Wasn’t it bad enough he got dumped as starting quarterback of the Broncos?
Now, Jake Plummer has been demoted to the Land of Misfit Toys.
We’ve made a list and checked with Santa twice, and nobody wants a Snake for Christmas this year.
Life’s not fair, and then you’re a 50-percent-off bobblehead at Bill’s Sports Collectibles in Denver.
“In the sports memorabilia game, it’s the home run hitter, the quarterback or the superstar who drives your business. When the quarterback is on the outs, it hurts,” said Bill Vizas, proprietor of the best store in town if you want to decorate your life with a photo or jersey of an athletic hero.
A gorgeous, framed action shot of Plummer that once fetched 150 bucks can be yours for $69.99, now that No. 16 has been shelved on Denver’s bench. Just goes to show an NFL quarterback can be transformed from hero to zero as quickly as Broncos coach Mike Shanahan shouts “Next!”
The point of this everything-Plummer-must-go, marked-down tale of woe is not to take another cheap shot at the favorite piñata of every frustrated Broncomaniac.
I wanted to find out if Denver really believes the team is in a better position to win right now with raw rookie Jay Cutler in place of Plummer at QB, as Shanahan has been telling us.
“I trust this organization, because winning the Super Bowl is what the Broncos are all about. And I don’t think you can ever doubt that with this place,” Denver safety John Lynch said Wednesday.
You can fool even some of the strongest, smartest safeties in the NFL some of time. But real folks aren’t buying what Shanahan is selling.
The notion of Cutler riding to the rescue for the stumbling Broncos does not have street cred, at least not on Broadway, the street on which Vizas does business.
“Nobody is going to bet the mortgage on Jay Cutler,” Vizas said. Sure, there are buyers for the rookie’s No. 6 jersey, but most Cutler trinkets figure to be as untouched this holiday season as that inedible fruitcake mailed every December by your Aunt Betty, bless her heart.
Asked how it felt to walk in the chill of John Elway’s long shadow after throwing two interceptions and losing a fumble in a predictably stumbling, bumbling debut with the Broncos, Cutler demonstrated admirable poise, insisting the criticism was all good.
“I deserve it,” Cutler said.
But a lot of fans seem a bit hesitant to invest much emotion in Cutler, much less bet hard-earned dollars on the long-term value of his autograph.
Maybe it’s because, as a quarterback at lowly and ignored Vanderbilt, he could not have been more banished from ESPN airwaves if his name were Keith Olbermann. Cutler lacked what Vizas calls the “woo” factor that accompanied the arrivals of SoCal’s sexy Matt Leinart and Vince Young of Texas to the professional ranks.
Or maybe it’s because so many Broncomaniacs are stuck washing the car holding a blue rag with “Griese” stitched on the back, and have vowed not to get fooled again.
Bummer deal: The firing of Plummer turned the day after Thanksgiving into a black Friday down at Bill’s joint.
“This town lives and dies with its football team,” Vizas said. “If the Broncos win, people get an adrenaline rush and they want to buy stuff. But, if the team loses, there’s definitely a hangover.”
With Plummer sacked and Cutler unproven, what’s a holiday shopper for a Denver sports nut supposed to do?
“We have a void at quarterback in Denver this year,” Vizas said. “Well, that’s not true. There hasn’t been a total void. It has just made Elway that much bigger in this town.”
Anybody wanna buy an official Elway watch, available for only $24.99 on eBay, to mark the time until the Broncos find a quarterback this city trusts enough to truly love?
Staff writer Mark Kiszla can be reached at 303-954-1053 or mkiszla@denverpost.com.
