So, Mike Shanahan was asked, is there one player you could single out as the most pleasant surprise of training camp?
“We’ve got a bunch of them,” Shanahan said. “We’ve got some free agents looking good, some draft choices looking good. … Pretty impressive so far. We’re growing.”
It isn’t just the players the Broncos have added that have Shanahan excited. They’re glad to be rid of one they lost. That would be Javon Walker, whose exit after last season amounted to addition by subtraction.
Walker had become a strain in the locker room, a player who was viewed as selfish by his teammates. He wanted out and the feeling was mutual. Sure enough, when the off-season rolled around, Walker was released and signed by the Raiders as a free agent.
So what happens? First, Walker arrives in Oakland out of shape. Then he gets assaulted in Las Vegas after spraying champagne around some nightclub. Then, just last week, he tells the Raiders front office he wants to retire, that he’s willing to give back $11 million in up-front money to walk away.
I never found Walker to be a bad guy during his days in Denver. He was always approachable and, unlike many NFL players, didn’t always tow the company line. But having said that, the dude has obvious issues.
He’s an only child who never has grasped the team aspect of pro football. It’s all about Javon, all the time. He has to be the man, the go-to guy, the one with the big stats and big money.
It didn’t happen in Denver and, from the sounds of things, it won’t happen in Oakland, either.
Follow Jim Armstrong’s daily sports commentaries on The Jimmy Page midday during the week. And read his columns on Sundays at .
He can be reached at 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.
