Going Nowhere
First they lost their leader, then they lost their luster, but even in their darkest hour the Denver Broncos retained their levity. In a remarkable display of gallows humor, a dozen
members of the two-time defending Super Bowl championship team gathered on Sunday night at the Chop House, a downtown Denver eatery, and took turns goofing on their stunning, mile-high free fall. One fresh-faced player yelled, "We're done!" as he picked up a salad fork and stuck it against his chest. Four veterans eyed a row of massive metal vats containing microbrewed beer. "See that big tank on the right?" one Broncos starter asked. "That's exactly where I'm headed." After a short pause everyone broke into giddy laughter.
Sometimes, when your faith is gone, there's nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile. A few hours earlier, in the wake of a 21-13 loss to the New York Jets, the Broncos retreated to their locker room, said all the right things to the press, then poured out of Mile High Stadium and essentially gave up on their season. Instead of striving to make history, they are history—and they know it. Saddled with an 0-4 record, a quarterback controversy and a season-ending knee injury to its best player, running back Terrell Davis, Denver is mired in the most bewildering nosedive a Super Bowl champion has experienced. "We could very easily go 0-8, maybe finish 3-13," one veteran defender said after the game. "I hate to say it, but we're finished."
The Broncos have as much chance of becoming the first team to win three consecutive Super Bowls as Davis does of earning a second straight league MVP trophy. "We're all dumbfounded," said left guard Mark Schlereth, an 11-year veteran. "I've never experienced anything like it. We've got to do something to get out of this, but I have no idea what that something is."
Even Denver's all-seeing savant, coach Mike Shanahan, is out of answers. Riding high after his Super Bowl triumph over former boss Dan Reeves and the Atlanta Falcons last January, Shanahan, who doubles as the Broncos' front-office chieftain, has recently been torn down by media critics, fans and, most significant, some of his players. Suddenly, unceremoniously, the man Coloradans call Mastermind is being depicted as a master of disaster: Shanahan's prized free-agent signee, cornerback Dale Carter, has been beaten regularly; his new starter at right tackle, undrafted third-year veteran Matt Lepsis, has struggled; and, worst of all, his stylish offensive scheme is in a shambles without a certain future Hall of Fame quarterback. The Broncos are adjusting to life without John Elway, who retired in May after 16 seasons, about as smoothly as the Chicago Bulls handled the departure of Michael Jordan.
Though Shanahan was close to Elway during his two stints as a Denver assistant in the 1980s and early '90s, their relationship suffered in recent years. Shanahan held all the organization's nominal power after being hired as the Broncos' coach before the '95 season, but sources say Elway felt comfortable skirting Shanahan's rules. "If you were out with John," says one player, "curfew didn't apply." Elway occasionally adjourned quarterbacks meetings and reconvened them in a bar near Denver's training facility.
When Elway left, Shanahan became the unquestioned king of the Broncos. On Aug. 31 he made a move some players viewed as heavy-handed, benching popular veteran Bubby Brister without warning and handing the starting quarterback's job to second-year player Brian Griese. Had Denver gotten off to a good start, the decision would have been heralded as another sign of Shanahan's genius. Instead, Griese's struggles—and Shanahan's insistence on keeping him in the lineup—have served as a lightning rod for all the frustration surrounding the loss of a legend. Shanahan concedes that it's "human nature" for players to ascribe their struggles to Elway's absence, "but you just hope they have enough character to overcome it."
"Mike might argue with me on this, but I have to feel there's a psychological effect as a result of not having John here," says Broncos owner Pat Bowlen. "You hear about chemistry all the time, and a lot of people scoff at it, but I think we're struggling with it now. Can not having John Elway affect an entire team? Yes, because of all the intangibles and because he was this team's identity for so long. We can form a new identity, but that takes time. It's like breaking up with your girlfriend. Unless you find a prettier one right away, the devastation can linger for months."
Griese played well in Denver's season-opening loss to the Miami Dolphins, but in the past three games he has interspersed effective stretches with the type of mistakes common to young quarterbacks. On Sunday his first throw was a sweet sideline pass to wideout Rod Smith for a 71-yard gain, but he later served up three interceptions. For the second time in four games Shanahan pulled Griese in favor of Brister, who threw a pair of interceptions to Jets nickelback Marcus Coleman in the final 3:12.
Privately, many Broncos would like to see the outgoing Brister, who won all four of the games he started for an injured Elway last season, get another shot. Some Denver players are even pining for veteran Chris Miller, who hasn't played since he suffered a series of concussions in 1995. The quiet Griese hasn't yet been embraced by teammates but says he has no plans to "turn into a rah-rah guy, because I don't think that's what this team needs. It's tough, because we're losing. I don't know how much they're listening to me, to tell the truth."
Denver's leadership void extends to the absence of two other 1998 team captains—veteran free safety Steve Atwater, jettisoned to help make room under the salary cap for Carter (four years, $22.8 million), and special teams standout Keith Burns, who left after receiving a bigger contract offer from the Chicago Bears. Atwater, who signed with the Jets, came back to sting the Broncos, stopping running back Derek Loville on fourth-and-one from the Denver 36 with 4:49 to go. Meanwhile Carter, a physical corner who was a four-time Pro Bowl selection with the Kansas City Chiefs, had another horrendous afternoon of missed tackles, blown coverages and costly penalties. Carter's season has been marred by family trauma: His 34-year-old aunt died of cancer, and a niece was assaulted recently during a break-in at her home in Atlanta. After the game he cried in the locker room. "At least now we know he cares," one teammate said. Carter, however, may have been crying over one fan's unconscionable behavior. While walking off the field, he was hit near his left eye by a metal object.
Some players would like to see more fire from Lepsis, whom Shanahan promoted after veteran Harry Swayne signed with the Baltimore Ravens in the off-season. Early in the fourth quarter of Kansas City's 26-10 win over Denver on Sept. 19, 6'4", 328-pound Chiefs defensive tackle Chester McGlockton became enraged after being chop-blocked by Lepsis. According to witnesses, McGlockton approached the 6'4", 290-pound Lepsis in the Broncos' huddle and slapped him. One Denver player says he was stunned that neither Lepsis nor any of the other Broncos retaliated.
Lepsis and his fellow linemen have had trouble opening holes. Before he went down with ligament and cartilage damage to his right knee, Davis had gained 211 yards on 67 carries, compared to the 526 yards (5.5-yard average) and 489 yards (5.2 yards) he ran for in the first four games of 1997 and '98, respectively. And though Lepsis can't be blamed for his role in the collision that ended Davis's season, Shanahan's critics will seize on the play as a symbolic snapshot: With the Broncos leading 10-7 in the first quarter and facing third-and-nine on their own 23, Griese floated a 10-yard pass that New York safety Victor Green snagged on the run. As Green reached the 20, Davis angled in to make the tackle, but he was knocked off his feet by the diving Lepsis, and all three players ended up sprawled out-of-bounds. Davis stayed down; so did what remained of Denver's swagger.
The Broncos got no sympathy from the Jets, their victims in last season's AFC Championship Game. New York was well aware that one player's absence can cause a team to unravel, having lost its first three games in the wake of quarterback Vinny Testaverde's season-ending Achilles tendon tear in Week 1. Spurred by a defense that forced six takeaways and by a solid effort from fill-in quarterback Rick Mirer (17 completions in 28 attempts for 242 yards and two touchdowns), the Jets kept hope alive.
While New York's coach and de facto general manager Bill Parcells has barely been criticized for leaving the Jets without a proven backup quarterback, Shanahan, despite his 39-9 record over the previous three seasons, has absorbed a public pounding. Last week alone an editorial cartoon in the Rocky Mountain News and a column by The Denver Post's Jim Armstrong each suggested that Shanahan's ego had influenced his decision to stick with Griese. Last Friday, when Shanahan received an office visit from his wife, Peggy, he said jokingly, "She's the only friend I've got left." Later he said, "You would think I might've earned a little slack," and it was tough to argue.
Not everyone pins the Broncos' collapse on Shanahan. "Everybody has his theory," Davis says, "and even in this locker room you hear the damnedest things." Here are two credible theories: Opponents devoted large chunks of their off-seasons to figuring out ways to beat Denver, particularly the Dolphins, who were vexed by their 38-3 defeat in an AFC divisional playoff game last season. One of Miami's innovations during its Sept. 13 win over the Broncos—a set featuring two running backs, two tight ends and one wideout—was copied by each of Denver's subsequent foes. The other theory revolves around injuries, which Joe Montana used to say are the toughest obstacle in repeating as Super Bowl champions. After three years of good health the Broncos lost standout linebacker John Mobley to a season-ending knee injury in the game against Kansas City; now they must try to survive without the league's premier runner.
Even without Davis, Denver is talented enough to rebound toward respectability—but it faces some hellacious obstacles. The Broncos' next four games are against the Oakland Raiders, Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots and Minnesota Vikings. Already the Broncos' locker room is filled with finger-pointing and second-guessing. Spoiled Mile High fans are even more negative than the players. Griese was booed late in Sunday's game, and when Brister replaced him and ran for 17 yards on his first snap, several spectators behind the Denver bench yelled, "See that, Griese? You suck. Wake up, Shanahan." On the next play Brister threw an interception. "Bubby," a fan screamed, "you suck, too!" Another bellowed, "It's Miller time!"
When the heckling was recounted at the Chop House, it drew chuckles from all three quarterbacks. As Brister raised his glass and toasted Griese, another Bronco said, "Throwing Bubby in at the end wasn't fair to him, and it wasn't fair to Brian. Mike made his decision, and he should live with it. He can't have it both ways."
Brister took a sip of his cocktail and then stood up and poured the rest of his drink into Griese's glass. Behind him the silvery beer tanks gleamed. Bending his Louisiana drawl into an impression of Al Pacino in Scarface, Brister proclaimed, "I share it wit chu," and everyone busted up.
For a few seconds the Broncos in attendance seemed bubbly, almost unburdened. They may be headed into the tank, but they'll go as a team.