PDA

View Full Version : "Conceit Produces Wasted Selection"-good Clarett article from Denver Post


vailpass
08-29-2005, 02:26 PM
Article Last Updated: 08/28/2005 11:53:48 PM

mark kiszla
Conceit produces wasted selection
By Mark Kiszla
Denver Post Staff Columnist


The faithful still believe Broncos coach Mike Shanahan is a genius on Sundays. Good thing. Because, as an evaluator of talent, the mastermind's IQ has been docked another mandatory deduction.

Blame Maurice Clarett.

Clarett has an uncanny ability to make any football coach who trusts him look stupid.

The career of America's favorite wayward running back has taken another wrong turn.

Without gaining one yard for the Broncos, Clarett is long gone. Doomed to the waiver wire as a wasted third-round draft choice by Denver.

Shanahan knows football. And you don't. Just ask him.

There were those of us who thought it was a joke, some sort of crazy draft-day prank, when the Broncos selected Clarett for the shock value.

Wasn't this the same kid who somehow managed to turn a national championship at Ohio State into a source of school embarrassment? Clarett departed the university in a huff, but not before giving his alma mater a black Buckeye.

Ohio State kicked him to the curb. The NFL was in no hurry to let him in.

Clarett earned a reputation for being unreliable, fat and slow. Shanahan knew better.

Clarett quit at the NFL combine for draft prospects after posting 40-yard dash times that read as if he were pushing a Hummer uphill. Scouts wondered if any team would be crazy enough to draft him. Shanahan knew better.

Back in April, after taking a gamble on a running back who had not scored a touchdown in more than two years, Shanahan declared at a news conference that speed was overrated, then dared to mention Clarett in the same breath with Terrell Davis, who was nothing less than the greatest running back in franchise history.

Yeah, and if you squinted, Brian Griese resembled Joe Montana.

Sometimes, the vision of a mastermind can be blinded by the shine of all those diamonds in his Super Bowl rings.

But Broncos Nation never doubts its leader. Shanahan knows better. He always does.

When Clarett first set foot in Dove Valley headquarters, he uttered words to Denver reporters that mock him now. Vowing to reward the Broncos' trust, Clarett said, "I just don't want to make them look stupid."

This morning, chortling seems destined to follow Shanahan like a shadow, because NFL scouts have every right to laugh behind the coach's back.

The best thing about Clarett's Broncos career was its brevity. He apparently didn't like to practice. His smile was constantly broken. With a stiff arm, Clarett seemed to hold most teammates at a distance where nobody could root for him.

Clarett is a rebel without a clue, as proven by the fact he turned down a hefty signing bonus from the Broncos.

Don't let the door at the Dove Valley halfway house for troubled backs hit you on the way out, Maurice.

After all these years and all his success, Shanahan retains a powerful hankering to prove how much smarter he is than anybody else in the NFL. Burnout never seeps into his coaching veins, maybe because his heart constantly pumps adrenaline from an addiction to personnel gambles.

For the only man Broncos owner Pat Bowlen can imagine as this team's coach, Shanahan still operates with the intensity of a guy hired yesterday, desperately afraid of a negative job review by the boss. Which is not necessarily a bad thing.

But how else to explain why the Broncos would take big chances on the dicey reputations of defensive lineman Gerard Warren and punter Todd Sauerbrun in the same year as drafting Clarett?

Although sometimes guilty of an arrogance that believes he can transform sour apples the likes of Dale Carter and Daryl Gardener into 14-carat gems, Shanahan does not suffer from the same self-destructive stubbornness that plagues too many NFL coaches.

So give Shanahan credit for quickly admitting his mistake with Clarett.

Every once in a while, a story reads so sadly, there is only one merciful thing to do.

End it.

Staff writer Mark Kiszla can be reached at 303-820-5438 or mkiszla@denverpost.com.

Dr. Johnny Fever
08-29-2005, 02:30 PM
The faithful still believe Broncos coach Mike Shanahan is a genius on Sundays.
Good article... but they spelled one word wrong....

Mile High Mania
08-29-2005, 02:59 PM
Kiszla lives for this type of shit... good news is no news to him.

Color Red
08-29-2005, 09:55 PM
I'm still saying Shanahan gambled all off season and one of the gambles (Clarett) didn't pay off. The others look to be paying off handsomely, the Browns deal, the DB drafts (Williams), Ron Dayne. We'll see more by year's end.

jspchief
08-29-2005, 10:10 PM
Pretty much the same thing I said in the other thread.

The Rat made a bold move in an effort to show how much smarter he is than the rest of the football world. Now he looks the fool, and his team suffers for it.

stevieray
08-29-2005, 10:11 PM
Pretty much the same thing I said in the other thread.

The Rat made a bold move in an effort to show how much smarter he is than the rest of the football world. Now he looks the fool, and his team suffers for it.

"just ask him"

Mr. Kotter
08-29-2005, 10:16 PM
Kiszla lives for this type of shit... good news is no news to him.

Blame the messenger....? :)

Frazod
08-29-2005, 10:17 PM
Ah, that was nice. :)

Halfcan
08-29-2005, 10:19 PM
Broncos will miss the playoffs this year. There is just too much talent in the AFC this year.

TEX
08-29-2005, 11:05 PM
Pretty much the same thing I said in the other thread.

The Rat made a bold move in an effort to show how much smarter he is than the rest of the football world. Now he looks the fool, and his team suffers for it.

Me too. Actually, I bet most felt that way. It's still FKN FUNNY! ROFL Still admire the fact that Shannhan cut bait with the LOSER and is moving on.

Course the CHIEFS have had their dumb draft picks as well. A certain 2nd rounder in '04 comes to mind. I wish D.V. would do the same and just cut that LOSER and move on! :banghead:

teedubya
08-29-2005, 11:13 PM
I just want to know the logic behind NOT taking the signing bonus??!? wtf

Hammock Parties
08-29-2005, 11:18 PM
FORESHADOWING, I SAY!