So anyway, I’m listening to Jim Rome on the radio and he’s saying something about the Broncos players being ticked off at Jay Cutler.
My man Romey has a great feel for today’s sports world, but he’s wrong on this one. Yes, the Broncos’ players are disappointed that Cutler is gone. No, they don’t believe they have as good a chance to win now that he’s gone.
But mad at him? No.
If anything, they envy him. And if they knew they could without it getting back to the Broncos, they would high five him on the 16th Street Mall.
Why? Because NFL players seldom if ever have leverage against the front office. That’s why, while they never would admit it, the players were on Cutler’s side in his spat with Josh McDaniels. And they’re happy for him now that he pulled off the power play and landed with the Bears, his boyhood team.
So now McDaniels has a roster full of players who have to be wondering about his competence. Who, having seen how he treated Cutler, must be suspicious about how he’ll treat them.
In the end, that has to be McDaniels’ first order of business. He has to establish a relationship with his players in the aftermath of severing one with his quarterback.
Success in the NFL, where parity rules, isn’t all about assembling talent — far from it. It’s about motivating players.
In a perfect world, players would run through the proverbial wall for their coach. That’s the kind of attitude McDaniels has to instill in his players.
Football is the ultimate game of emotion, but, trust me, some NFL players are more interested in cashing checks than running through any imaginary walls for their coach.
Thus McDaniels’ No. 1 challenge: He needs to make playing for the Broncos a passion, not a job.
Follow Jim Armstrong’s sports updates on The Jimmy Page during the week. And read his columns on Tuesdays and Thursdays at .
He can be reached at 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.
