The rock band America rode “through the desert on a horse with no name.” Colorado is riding through May minicamps on Broncos officials with no names.
Whoa.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter (formerly with The Post) told me Monday he received an unsolicited tweet from an “unnamed Broncos official” stating: “Kyle Orton has NEVER been available or discussed. Ever! Period.”
The unnamed team official — who obviously believes in capital letters, exclamation marks and redundant periods — was countering a report by Mike Klis (currently with The Post) on Sunday that Orton previously had been mentioned in trade discussions this offseason, but no longer.
In early May, a rumor circulated in Jacksonville that the Jaguars asked if the Broncos would trade Brady Quinn. Fox31’s Josina Anderson put on her Twitter account information from an unnamed Broncos official that the organization had “no interest in letting go of Quinn.”
I’m writing on my Facebook page that a Broncos official (unnamed, of course) told me Tim Tebow will NEVER EVER be traded exclamation mark! Period.
So, where does that leave Tom Brandstater?
With apologies to Grantland Rice, who penned history’s most famous sports lead:
“Outlined against a blue-white May sky — punctuated by Old Testament-type winds!!! — the Broncos’ Four Horsemen practiced again. In dramatic lore they are known as K.O., The Mighty Quinn, Touchdown Tommy and Tim Tremendous, but their real names are Orton, Quinn, Brandstater and Tebow. And not one will be traded or released.”
The Broncos official with a name — head coach Josh McDaniels — said at the close of business Monday: “There’s not been one quarterback on our roster that’s been discussed or would be discussed at this point in any trade talks or anything else, for that matter. We’re going to let them compete, and the best guy’s going to play.”
NFL teams generally keep three quarterbacks, although the Broncos used four in 1963, 1968 and 1983 and five in 1987 (a strike season).
The 1977 offseason was most confusing. The Broncos brought in veterans Craig Morton and Steve Spurrier (a Heisman Trophy winner) to compete with Norris Weese and Craig Penrose (drafted No. 4 in 1976).
Each started an exhibition game. After Spurrier played, he and I played backgammon on the team’s return flight to Denver. “Don’t you think I have a great chance to be the starter?” he asked.
“Steve, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you’re not making the team. Morton will start, Weese will be the backup and Penrose will be the quarterback they develop.”
The next day Spurrier was cut.
One member of the 2010 Broncoshop Quartet will not be on this team come Sept. 12 in Jacksonville.
Rest assured, Tebow, unlike the Broncos’ other Heisman winner from the University of Florida, will make the team. He may start, or he may not play at all this season, but he’ll be on the team. Quinn could have been starting for the Jaguars if the Broncos had made a deal. He could be starting instead for the Broncos.
Orton will be the Broncos’ starter in the season opener, or he will be gone. He will not be a reserve in Denver in his final contract year.
How about Brandstater?
“I’m just keeping my head down, concentrating on what I have to do as a quarterback, competing as hard as I can and continuing to learn as much as I can. I got confidence last year that I can play in the NFL,” Brandstater said Monday.
Last year T.B. was T.B. for a week. Tom Brandstater became Tom Brady.
After the 6-foot-5, 223-pound Brandstater was drafted in the sixth round out of Fresno State last year, he started the exhibition finale at Phoenix and led the Broncos to four scores and a 19-0 victory, and finished 16-of-30 for 187 yards. Then he disappeared to the scout team.
“The most fun I had was the week of the New England game. I had to try to imitate Tom Brady. I’m certainly not Brady, but our system is like the Patriots’, so I got a lot of reps in that really helped me,” he said.
Brandstater was as shocked as everyone else when the Broncos traded for Quinn, then drafted Tebow. “But on every level I’ve ever played from high school to here, I’ve had to prove myself. This competition is pushing all of us.”
McDaniels “snapped” at Brandstater a couple of times in Monday’s workout — Brandstater threw a “pick six” — but the coach is a serious supporter of the quarterback with the strongest arm of the foursome. “He knows the system a lot better than last year. …We can get him to ascend to a level where he can compete.”
Although a writer for a national publication claims McDaniels said Orton will be the starter next season, that is untrue.
“Right now Orton is the best (quarterback). Does that mean that’s a guarantee for the season? No, and he knows that,” McDaniels said.
But a Broncos official with no name, who should be riding in the desert, must not know that.
Woody Paige: 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com
