A mastermind is only as brilliant as his last call. Since when did the favorite play of Broncos coach Mike Shanahan become the Statue of Liberty?
The wretched refuse of football now call Denver home.
Shanahan lit the lamp and they all came running.
After drafting college dropout Maurice Clarett, sheltering punter Todd Sauerbrun from a steroids-investigation storm, opening his arms to doddering Jerry Rice and collecting homeless defensive linemen off the streets of Cleveland, there’s no telling what good deed Shanahan will attempt next.
But don’t be shocked if Shanahan picks up a chisel and engraves the words of Lady Liberty’s famous poem above the entrance to the Denver locker room: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
What the hallelujah is going on here?
I honestly don’t know if good brother Mike is operating a football team or a traveling salvation show.
If these lost souls can lead Denver back to the Super Bowl, Shanahan will be more than Hall of Fame material. He’ll be eligible for sainthood.
“I’m not saying these guys haven’t had issues, but with the type of guys we’ve got on this football team, they better step up and live to the right standards, or they won’t be here. That’s the bottom line,” Shana- han said when last I saw him.
“We had the same talk about Darrien Gordon, when we brought him in here. We had the same talk about Alfred Williams, when he was brought in here. We had same talk with Keith Traylor, when he came in here. We’ve had talks like this a number of times.
“Some guys have worked out, other guys haven’t. But I guarantee you this, if they don’t live by the standard that this organization works, they won’t be around here for long.”
Whenever Shanahan begins talking character, can anybody tell me why I get a powerful hankering for pancakes at IHOP?
It seems like only yesterday defensive tackle Daryl Gardener was curled up asleep in his Denver locker.
There is no doubt Shanahan is a man committed to winning big and doing the right thing.
But the football refugees being adopted by the Broncos could drive even a mastermind crazy.
Of all the head-scratching moves Shanahan has made in recent months, the most revealing is the courtship of Rice, who evaded tacklers for his first NFL touchdown in 1985, when George Michael and Wham! were making hits.
The ideal play to call for Rice might be the Statue of Liberty, being as they now run nearly identical times in the 40-yard dash. But dust off this museum piece, and here’s betting Rice can bust better moves than most of the receivers currently on Denver’s roster.
“I’m bringing him in here because I think there’s a legitimate chance for him to help our football team to win,” Shanahan said.
At the advanced age of 42, Rice proved himself to be a more dangerous target than ballyhooed Denver prospect Darius Watts was at 24 years old. From touchdowns to yards per catch, the old dude posted better numbers in almost every statistical category last season.
In the red zone, where Broncos touchdown drives go to die, I would rather see Rice reaching for his AARP card than Watts dropping the football.
Here’s the deal. As playing talent, Clarett, Rice and Sauerbrun are more trustworthy than the draft disappointments, free- agent busts and career underachievers Shanahan has been trying to hide in Denver uniforms of late.
During a three-season span in the late 1990s, when you could not mention Shanahan’s name around here without somebody throwing a parade, the sport’s No. 1 team called Denver home, claiming two championships and winning 46 of 56 games.
During that golden age of the Broncos, the local team was represented at the Pro Bowl an astounding 24 times.
During the past three years, when second-guessing Shana- han has become a cottage industry, only seven all-star selections from Denver have been deemed worthy of the Pro Bowl.
Using nothing except X’s and O’s, Shanahan scribbles more genius before breakfast than I could grasp in a lifetime.
But the worst football sin of Shanahan has been as obvious as an interception Jake Plummer forces into double coverage.
The mastermind did not run out of good ideas. He ran out of great players.
Which explains why Denver no longer can afford to be choosy, even if a prospect is older than a Chevy Nova, has been done wrong by the law or wasted the best years of his life in Cleveland.
Anybody have a phone number for Jim Brown?
Staff writer Mark Kiszla can be reached at 303-820-5438 or mkiszla@denverpost.com.
