Denver Native (Carol)
07-26-2009, 07:53 AM
http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_12916949
We don't know if coach Josh McDaniels can be trusted, if Kyle Orton can hold the job as quarterback or if Robert Ayers can generate a pass rush.
But of all the unknowns as the Broncos go to camp facing more uncertainty than at any time in the last 25 years, here's the real big question:
Will NFL fans in Denver ever join the 21st century?
The attitude of way too many Broncomaniacs stinks.
It's not 1998 anymore, people. Quit living in the past.
If the Broncos were smart, they would offer new jerseys at the team store for 50 percent off the retail price to every fan who showed up at camp and traded in a uniform with No. 6, No. 53 or No. 87.
Jay Cutler, Bill Romanowski and Ed McCaffrey ain't coming back. Get over it, already.
And please stop the sniveling because Mike Shanahan has left the building. Quit the bellyaching about how the Broncos fired a master of X's and O's for some snot-nosed, hoodie-wearing kid.
The truth is Shanahan had not been a very good coach since 2005, as his 24-24 record and zero playoff appearances during his last three seasons with the Broncos would attest.
We will eternally thank Shanahan for the Super Bowl memories and can envision him giving an acceptance speech in Canton, Ohio, in the future. But the greatest coach in Broncos history had gone stale with his red-zone schemes, brought in too many players of iffy character and blamed defensive coordinators for too long before franchise owner Pat Bowlen finally said: Enough!
There's no guarantee McDaniels will ever win a playoff game in Denver, but right here, right now, in 2009, there's no doubt the new coach has Shanahan beat in one critical respect.
McDaniels is attacking problems the Broncos had failed to address with fresh ideas.
It was at the height of Shanahan's arrogance when he began to believe Denver could put anybody from an undrafted rookie to a cellphone salesman at running back and succeed. Maybe that's one big reason why the Broncos gained fewer yards on the ground than their opposition in consecutive seasons for the first time in 20 years.
Cutler did provide Denver with a Pro Bowl arm. But if you ever witnessed the way Jay-C pouted his way through adversity and compared it with how Peyton Manning, Tom Brady or Ben Roesthlisberger conduct themselves while leading a championship team, it might be time to admit there's more to playing quarterback than rearing back and heaving the football.
Doesn't it make sense to take the league's worst defense this side of Detroit and introduce it to a 3-4 hybrid scheme in which athletes such as D.J. Williams, Elvis Dumervil and the rookie Ayers will actually be put in position to make an impact?
The Broncos were a broken team. There will be no quick fixes.
So perhaps it is disgruntled receiver Brandon Marshall, of all people, who best reflects the current attitude of Broncomaniacs who have lost the faith.
Marshall doesn't know whether he has the heart to commit to a team that lost its way in the final frustrating seasons of the Shanahan regime. B-Marsh thinks this franchise caused him undue pain and made him suffer needlessly.
And when you get right down to it, don't many fans feel the exact same way?
Of course, the easiest thing to do would be to turn tail and run.
So anybody who wants to blame McDaniels for the past failures of everybody from Travis Henry to Javon Walker and a whole bunch of guys who failed to understand, much less honor, a proud franchise tradition now must ask the same question Marshall needs to pose when he looks in the mirror this morning.
Do you want to be part of the Broncos' past?
Or are you ready to attack the future with an NFL team that was eight or nine years late in joining the 21st century?
Take your pick.
We don't know if coach Josh McDaniels can be trusted, if Kyle Orton can hold the job as quarterback or if Robert Ayers can generate a pass rush.
But of all the unknowns as the Broncos go to camp facing more uncertainty than at any time in the last 25 years, here's the real big question:
Will NFL fans in Denver ever join the 21st century?
The attitude of way too many Broncomaniacs stinks.
It's not 1998 anymore, people. Quit living in the past.
If the Broncos were smart, they would offer new jerseys at the team store for 50 percent off the retail price to every fan who showed up at camp and traded in a uniform with No. 6, No. 53 or No. 87.
Jay Cutler, Bill Romanowski and Ed McCaffrey ain't coming back. Get over it, already.
And please stop the sniveling because Mike Shanahan has left the building. Quit the bellyaching about how the Broncos fired a master of X's and O's for some snot-nosed, hoodie-wearing kid.
The truth is Shanahan had not been a very good coach since 2005, as his 24-24 record and zero playoff appearances during his last three seasons with the Broncos would attest.
We will eternally thank Shanahan for the Super Bowl memories and can envision him giving an acceptance speech in Canton, Ohio, in the future. But the greatest coach in Broncos history had gone stale with his red-zone schemes, brought in too many players of iffy character and blamed defensive coordinators for too long before franchise owner Pat Bowlen finally said: Enough!
There's no guarantee McDaniels will ever win a playoff game in Denver, but right here, right now, in 2009, there's no doubt the new coach has Shanahan beat in one critical respect.
McDaniels is attacking problems the Broncos had failed to address with fresh ideas.
It was at the height of Shanahan's arrogance when he began to believe Denver could put anybody from an undrafted rookie to a cellphone salesman at running back and succeed. Maybe that's one big reason why the Broncos gained fewer yards on the ground than their opposition in consecutive seasons for the first time in 20 years.
Cutler did provide Denver with a Pro Bowl arm. But if you ever witnessed the way Jay-C pouted his way through adversity and compared it with how Peyton Manning, Tom Brady or Ben Roesthlisberger conduct themselves while leading a championship team, it might be time to admit there's more to playing quarterback than rearing back and heaving the football.
Doesn't it make sense to take the league's worst defense this side of Detroit and introduce it to a 3-4 hybrid scheme in which athletes such as D.J. Williams, Elvis Dumervil and the rookie Ayers will actually be put in position to make an impact?
The Broncos were a broken team. There will be no quick fixes.
So perhaps it is disgruntled receiver Brandon Marshall, of all people, who best reflects the current attitude of Broncomaniacs who have lost the faith.
Marshall doesn't know whether he has the heart to commit to a team that lost its way in the final frustrating seasons of the Shanahan regime. B-Marsh thinks this franchise caused him undue pain and made him suffer needlessly.
And when you get right down to it, don't many fans feel the exact same way?
Of course, the easiest thing to do would be to turn tail and run.
So anybody who wants to blame McDaniels for the past failures of everybody from Travis Henry to Javon Walker and a whole bunch of guys who failed to understand, much less honor, a proud franchise tradition now must ask the same question Marshall needs to pose when he looks in the mirror this morning.
Do you want to be part of the Broncos' past?
Or are you ready to attack the future with an NFL team that was eight or nine years late in joining the 21st century?
Take your pick.