Announcing, with zero enthusiasm, that the tradition at Broncos home games will continue.
The pass thrown by the visiting quarterback was not caught. OK, Broncos fans. Here’s the set up.
The pass is . . .
You take it from there.
IN-COM-PLETE!
Goodness.
“It stays,” said Joe Ellis, who is in charge of all things Broncos that Mike Shanahan doesn’t handle. “The fans like it. The fans are used to it. We’re going to keep doing it.”
To those who loathe the chant as too golly-gee-whiz, here’s the problem: Kids love it. And if little Johnny and Suzy love it, then Mom and Dad love it, too.
There was hope the halting, three-syllable roar would retire with Alan Cass, who had been the public-address announcer at Broncos home games for 20 years.
Cass started the chant in 1996 when the Broncos were on the verge of their mini-dynasty at Mile High Stadium. He brought the chant with him five years later to Invesco Field at Mile High. And there it will stay.
Alan Roach, the most recognizable P.A. voice in all of sports, was assaulted with questions about “in-com-plete” after it was announced he would succeed Cass. Roach didn’t want to upset the wishes of Broncos fans. But he didn’t want to plagiarize Cass’ signature call, either.
It was decided by the Broncos’ marketing department prior to the preseason game against the Green Bay Packers that Roach should give it a go, although it almost went unnoticed with Aaron Rodgers completing 16-of-19 passes by halftime.
Broncos’ marketers are counting on Bob Slowik’s defense to do a better job against the despised Philip Rivers in the home opener Sept. 14 against the Chargers.
Warm up those baritone pipes, Roach.
Rivers’ pass is . . .
The Mile High Salute is dead. “In-com-plete!” carries on.
Anything for Johnny.
Will it be time to Bolt?
With his world-record speed, 6-foot-5 frame, and egocentric showmanship, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt has what it takes to become a star NFL receiver.
Not surprisingly, Bolt was still celebrating his gold medal in the 100 meters at the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing on Aug. 16 when reports swelled that he would be a candidate to join Bob Hayes, Willie Gault, Renaldo Nehemiah, John Carlos and Justin Gatlin as Olympic-caliber sprinters to give the NFL a go.
Just as predictably, the suggestion of a Jamaican playing in the NFL created an instant backlash. How can anyone believe an athlete can pick up the nuances involved in playing receiver at a world-class level, regardless of speed?
“I’m sure they said the same thing about Bullet Bob Hayes,” said Jim Goodman, Shanahan’s top deputy in the Broncos’ player personnel department. “But if you thought a guy with that much raw talent could help your team, you’d have to take a look at him. I wouldn’t be surprised if a team gave him a tryout.”
Should Bolt announce his interest in playing football — and if the game itself can’t bait him, he would at least by tempted by the lure of American superstardom — know that the NFL is far too competitive to completely dismiss him as a gimmick.
“I wanted to do that with Michael Jordan one time when I was out in San Francisco,” Shana- han said. “With his height and his wingspan, I wanted to get him out there for football practice. This was when he was out of basketball and he was out there. I thought, ‘Boy, he’d make a good-looking wide receiver.’ But he was too smart.”
Hayes and Gault were the only world-class sprinters to make a successful transition to NFL receiver, but they also played football in college. Nehemiah had 18 catches one season for the San Francisco 49ers, but otherwise sprinters without a football background haven’t made it in the NFL. And Bolt probably wouldn’t, either.
Then again, anyone who can pull up to showboat and still run the 100 in a world-record 9.69 seconds, should not be evaluated by the usual mortal standards.
“Any sign of contact, he might go the other direction,” Shanahan said. “But you’d always want to take a look at a guy like that if you thought he could make your team.”
