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NightTrainLayne
06-09-2008, 11:22 PM
http://www.amazon.com/Few-Seconds-Panic-43-Year-Old-Sportswriter/dp/1594201781

I vaguely remember reading something about this some time back, but it seems like it's fallen through the cracks.

This book is scheduled to be released July 3, and I'm really interested in seeing it.


Product Description
Drawing on rare access to an NFL team’s players, coaches and facilities, the author of The New York Times bestseller Word Freak trains to become a professional-caliber placekicker. As he sharpens his skills, he gains surprising insight into the daunting challenges—physical, psychological, and intellectual—that pro athletes must master

In Word Freak, Stefan Fatsis infiltrated the insular world of competitive Scrabble® players, ultimately achieving “expert” status (comparable to a grandmaster ranking in chess). Now he infiltrates a strikingly different subculture—pro football. After more than a year spent working out with a strength coach and polishing his craft with a gurulike kicking coach, Fatsis molded his fortyish body into one that could stand up—barely—to the rigors of NFL training. And over three months in 2006, he became a Denver Bronco. He trained with the team and lived with the players. He was given a locker and uniforms emblazoned with #9. He was expected to perform all the drills and regimens required of other kickers. He was unlike his teammates in some ways—most notably, his livelihood was not on the line as theirs was. But he became remarkably like them in many ways: He risked crippling injury just as they did, he endured the hazing that befalls all rookies, he gorged on 4,000 daily calories, he slogged through two-a-day practices in blistering heat. Not since George Plimpton’s stint as a Detroit Lion more than forty years ago has a writer tunneled so deeply into the NFL.

At first, the players tolerated Fatsis, or treated him like a mascot, but over time they began to think of him as one of them. And he began to think like one of them. Like the other Broncos—like all elite athletes—he learned to perfect a motion through thousands of repetitions, to play through pain, to silence the crowd’s roar, to banish self-doubt.

While Fatsis honed his mind and drove his body past exhaustion, he communed with every classic athletic type—the affable alpha male, the overpaid brat, the youthful phenom, the savvy veteran—and a welter of bracingly atypical players as well: a fullback who invokes Aristotle, a quarterback who embraces yoga, a tight end who takes creative writing classes in the off-season. Fatsis also witnessed the hidden machinery of a top-flight football franchise, from the God-is-in-the-details strategizing of legendary coach Mike Shanahan to the icy calculation with which the front office makes or breaks careers.

With wry candor and hard-won empathy, A Few Seconds of Panic unveils the mind of the modern pro athlete and the workings of a storied sports franchise as no book ever has before.

About the Author
Stefan Fatsis is The New York Times bestselling author of Word Freak. He is a sports reporter for The Wall Street Journal and a regular guest on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered.

According to the Denver Post Fatsis has some insight into D-Will's murder at the end of the season:

http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_9434750


D-Will's last night in book
By Mike Klis
The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 06/01/2008 01:31:57 AM MDT


As a kicker, Stefan Fatsis is a real nice writer.

For those who either forgot, or didn't know in the first place, Fatsis was a Wall Street Journal reporter who took a leave of absence to cure his Walter Mitty fix, which brought him to the Broncos' 2006 training camp as a pseudo place-kicker.

Put it this way, had Gary Barnett seen Fatsis kick first, the former University of Colorado coach would have delivered a much kinder assessment of Katie Hnida.

Fatsis' experience, however, did include unprecedented access to the Broncos' locker room; nearly two years later, I got an advance copy of his book, "A Few Seconds of Panic."

News came from the epilogue, in which Fatsis described in vivid detail the nightclub skirmish that preceded the murder of Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams on Jan. 1, 2007.

Fatsis was back in town for the Broncos' final regular-season game on Dec. 31, 2006, a playoff-eliminating loss against the lowly San Francisco 49ers. A few hours later, Williams was killed in a drive-by shooting. The Broncos players gathered in their locker room that New Year's Day to share their grief, and Fatsis, who by then had gained confidence from the otherwise wary player fraternity, was given access.

Fatsis described how Brandon Marshall was in the middle of the altercation.

"Brandon Marshall was at the club, Shelter, and has already told teammates what had happened," Fatsis wrote. "He said there was a disagreement between some Broncos players and friends — including some of D-Will's buddies from home in Fort Worth, Texas — and another group. One guy punched Brandon, who was intercepted by bouncers.

"The other group ran off. The half-dozen Broncos piled into limos — D-Will into a white stretch Hummer, Brandon into another limo. Brandon didn't learn what had happened until he got home. Later, I see him weeping as he retells the story to a group of linebackers clustered near D-Will's locker."

Through Fatsis, this was Marshall's first account of the nightclub incident, as the receiver has never publicly spoken about that night in detail.

"The Hummer in which D-Will was riding drove off," Fatsis continues. "A few blocks away, D-Will removed a chain and asked Javon (Walker) to hold it and not lose it; apparently someone had tried to snatch it from his neck. Javon put the chain in his pocket and told D-Will he could afford a new one if it was lost. They didn't notice a Chevrolet Tahoe pull up alongside them."

Swimming on Darrent.

School's out and every kid will be able to swim in a Denver public pool for free all summer long.

Thank Darrent Williams. To be sure, Williams' legacy extends well beyond his $775,000 memorial teen center and statue that was celebrated last week in Montbello.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper said that as a direct result of Williams' violent death, the city is "now spending a couple million dollars more than we used to in terms of what we call intervention programs."

This includes opening every Denver recreation center and swimming pool to kids 17 and under for free. Starting Monday, through August.

"To my knowledge, no other major city in the country does that," Hickenlooper said."You get three benefits: One, you get kids off the streets and into a safe place. Two, you get them in shape so they're healthier. And then three, you help kids get along better. They're playing with each other under adult supervision so they learn how to work out their problems. You've got a psychologically much healthier kid."

Foxworth for starter?

And finally in this all-D-Will column, there is his right cornerback position. Dre Bly came in and filled it last year and he's still going to get paid big money this year. But one of the passing- camp observations last week was that Domonique Foxworth, Williams' draft classmate and closest friend among current Broncos, was playing extremely well and is pushing Bly for the starting position.

My apologies if this has already been posted elsewhere recently.

NightTrainLayne
05-27-2009, 12:44 AM
Ok. I finally got this book a couple of months ago, but didn't get around to reading it until the past couple of weeks. It was a good read, with some surprising insights into the 2006 Broncos. I'll try to break it down and give a "Cliff's Notes" version.


First off, this book isn't intended as some "insider" account of the Denver Broncos. Instead it's intent is to give an account of NFL life vis-a-vis the Denver Broncos. So, in that respect any fan of any team should probably enjoy it, and Broncos fans may be left wanting a little more in-depth analysis of their favorite team.

Fatsis does a decent job of trying to keep the story moving throughout. He begins by explaining his ordeal in even latching on to a team. The NFL gave him permission in 2005, but the real difficulty was finding a team willing to take the chance. Turns out the Broncos weren't even on the radar when Fatsis began looking for a team. First the Jets, then in quick succession, the Redskins, Cowboys, Steelers, Patriots, Eagles, Packers, Colts, Rams, Bears, Seahawks turn him down. Finally the Ravens agree, but decide that it's too late to get him in on the 2005 Training camp and agree to have him back next year. But the Ravens go 6-10 and decide that they don't need the distraction. So, then, the 49ers, Cardinals, Browns, Bengals, Buccaneers and Chiefs all turn him down too. In case you lost count, that's 18 of the league's 32 teams that turned him down before the Broncos said yes.

He then chronicles his training. He worked with a kicking coach and tried to legitmately learn how to kick as an NFL kicker. In the end he does at least accomplish this goal well enough to fit in at the Broncos Training camp and befriends Jason Elam along with several other players.

Fatsis does a masterful job of explaining the pressure of playing in the NFL and the difficulties inherent in dealing with it on a play by play basis. He was given virtually unfettered access to the Coaching staff, front office and of course all the players. Shanny approved because he knew that nothing would get printed until long after the season was over.

In general, it would appear that the players in the NFL are all too aware of the "business" side of the game, and really don't have any illusions about it. In fact, for the most part Fatsis paints a pretty bleak picture. The players don't really have any loyalty for their team or coaches because for the most part they see all too quickly that the coaches and teams don't have much loyalty to them. As fans we always complain loudly when we see a team (God forbid our beloved Broncos) treating a player as a mere pawn in a meaningless game, but the players are 10 steps ahead of us. They are keenly aware of it, and the game for many is just a job. They don't have any more loyalty to their job than most average Americans have for theirs. If a better deal comes around, they're prepared to take it, but they understand it probably won't either. Some of the players absolutely hate this. In Fatsis' book, these players by and large are the ones who don't make the team, or do only by the skin of their teeth. Others have simply made peace with it, and go out and do their job the best way they know how. Not because they love their team or the fans but because it's just what they do.

It's a little disheartening to see some of our "heros" painted this way. These past few years I've seen and I've even partaken some in villifying Jake Plummer for his reaction to the drafting and promotion of Jay Cutler. This book shows quite plainly that virtually any other player in that situation is likely to react that way. No, they wouldn't all, but a depressingly large portion of them would. Not many of the players care for the uniform they wear so much as to bow out gracefully when their window of opportunity is closing.

Also, Fatsis leaves the impression that to some extent the NFL is not a meritocracy. Some underperformers make the team, while other talented prospects never really get a chance to show their stuff due to a personality conflict, or more often just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. An ill-timed injury, or an unlucky free-agent pickup that takes up that extra roster spot. I have a feeling that Fatsis would argue in this vein that Plummer got a raw deal in being replaced by Cutler. The rest of the team was a let-down as much if not more than Plummer was that season. Quite simply, Cutler wasn't going to accomplish any more than Plummer was, but it still spelled the end for Plummer either fairly or unfairly.

Regarding the Broncos specifically Fatsis dispelled quite a few myths about the organization under Shanny, and shed some light on what happened in that crazy season that saw Cutler supplant Plummer. I probably won't hit them all, but here are some of the high-lights.

1. Sundquist was just another Shanny "yes-man". Nope. At least not the way that many fans here saw it. Bowlen promoted Sundquist in 2002 in part to keep him from being stolen away from two other teams. As Sundquist puts it, "Pat made me GM. Mike didn't. I replaced Mike's guy." Why? "Shanahan had signed more than a few busts and bad apples" Fatsis relates. "More worrisome was that Shanahan's signings had placed the franchise on course for financial trouble."

Sundquist explains that Shanny's problem leading into the lean years was that if Shanny wanted someone the team went and got them and figured out a way to fit them under the cap. The Broncos are fined twice for their maneuvering, the first announced in Dec. 2001. Not coincidentally, Sundquist was named the GM a month later. "That's the way Mike knew how to do it. Trying to convince him otherwise that that was not necessarily the right way to go was not a real easy thing to do at first." In the three years after Sundquist is named GM the team goes from 22% of the cap consumed by "dead money" (read: bad contracts) to less than 10%, well below the league average. Interestingly the team record during those three years was 10-6, 10-6, 13-3.

Sundquist relays a Bill Parcells quote as applied to Shanny wanting control of picking his players. "They want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries." "Okay, fine. . .Here's your rope. Hang yourself."

Nowhere in this book do you get the impression that Sundquist is a "yes man". Quite the opposite. He seems as resigned as many of the players to the fact that he serves at the leisure of an all-powerful Coach who sometimes makes subjective decisions and he can't always do much about it. It certainly doesn't make Sundquist a great GM, but now I wonder how much of our personnel problems were due in part to the obvious friction between Shanny and Sundquist, not because Sundquist was Shanny's lap-dog.

2: Jake Plummer was not a good team-mate or leader. This impression is completely obliterated by Fatsis' reporting of Plummer. Plummer was one of the first to give a pep-talk to a down-trodden player. He was constantly playing the role of "on-the-field" coach, and helping his team-mates become better in any way he could.


During a practice, Jake gathers the offense on the 30-yard line. "Young guys, you've got to concentrate," he says. "We're doing some good shit. Coaches are going to mother**** this and mother**** that. But we're going to be a bad mother****ing offense. We were bad last year. We're going to be even better this year." He almost sounds like a coach. "We've got to seek perfection. Let's come out tomorrow and put it to the defense. We've got to pick it up."

3: The Broncos anemic offense was due to Jake playing poorly. Well, obviously Jake wasn't a world-beater, but there was more to it as I have seen Tned speak to here a few times. Regarding the first regular season game of 2006 (a three-interception loss to St. Louis on the road) as an example.


Don't blame Jake my teammates tell me, blame the coaches. "We didn't do one single ******* thing from our preseason offense," Preston Parson says. "We had the hardest, longest game plan you could imagine. They changed everything."

It wasn't all Jake.

4. Cutler to Plummer: We would have won if you'd have been playing. Regarding Cutler's first game against the Seahawks:


"You don't have to be a genious, Shanahan says outside the media room at the facility justifying his decision. "How many points did we have in the last eleven games?" But there were other, obvious problems besides Jake. Left tackle Matt Lepsis tore an ACL. Starting running back Tatum Bell sprained both big toes. Rod Smith's hip was ailing. . ...

I watch the game with Ted Sundquist and his staff, and it's clear to me they don't agree with the change. A few weeks earlier, Sundquist had told me he didn't feel Jake was the sole reason for the offense's poor play. On Cutler's first series, the Broncos run three plays and punt. "Same result," someone says. When Cutler fumbles a snap, Sundquist remarks, "He did that about three times in practice." Someone else replies, "I heard six." Then, as he is hit by a defensive lineman, Cutler wings the ball blindly into the air. It's intercepted and returned for a touchdown. Pens and binoculars fly in our booth high above the field. . . ..

With Denver trailing 20-13, NBC flashes a graphic: Jake Plummer has led thirty game-tying or -winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime, the most in the NFL during his careerl. A Cutler touchdown pass ties the game. But the defense collapses. Seattle drives downfield and kicks a game-winning 50-yard field goal with five seconds to play.

In the locker room afterward, Cutler tells Jake that the team would have won had he been playing.

Before reading that I would have argued vociferously that there is no way of knowing that Jake could have won that game and that putting Cutler in was the right decision. .. now I certainly have to rethink that position, and the whole notion of putting Cutler in that season, where heretofore I have been a strong proponent of that decision by Shanny.

5. The 49ers game to end the season.


After Champ Bailey returns an interception 70 yards for a touchdown, the Broncos lead, 13-3.

San Francisco opens the second half with a touchdown drive. Shanahan puts Cutler back in (after leaving with a concussion in the 2nd quarter). On his first possession, about to be sacked, Cutler throws the ball away weakly. "Oh my God! Oh my God!" Ted Sundquist shouts. A 49ers defender returns it for a touchdown. Mike Bluem grabs his hair and screams, "You've GOT to be kidding me!" And just like that the score is 17-13 San Francisco. I learn later that Cutler was woozy but told the team doctors and coaches he could play.

6. Todd Sauerbrun is a jerk. In a book where it appears that Fatsis took pains not to be too negative about any of the players, Sauerbrun comes off as a total ass. Giving Micah Knorr some grief in training camp about angling kicks at the sideline. "I just boom 'em down the middle." Those words come back to haunt him when a year later Devin Hester returns a couple that were "boomed down the middle" for touchdown's costing the Broncos a game. Sauerbrun couldn't be bothered to do anything but "boom 'em down the middle", and it's reflected in a league ranking of 26th in net punting average despite being near the top in gross punting average. Oh. .and did I mention he comes off as a total jerkoff in this book?

NightTrainLayne
05-27-2009, 12:45 AM
Continued:

There's a whole host of other really great information here, and some great stories about training camp, but I can't just put the whole book in here. I recommend it for any NFL fan, but especially for Broncos fans. Now in the shadow of the Shanahan firing and the Cutler trade, there's even more food for thought on why Shanahan wasn't successful in the past few years. If you're not hooked enough to go out and get it yourself, then any more rambling from me is certainly pointless. :D

Shazam!
05-27-2009, 01:01 AM
Great, great read that obviously was a lot to post and put together. Thank you NTL.

Northman
05-27-2009, 01:08 AM
*Yawn*

Dirk
05-27-2009, 05:53 AM
Thanks for putting that together for us NTL! :beer:

I may have to pick that one up.

Lonestar
05-27-2009, 08:31 AM
thanks for the info :salute: may have to at least get it from the library or used book store..

might add from the cliff notes sounds like the dog house was bigger than we thought and mike was indeed the supreme ruler on the field.. but then we knew that did;t we..

I was surprised that Ted actually had some control, but WTH happened just before he was fired..

Dirk
05-27-2009, 09:01 AM
but WTH happened just before he was fired..

Speculation obviously, but he probably was very outspoken on some of the coaching moves and player evals.

NightTrainLayne
05-27-2009, 09:12 AM
thanks for the info :salute: may have to at least get it from the library or used book store..

might add from the cliff notes sounds like the dog house was bigger than we thought and mike was indeed the supreme ruler on the field.. but then we knew that did;t we..

I was surprised that Ted actually had some control, but WTH happened just before he was fired..


Speculation obviously, but he probably was very outspoken on some of the coaching moves and player evals.

The book is 338 pages, so I had to really condense down some of the stuff to get it in one 12,000 character post.

The book talks about the firing and what led up to it. It intimates that Sundquist was not a supporter at all of putting Jay in that early. Also mentions that Shanny took away Sundquist's blogging authority on the main site before the '07 season, and also hired an "outside consultant" (in '06 I believe) who he did not mention to Sundquist, but whoever it is apparently had a lot of pull with Shanny (Fatsis does not name him). Then of course, almost out of the blue he drops the hammer.

Mentions that Sundquist had a long talk with Bowlen, and that he understood that in the NFL Bowlen had little recourse but to support his HC. .. But that Bowlen said that he (Bowlen) was the ultimate check on the HC, and the HC's power. .. and we all know now that Shanny was fired next. In hindsight, reading the book a lot of this stuff just leaps out.

Like I said it's 338 pages, and there's a ton of other great info., and some great quotes from some of the lesser known players. Guys who were just on the cusp of making the team, or rookies like Sheffler (at the time) about adjusting to NFL life. It's a pretty decent read.

Edit: Yes, JR, it appears from several of Fatsis' conversations with players that Shanny's dog-house was everything we as fans contemplated. .. if anything, worse. And SWMO, if that above didn't answer your speculation, yes the book makes it very apparent that Sundquist and Shanny were not on the same page regarding personnel and it led to his firing.

Dirk
05-27-2009, 09:34 AM
Thanks again NTL!

Poet
05-27-2009, 10:31 AM
That was a nice read.

Now I don't have to read the book :D:D

NightTrainLayne
05-27-2009, 10:33 AM
That was a nice read.

Now I don't have to read the book :D:D

Sincerely, you'll be missing a lot. There's only so much I can steal from the book without being charged with plagiarism. :D

I cherry-picked some easy to reproduce quotes here specifically about the Broncos, but the real story is how the NFL just beats down it's players to the point that they almost come to hate the game. It's just a brutal business.

Poet
05-27-2009, 10:35 AM
Sincerely, you'll be missing a lot. There's only so much I can steal from the book without being charged with plagiarism. :D

I cherry-picked some easy to reproduce quotes here specifically about the Broncos, but the real story is how the NFL just beats down it's players to the point that they almost come to hate the game. It's just a brutal business.

If the players hate the game then they should go do something with their college degrees.

I wonder how much that would make them LOVE the game. :D

NightTrainLayne
05-27-2009, 10:53 AM
If the players hate the game then they should go do something with their college degrees.

I wonder how much that would make them LOVE the game. :D

Some of them do. Fatsis became really good friends with Preston Parsons (practice squad QB in '06). Preston says he was never happier than when his NFL career was over and he started a career of selling medical equipment. .. the pressure just took all the fun out of it.

But of course, many of them don't really have a good alternative outside. Even with a degree it's tough to find a job that pays $500,000 a year. It's an interesting dichotomy that Fatsis plays on throughout the book. They hate it, but at the same time they don't really even consider leaving for the most part. Some like Plummer buck the trend and leave, but in his case he's villified as not caring for the team or game. .. .truth is, he loved the game and gave as much as most of the other players. He just didn't do as good of a job of acting the part.

I was always somewhat ambivalent on Plummer. I originally joined the Broncosfreak forum to try and find up to date information on when Cutler would replace him. I couldn't wait to get a "real" quarterback behind center for the Broncos. After reading this book and seeing a little more behind the scenes from that season, I am really re-evaluating that. Zambini at the Freak used to always go off that Shanny had deliberately set Plummer up for failure. The quote above in my previous post and others sprinkled throughout the book definitely lend credence to the notion that Plummer wasn't really given a fair shake. Not to the extent that Shanny intentionally set him up for failure, but that the game-planning was not optimum for any QB to run that offense. I would blame Heimerdinger's lack of ability compared to Kubiak more than an evil plot from Shanny, but in the end that led to the animosity and anger from Plummer. He simply wasn't put in a situation to succeed (maybe no QB would have been successful in that system with those players and injuries in '06), and lost his job. But Plummer had all the money he could ever want or need, and didn't need the NFL. Perhaps it's unfair for us to villify him for not needing the NFL anymore.

Lonestar
05-27-2009, 12:39 PM
The book is 338 pages, so I had to really condense down some of the stuff to get it in one 12,000 character post.

The book talks about the firing and what led up to it. It intimates that Sundquist was not a supporter at all of putting Jay in that early. Also mentions that Shanny took away Sundquist's blogging authority on the main site before the '07 season, and also hired an "outside consultant" (in '06 I believe) who he did not mention to Sundquist, but whoever it is apparently had a lot of pull with Shanny (Fatsis does not name him). Then of course, almost out of the blue he drops the hammer.

Mentions that Sundquist had a long talk with Bowlen, and that he understood that in the NFL Bowlen had little recourse but to support his HC. .. But that Bowlen said that he (Bowlen) was the ultimate check on the HC, and the HC's power. .. and we all know now that Shanny was fired next. In hindsight, reading the book a lot of this stuff just leaps out.

Like I said it's 338 pages, and there's a ton of other great info., and some great quotes from some of the lesser known players. Guys who were just on the cusp of making the team, or rookies like Sheffler (at the time) about adjusting to NFL life. It's a pretty decent read.

Edit: Yes, JR, it appears from several of Fatsis' conversations with players that Shanny's dog-house was everything we as fans contemplated. .. if anything, worse. And SWMO, if that above didn't answer your speculation, yes the book makes it very apparent that Sundquist and Shanny were not on the same page regarding personnel and it led to his firing.

IIRC they brought in Lombardi to look at the personnel side.. could that have been the guys he was talking about? the time frame was about right.. but they did not take any of his ideas to fruition..




One wonders if crowder is as bad as it seemed last year. or if mike just wanted him gone ..

NightTrainLayne
05-27-2009, 12:44 PM
IIRC they brought in Lombardi to look at the personnel side.. could that have been the guys he was talking about? the time frame was about right.. but they did not take any of his ideas to fruition..




One wonders if crowder is as bad as it seemed last year. or if mike just wanted him gone ..

It could be, but the reason I didn't speculate is that the book infers that it was kept from the rest of the front office. I think Lombardi was pretty well known to even us in the public realm, so that doesn't quite fit the notion of a "secret" consultant. But who knows, maybe Fatsis just didn't know him and didn't want to write about someone he hadn't interviewed.

Lonestar
05-27-2009, 12:49 PM
Sincerely, you'll be missing a lot. There's only so much I can steal from the book without being charged with plagiarism. :D

I cherry-picked some easy to reproduce quotes here specifically about the Broncos, but the real story is how the NFL just beats down it's players to the point that they almost come to hate the game. It's just a brutal business.


just like most businesses .. I worked for the corporation for a few decades and they use you up and toss good people aside when they are done.. I do not know how many decent managers I replaced that could have handled smaller locations but were overwhelmed where they were..

To many folks reached the peter principle.. and got promoted one to many times.

For example where they did a great job as a OC/DC, then are moved on to HC only to fail.. Usually in the NFL those guys are recycled the good one that is and they learned that they did not have IT to be a HC but are great at what they do..

Lonestar
05-27-2009, 12:55 PM
Some of them do. Fatsis became really good friends with Preston Parsons (practice squad QB in '06). Preston says he was never happier than when his NFL career was over and he started a career of selling medical equipment. .. the pressure just took all the fun out of it.

But of course, many of them don't really have a good alternative outside. Even with a degree it's tough to find a job that pays $500,000 a year. It's an interesting dichotomy that Fatsis plays on throughout the book. They hate it, but at the same time they don't really even consider leaving for the most part. Some like Plummer buck the trend and leave, but in his case he's villified as not caring for the team or game. .. .truth is, he loved the game and gave as much as most of the other players. He just didn't do as good of a job of acting the part.

I was always somewhat ambivalent on Plummer. I originally joined the Broncosfreak forum to try and find up to date information on when Cutler would replace him. I couldn't wait to get a "real" quarterback behind center for the Broncos. After reading this book and seeing a little more behind the scenes from that season, I am really re-evaluating that. Zambini at the Freak used to always go off that Shanny had deliberately set Plummer up for failure. The quote above in my previous post and others sprinkled throughout the book definitely lend credence to the notion that Plummer wasn't really given a fair shake. Not to the extent that Shanny intentionally set him up for failure, but that the game-planning was not optimum for any QB to run that offense. I would blame Heimerdinger's lack of ability compared to Kubiak more than an evil plot from Shanny, but in the end that led to the animosity and anger from Plummer. He simply wasn't put in a situation to succeed (maybe no QB would have been successful in that system with those players and injuries in '06), and lost his job. But Plummer had all the money he could ever want or need, and didn't need the NFL. Perhaps it's unfair for us to villify him for not needing the NFL anymore.

Think I would have liked Zambini,

I have said this many times they moved to a pocket passing O that did not have the horses up front to run it.. that OLINE while great in the ZBS and cut blocking was far to light in the britches to take on one on one pass rushers.. and with Lepsis being half assed his last year that did not help matters..

It was clear that mike wanted jay on the field and to design that O was IMHO setting Jake up for failure..

Lonestar
05-27-2009, 12:57 PM
It could be, but the reason I didn't speculate is that the book infers that it was kept from the rest of the front office. I think Lombardi was pretty well known to even us in the public realm, so that doesn't quite fit the notion of a "secret" consultant. But who knows, maybe Fatsis just didn't know him and didn't want to write about someone he hadn't interviewed.



I seemed to remember that Lombardi was brought in by Pat but could be wrong.. perhaps mike had his own "spy" doing the same thing.. maybe it was Lombardi..


But anyway thanks for teh cliff notes.. I'm afraid you have opened a HUGE can of worms with this thread.. But it is off season and not much else to talk about.. :salute:

NightTrainLayne
05-27-2009, 02:29 PM
I seemed to remember that Lombardi was brought in by Pat but could be wrong.. perhaps mike had his own "spy" doing the same thing.. maybe it was Lombardi..


But anyway thanks for teh cliff notes.. I'm afraid you have opened a HUGE can of worms with this thread.. But it is off season and not much else to talk about.. :salute:

Well the book opened a can of worms in my head and made me challenge a few notions that I had regarding some of the front-office, coaches and players. There's always more to the story than we see on the outside no matter how ruthlessly we track down each story that we find.

I've often wondered if you and Zambini were long-lost brothers. bUT THE TyPing IS THE BEST indicator thAT You don'T HAVE ANY reLATIONSHIP to hIM.

Lonestar
05-27-2009, 04:20 PM
Well the book opened a can of worms in my head and made me challenge a few notions that I had regarding some of the front-office, coaches and players. There's always more to the story than we see on the outside no matter how ruthlessly we track down each story that we find.

I've often wondered if you and Zambini were long-lost brothers. bUT THE TyPing IS THE BEST indicator thAT You don'T HAVE ANY reLATIONSHIP to hIM.



het if it was not for spell cehck I could be..

Themore I here the more likely I'l go out and but it..

horsepig
05-28-2009, 06:48 PM
Really excellent post NTL, thank you!

I've got to get ahold of that read. My wife had bitched at me for years to stop griping about Mike's "doghouse". I just read and heard too many stories, i.e., Braxton tearing into Shanny for never giving Tory James any chance to play. Tyrone claimed James was one of the 2 or 3 best players on the defensive roster, he rarely saw the field.

The insights on Sundquist are very interesting, indeed.

Again very well done NTL!