The Case for Shannon Sharpe

On the eve of the Pro Football Hall of Fame announcement for the class of 2011, I am proudly making the case for Shannon Sharpe, who is the best tight end in NFL history.
I shouldn’t have to make a case for Sharpe to be in the Hall of Fame. He should’ve been a first ballet Hall of Famer. Fast forward 3 years later, Denver fans are anxiously awaiting the announcement knowing he could get screwed for a 3rd time.
Sharpe is an 8-time Pro Bowler, 4-time first team All-Pro, and is a 3-time Super Bowl Champion. He had 815 receptions, 62 TD catches, and accumulated 10,060 receiving yards during his career, and when he retired he was 1st in all 3 of those categories for all tight ends in NFL history. He had 19 games with at least 100 yards receiving. He retired as Denver’s all-time franchise leader in receptions, only to have his record broken by Rod Smith later on. Sharpe is one of five to have a 50-catch season 11-times (Cris Carter, Marvin Harrison, Andre Reed, and Jerry Rice). Ironically, Jerry Rice was enshrined in the 2010 Hall of Fame, beating out Sharpe in votes, which makes sense. Jerry Rice is the best wide receiver in NFL history. This year, he goes up against Cris Carter and Andre Reed, who are also Hall of Fame finalists. Not only did Sharpe retire being the best tight end in NFL history, he has something that Reed, Carter, and even fellow tight end Tony Gonzalez all do not have; championships.
I won’t dive too much into the fact Denver constantly gets short-changed in who represents them in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It’s amazing to me how Denver is 1 of only 8 teams with back-to-back Championships and only 1 player from that team is in the Hall of Fame (Floyd Little played in the 60’s and Gary Zimmerman retired after Denver won their 1st Championship following the ’97 season). There are a handful of great Denver players from those Championship teams as well as other deserving players from previous eras who deserve the nod from the Hall! For Sharpe, it’s not a question of if but when. Let’s hope when is tomorrow.

New Regime

The Broncos are headed in the right direction! Since I last posted about the Broncos, they lost 3 of their final 4 games, concluding the 2010 season at 4-12, hired John Elway as Vice President of Football Operations, and hired John Fox to be their 14th head coach in franchise history.
The Broncos finally changed their leadership model. The head coach no longer has final say in personnel decisions. It marks the first time the Broncos have held this model since Pat Bowlen took over the team in 1984. Now, President Joe Ellis, Vice President John Elway, and General Manager Brian Xanders make all the decisions. I can understand why it was difficult to find a quality head coach. The sad truth is 2 years ago Denver's head coaching vacancy was the most attractive. Now after McDaniels was fired, Denver is near the bottom of most coaches' list. Not many people were interested in cleaning up this mess. Let’s be honest. This is a major rebuilding project. The Broncos are most likely 2-3 years away from being in playoff contention, and that is assuming they draft well in future drafts. Two of the more well known former coaches currently working as commentators (Jon Gruden and Bill Cowher) would want personnel decision-making power in the new positions they will eventually take over. Additionally, some prospective head coaches may have been a little nervous taking over a coaching position with Elway as VP. As much as I love Elway (he is by far my favorite athlete of all time) he still has never held this position at this level ever before. He will basically learn on the job. I think he will do great but I can understand why his lack of NFL front office experience would turn prospective coaches away. This limited Denver’s list of candidates to Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell, Jaguars offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, Texans offensive coordinator Rick Dennison, and former Panthers head coach, John Fox.
John Fox is by far the most qualified candidate who is up to the challenge of bringing the Denver Broncos back from being chumps to champs. In his 8-year stint with the Carolina Panthers, he compiled a 78-74 record (5-3 in the postseason), 3 postseason appearances in 8 seasons, and led them to Super Bowl XXXVIII. In fact, he took over a 1-15 Panther team only to lead them to the Super Bowl 2 years later. He is a defensive mind who will instantly improve Denver’s 32nd ranked defense.
I am excited for this year’s draft. Maybe Denver will draft for defensive front 7 help for once instead of trying to build through free agency. Come draft time, all eyes will be on Brian Xanders. He was the lone holdover from the McDaniels regime, which is unsettling to a lot of Bronco fans. Under his watch the last 2 years the Broncos have failed miserably in the draft. Xanders conveniently claims now that McDaniels made a lot of the personnel decisions when he was coach. So what did Xanders do during that time? What was he getting paid for? Brian Xanders has a lot to prove as a GM! It was Elway’s decision to retain him. Let’s hope Xanders blossoms out of McDaniels’ shadow. If he doesn’t, that will set the Broncos’ progress back even further. The Broncos cannot afford to have any more draft blunders. In order to recover from the stripping of talent caused by Josh McDaniels, the Broncos must draft perfectly for the foreseeable future.

Cargo

Congratulations to Carlos Gonzalez and the Colorado Rockies for agreeing to a 7- year $80 million contract extension! This off season the Monforts have proven they are now about winning more than making money, which is refreshing! We need the Rockies because the Broncos are in re-building mode with a new regime, the Nuggets are on the verge also being in rebuilding mode with the pending Melo trade, and the Avalanche have shown to be young and inexperienced (although they show flashes of brilliance!).
Cargo had a 2010 for the ages! He was the National League batting Champion, he was a National League Gold Glove Winner, National League Silver Slugger Award winner, he was a Two-time National League Player of the Week, and he managed to hit for the cycle vs the Cubs (who else would it be against?!) back on July 31st! Now that the Rockies have Cargo and Tulo for the next several years we should continue to be contenders in the National League. Hopefully the Monforts will continue to be generous with their money and sign Ubaldo Jimenez to an extension before his contract ends in 2014. Sorry Yankees and Red Sox. You weren’t able to steal Tulo and Cargo from the Rockies. Looking forward to seeing both teams in the World Series in the next 7 years.

Gone!

Monday was the best day of the year. What a huge burden off Denver's shoulders. McDaniels was fired and I was close to inciting riots in the streets of suburban Denver as if we had won a Super Bowl. McDaniels was the one who got tear-gassed. McDaniels was a thorn in our side. Glad he's gone. Although the damage is done he can do no more harm from now on. No more draft-day blunders. No more free agent signings of New England Patriot rejects. No more shipping our talent elsewhere (we have no more). No more dink and dunk predictable bubble screens. No more hoodie on the sideline!
If the Broncos can get out of paying McDaniels the remainder of his contract due to spy-gate II look for them to sign a big name GM and coach. If they end up having to pay McDaniels they will probably end up having to hire a smaller name coach.
My choice is to bring in John Elway as VP of football operations, Ted Sunquist as GM, and Gary Kubiak as head coach. Gary Kubiak was Denver's offensive coordinator from '95-'05. His last year with the Broncos was the last year we were in the playoffs. We haven't been back since. Kubiak would make Denver's run-game relevant again. Kubiak would bring back the zone-blocking scheme. Kubiak would bring back the play-action bootleg. I love Kubiak because he is a true Denver Bronco, being Elway's backup and then his coordinator later on. Kubiak has proven he can coach up a left-handed quarterback and be successful, as he was Steve Young's QB coach on the 49ers, winning the Super Bowl in '94. I'm sure he can do the same with Tim Tebow.
If Bowlen and Ellis choose not to go my suggested route of leadership hopefully they don't pick the new head coach. Their newly picked GM should make the decision.

Troy Tulowitzki

Congratulations to the Colorado Rockies for signing Troy Tulowitzki through 2020! Just when Denver fans were hitting rock bottom with the Broncos having a nightmare of a season, Carmelo Anthony's impending departure from the Nuggets, all of the injuries happening on the Avalanche, the Monfort brothers pull out their pocket book and sign the Rockies' best player. Tulowitzki is the best shortstop in baseball and the Rockies will be contenders as long as he is playing for them. It's nice to see the Monforts finally look past the failures of Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle and shell out some cash for once! Not only did they take care of Troy Tulowitzki, they also gave Jorge de la Rosa a two year extension. de la Rosa actually could've gotten more money from other teams like the Pirates but utlimately decided to stay here- because he likes living in Denver and he knows the Rockies are World Series contenders. It is refreshing to see a super star athlete want to stay here and it is also refreshing to see that athlete be a pitcher!
I am still not completely sold yet on the Rockies' financial committment to winning a World Series. Financially, it makes sense why the Tulowitzki deal was done. It's simple. Troy Tulowitzki puts fans in the seats. He's a fan favorite. Ownership also wanted to show the Rockies faithful we aren't major league baseball's farm team. In order to keep fans coming back ownership made sure he will be a Colorado Rockie for his whole career. If I could say one thing to the Monforts it would be this: don't stop at Tulowitzki. Carlos Gonzalez signed a 1-year, $406,000 contract with the Colorado Rockies on Mar 5,2010. The way he played last season, he's definitely worth more than $406,000. Ubaldo Jimenez is under contract through 2014 for $10 million over the first four years, and could reach $22.75 million. Ubaldo's contract isn't as urgent but it shouldn't go unnoticed. Signing Tulowitzki was a great start. Keep going. Until then, I'm off to buy a Tulowitzki jersey!

Cheater

Josh McDaniels is a cheater. As everyone already knows, the Broncos were caught video taping the 49ers walk through in London a few weeks ago. Fined $100,000. Ironically, the last time that happened, New England was the culprit and McDaniels was involved. McDaniels' best friend "Sneaky Steve Scarneccia" (as D-Mac calls him) was the video director for the New England Patriots when they were caught spying on the Rams on their walkthrough in the Super Bowl back in 2001. When McDaniels was hired by Denver he brought "Sneaky Steve" with him and no one said anything. And what a surprise! We were caught cheating! Of course McDaniels denies he had anything to do with it. He also denied jumping the gun to trade Cutler. Give me a break. When I first heard about the cheating I was worried the NFL would strip Denver of a draft pick as punishment and then I realized McDaniels doesn't know how to draft anyway.
This is the perfect time to fire McDaniels. Not only has he made the Broncos losers and cheaters, he's turned them into the laughing stock of the NFL. Any games the Broncos win under McDaniels in the future (if there are any) will be second-guessed by everyone. McDaniels has tarnished the Broncos' reputation. Since the Broncos started 6-0 last season, the Broncos have gone 5-16. Let's not forget about a 59-14 home loss to the Raiders and losses to inexperienced quarterbacks like Troy Smith and Sam Bradford who've looked like Pro Bowlers playing against our defense. That's what happens when you waste your draft picks on the "sexy players" such as Knowshon Moreno, Tim Tebow, and Demaryius Thomas instead of defensive front 7 and better offensive linemen than Zane Beadles and JD Walton. The Broncos can't control the line of scrimmage to save their lives and it's because of the stupid decisions Josh McDaniels has made. Since McDaniels has taken over in the draft we have seen Clay Matthews, James Laurinitis, Brian Orakpo, Rey Maulaluga, Ron Brace, Terrence Cody, BJ Raji, and Mike Iupati all go elsewhere- Ballin' with other teams and they were within Denver's grasp in the draft. Not only has McDaniels failed miserably in the draft, he's managed to give away any and all of our remaining good players!
The Broncos may be able to fire McDaniels and not be on the hook to pay him because of spy-gate II.
The Broncos need to win at least 3 more games this season bringing our win total to 6-10. Since the NFL expanded to the 16 game season back in '77 only 2 teams haven't gone worse than 6-10. Denver and Pittsburgh.
On a positive note, as of last night, Broncos owner Pat Bowlen finally broke his silence amid this disaster and gave Josh McDaniels the dreaded vote of confidence! He's well on his way out now!

KC no Masterpiece

Sunday's game vs Kansas City was my 7th straight Broncos/Chiefs game attended since 2007 and was up there with one of the best. The Chiefs came in here atop the AFC West as 1-point favorites and the Broncos came out and made a statement. I wasn't too upset seeing coach Todd Haley snub McDaniels a postgame handshake afterward. I read articles that Haley was upset because he felt McDaniels ran up the score, showing poor sportsmanship. I remember looking at my brother in the 2nd quarter when the Broncos were up 35-0, and saying "we're a 2-6 football team. This is not over!" I was glad McDaniels kept the peddle to the metal. His job was on the line. Why would he have risked blowing a 35-point lead by benching his starters for the 2nd half only to show good sportsmanship? Forget sportsmanship, win the game and win convincingly. Make a statement. That's what they did. If anything, keeping the starters in the game showed respect to the Chiefs because we knew the game was not over. The Chiefs are a good football team. When the Raiders came into Denver and beat the Broncos 59-14 McDaniels still shook Cable's hand after the game. McDaniels took the loss like a man (he's lost his fair share as the Broncos' coach so he knows how to act after a loss, I guess).
Sarcasm aside, the Chiefs came in here with the NFL's best rushing attack and the Broncos managed to hold them to 51 rushing yards. On top of that, Moreno had his 1st 100-yard game of his career, with 106 yards rushing. 49-29 was a great score. What was most impressive was the Broncos' offensive line. What was once the Broncos' weakest unit at the beginning of the season is now one of their brightest spots now they are healthy. Having Zane Beadles at left guard and Ryan Clady at left tackle is just not fair to opposing defenses. Throw in Chris Kuper at right guard and Ryan Harris at right tackle also. JD Walton at center is coming along as well. Lets hope he can continue to snap the ball (see the game vs the Jets). If the offensive line can stay healthy, watch out. November and December may be months to remember for the Denver Broncos- for the first time in recent history. For now, faith in the Broncos is restored.