DENVER -- Blink, and you'll miss John Denney at an NFL game.

Doing his job properly, he's on the field for an occasional play and back to the sideline. It was that way Sunday as the Colorado native visited home for the first time as a professional football player.

A pretty good week for the Denneys: The patriarch, Craig, ran out the new alumni flag at the BYU win against Colorado State on Saturday. There, he watched his son, Brett, get another win.

About 20 family and friends were at Invesco Field to cheer on the Dolphins and their favorite long snapper in a 26-17 Miami win.

Against the Broncos, Denney was on the field for 11 plays -- all executed without any reason for his No. 92 to be singled out.

He set up five punts, four converted field goals and two PAT attempts. Another relatively anonymous day at the office.

"I'm in there beating myself up, my joints are killing me," the 29-year-old Denney said post-game. "I wake up the next day and everything's popping and cracking. It's not as tough physically as being on the field every play. But at the same time, it requires focus and consistency and there's no room for error. If you're a defensive lineman and you miss a gap, only you and your coaches and teammates are going to know. Make a bad snap, and you've got 75,000 people cheering or booing you depending on where you are."

His biggest play (albeit with zero credit) came at the end. Miami scored a touchdown for an eight-point lead with 3:08 left. The extra point put it out of reach, a two-score game.

Miami improved to 4-4, and Denney was going to have just enough time to say hello to some people before boarding the plane home.

"I didn't get to spend much time with anybody," he said. "My dad was pretty nervous about running out the new alumni flag. He was worried his pants were going to fall down, or he was going to run out of gas. But he took care of business. He wanted me to do it for him, but he's earned the right. It was good to see my brother, and it was fun to hang out with a couple of teammates."

It was an unusual weekend reunion. Along with fellow BYU graduate and Dophin, John Beck, the pair attended the Saturday game in Fort Collins, Colo.

They had to leave when the game got exciting, staying for about three quarters before having to return to Denver for a team meeting. Radio reception was sketchy. Texts and calls were sent furiously to try and keep up.

Finding out BYU had won, 45-42, they could tease Dolphins teammate Joey Porter. The CSU alum earned a 15-yard unsportsmanlike celebration penalty for chest-bumping a Ram after a late touchdown.

"He turned around and lowered his head," Denney said. "Joey said, 'I got a flag, didn't I?' "

Beck, now the third-string quarterback for Miami, is trying to keep his chin up while remaining on the inactive list.

He admitted there are times it's hard to not be in the center of the action. He is trying to learn from Chad Pennington, a veteran who has guided the Dolphins to their .500 record midway through the 2008 season after winning just one game last year.

"I'm a fan of this guy, Pennington, watching him work on the football field, watching him work on the practice field and in the film room," said Beck, who's in his second pro season. "That's the big thing in my life now. I'm not the guy on the field, but I'm watching the guy on field so I can learn as much as can from him."

Beck had to smile, seeing BYU winning games (8-1 this year) and doing it with a lot of the same plays.

"You should have heard John," Denney said. "He knew exactly what we were going to do a lot of the time. He knew the routes and the reads. It always brings back good memories, and it's great to see them doing so well."

Denney is, too, making nearly a half-million dollars this year. He's married with two young children (3 and 1) and they just bought a house in Florida.

Scoffing at celebrity, finding a football niche at the highest level, has worked out in his fourth NFL season.

"Long snapping isn't something you aspire to. When you grow up, you're at the park with the boys and it's always wanting to be the quarterback or the running back or catching the ball -- doing something to get in the end zone or make big plays," Denney said. "But the funny thing is, now all the guys look around and the kind of job I've got, even though it's not as involved physically ... they wish they would've thought about snapping back in the day."