Trent Williams, when the interconference foes meet in next month's preseason opener.

Until he wasn't.

The 200-pound Hufanga thought better about "fighting" the 318-pound Williams -- and immediately apologized for suggesting so -- in an amusing moment during his Thursday press conference.

“Man, it’s going to be blessed," Hufanga said of the exhibition affair. "I’m very grateful for the opportunity they gave me. My first four years there were special. I had a lot of great moments and a lot of moments of injuries as you talked about. For me, it was a special place in my heart. I always joke around [and] I’m going to tell [49ers T] Trent [Williams] that I’m going to start a fight with him just for fun. [He’s] probably the last person you guys want to fight (Laughs). I’m going to tell you guys that right now, Trent Williams is not the one. All jokes aside, I’m very blessed and excited to be there.

"Trent, if you see this, I’m so sorry."

Williams and Hufanga spent five seasons together in San Francisco before the latter departed to the Mile High City, signing a three-year, $45 million contract at the start of free agency in March. The Broncos also lured ex-49ers inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw away from the Bay Area.

Hufanga -- a first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowler in 2022 with Super Bowl experience -- brings a winning pedigree to an already elite defense, which ranked at or near the top in most major statistical categories last season.

And a clean slate with which to work.

“I think the common theme is having your core group of guys, because your core group of guys leads the rookies and the new guys," Hufanga told reporters. "That was something that they [49ers] had there. When I came in, you had a guy like [49ers ILB] Fred Warner, a guy like [49ers DL] Nick Bosa and it leads. Then you come in here, a place that has a quarterback that’s on the rise and is taking that step to lead. That’s a core guy right there. You got [T] Garett Bolles offensively and [TE] Evan Engram that’s a core guy, and you’re bringing that defense along with [ILB] Alex Singleton and [CB] Pat Surtain II. Those are core guys, and I think that’s what leads to building the right way. It’s a fresh start every year. It doesn’t matter. We have to take this fresh start and we got to prove it to ourselves that we can do it.”