PatsWin2002
06-01-2005, 08:08 PM
Here's a new national article on Shanny:
Shanahan’s now a second-chance kind of guy
Broncos coach raising eyebrows with slew of odd offseason moves
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/apmegasports/cojd10405262125.hmedium.jpg
Broncos coach Mike Shanahan has made some of the most notable offseason moves this year, signing Jerry Rice, drafting Maurice Clarett and trading for Todd Sauerburn.
ASK THE NFL EXPERT
By Don Pierson
NBCSports.com contributor
Updated: 9:12 p.m. ET June 1, 2005
You can take Mike Shanahan out of Oakland, but you can’t take the Raider mentality out of Mike Shanahan. The Denver Broncos coach has been gone from the Raiders for 15 years and has coached almost 150 more games in Denver than he did in Oakland. Yet the urge to attract wayward players curiously resurfaced this offseason.
It’s a Raider tradition to serve as the NFL’s rescue mission. The Raiders never met a player they couldn’t rehabilitate, refocus, revive and return to useful service.
The Broncos spent their offseason collecting a huddle full of underachievers, injury cases, troublemakers and one very over-the-hill receiver who used to be Jerry Rice. Even the Raiders gave up on the 42-year-old Rice two seasons ago.
Maurice Clarett and Todd Sauerbrun somehow both ended up in Denver after serving as posterchild thorns in the NFL's sensitive side.
Clarett was drafted in round three after sitting out two college seasons and trying to challenge the league’s sacrosanct rules for pro eligibility. Sauerbrun managed to embarrass the league on two fronts-an ongoing steroid investigation in Carolina and a guilty plea to drunken driving.
If the Raiders can turn Sebastian Janikowski into a reasonably productive kicker, the Broncos figure they can salvage the boom-and-bust punting career of Sauerbrun.
The Broncos also signed four defensive linemen from the Cleveland Browns-former No. 1 picks Courtney Brown and Gerard Warren and discarded Dallas Cowboys Ebenezer Ekuban and Michael Myers. The latter two arrived via trade for running back Reuben Droughns, whom the Broncos really did resuscitate after a failed start in Detroit.
When new Cleveland Browns’ general manager Phil Savage was questioned about letting go of an entire defensive unit, he responded: “Those four linemen were on a defense that was ranked 32d (against the run). Somebody tell me what the big to-do is. If we added four linemen from a team that was ranked 32d in run defense, I think you guys would have asked me about that right off the bat.”
So the questions were directed instead toward Shanahan, who had hired former Browns’ defensive line coach Andre Patterson off of Butch Davis’ fired staff.
Brown was the first overall pick in the 2000 draft and Warren was third in 2001 but neither lived up to promise.
On Brown, Shanahan said, “He’s stepping in and playing. The question is can he stay healthy? And I think that’s where he is. He wants to step up, too. Here’s the guy who was the first pick of the draft, he wants to get to another level too. He’s tired of being hurt.”
And on Warren: “He’s got a lot of athletic ability and the guy who coached him really thinks he's got a lot of upside. We thought he was worth a chance. Once you’ve got a coach who feels good about somebody who has lot of athletic ability, you don’t mind taking a chance.”
And famous last words, sounding like an echo from previous Cleveland coaches frustrated by Warren's lazy work ethic: “A big part of him coming in would be the offseason program, getting himself in great shape, giving himself a chance to be successful.”
Before adding Clarett to their corps of running backs, Shanahan signed another ex-No. 1 draft choice, Ron Dayne, who spent five long, unhappy seasons proving he couldn't play for the New York Giants.
Because the list of successful Denver running backs is as long as it is obscure, Shanahan figures it must be the system. An impressive roll of 1,000-yard rushers — Terrell Davis, Olandis Gary, Mike Anderson, Clinton Portis and Droughns-can attest to that. Not one of them was a first-round draft pick.
Offensive tackle Anthony Clement couldn’t make it on Denny Green’s rebuilding Arizona Cardinals, but Shanahan found room for him. The Cardinals, after all, couldn’t live with quarterback Jake Plummer, now a Bronco of course.
In Denver’s thin air, Sauerbrun might just become the first to punt a football into orbit. To be sure, he’ll try. But Sauerbrun has been punting on thin ice for years, ever since the Chicago Bears made him a second-round draft choice and couldn’t live with his off-field antics.
An investigation into a South Carolina doctor that led to a medical license suspension centered around several Panthers including Sauerbrun who were allegedly accepting prescriptions for illegal steroids. Sauerbrun at first told CBS television that he liked the doctor a lot, then called back to say he didn't know the guy at all. The Broncos expect his punting to be more consistent than his memory.
As for Rice, the Broncos answered an e-mail message from agent Jim Steiner, who put out the word that the GOAT — “Greatest of All Time” — was looking for work.
To be a 42-year old and be able to do what I am doing is amazing,” Rice said on the NFL Network. “There's going to be some negativity. That’s OK. It’s about the love of the game.”
Shanahan made no promises.
“I told Jerry that I don't know if he’s lost a step or two steps, but you’re going to come here for one reason and that's to compete with the other guys,” Shanahan said. “And if you’re one of our top five guys at the end of camp, then you’re going to be on our football team. If you’re not, I said I’d have one of the toughest jobs in the world.”
If Rice can’t make it there, chances are he can’t make it anywhere. Denver has suddenly become the last stop on the NFL train for a lot of players. For Clarett, it’s only the beginning of a journey. At least that's what the Broncos hope.
Shanahan’s now a second-chance kind of guy
Broncos coach raising eyebrows with slew of odd offseason moves
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/apmegasports/cojd10405262125.hmedium.jpg
Broncos coach Mike Shanahan has made some of the most notable offseason moves this year, signing Jerry Rice, drafting Maurice Clarett and trading for Todd Sauerburn.
ASK THE NFL EXPERT
By Don Pierson
NBCSports.com contributor
Updated: 9:12 p.m. ET June 1, 2005
You can take Mike Shanahan out of Oakland, but you can’t take the Raider mentality out of Mike Shanahan. The Denver Broncos coach has been gone from the Raiders for 15 years and has coached almost 150 more games in Denver than he did in Oakland. Yet the urge to attract wayward players curiously resurfaced this offseason.
It’s a Raider tradition to serve as the NFL’s rescue mission. The Raiders never met a player they couldn’t rehabilitate, refocus, revive and return to useful service.
The Broncos spent their offseason collecting a huddle full of underachievers, injury cases, troublemakers and one very over-the-hill receiver who used to be Jerry Rice. Even the Raiders gave up on the 42-year-old Rice two seasons ago.
Maurice Clarett and Todd Sauerbrun somehow both ended up in Denver after serving as posterchild thorns in the NFL's sensitive side.
Clarett was drafted in round three after sitting out two college seasons and trying to challenge the league’s sacrosanct rules for pro eligibility. Sauerbrun managed to embarrass the league on two fronts-an ongoing steroid investigation in Carolina and a guilty plea to drunken driving.
If the Raiders can turn Sebastian Janikowski into a reasonably productive kicker, the Broncos figure they can salvage the boom-and-bust punting career of Sauerbrun.
The Broncos also signed four defensive linemen from the Cleveland Browns-former No. 1 picks Courtney Brown and Gerard Warren and discarded Dallas Cowboys Ebenezer Ekuban and Michael Myers. The latter two arrived via trade for running back Reuben Droughns, whom the Broncos really did resuscitate after a failed start in Detroit.
When new Cleveland Browns’ general manager Phil Savage was questioned about letting go of an entire defensive unit, he responded: “Those four linemen were on a defense that was ranked 32d (against the run). Somebody tell me what the big to-do is. If we added four linemen from a team that was ranked 32d in run defense, I think you guys would have asked me about that right off the bat.”
So the questions were directed instead toward Shanahan, who had hired former Browns’ defensive line coach Andre Patterson off of Butch Davis’ fired staff.
Brown was the first overall pick in the 2000 draft and Warren was third in 2001 but neither lived up to promise.
On Brown, Shanahan said, “He’s stepping in and playing. The question is can he stay healthy? And I think that’s where he is. He wants to step up, too. Here’s the guy who was the first pick of the draft, he wants to get to another level too. He’s tired of being hurt.”
And on Warren: “He’s got a lot of athletic ability and the guy who coached him really thinks he's got a lot of upside. We thought he was worth a chance. Once you’ve got a coach who feels good about somebody who has lot of athletic ability, you don’t mind taking a chance.”
And famous last words, sounding like an echo from previous Cleveland coaches frustrated by Warren's lazy work ethic: “A big part of him coming in would be the offseason program, getting himself in great shape, giving himself a chance to be successful.”
Before adding Clarett to their corps of running backs, Shanahan signed another ex-No. 1 draft choice, Ron Dayne, who spent five long, unhappy seasons proving he couldn't play for the New York Giants.
Because the list of successful Denver running backs is as long as it is obscure, Shanahan figures it must be the system. An impressive roll of 1,000-yard rushers — Terrell Davis, Olandis Gary, Mike Anderson, Clinton Portis and Droughns-can attest to that. Not one of them was a first-round draft pick.
Offensive tackle Anthony Clement couldn’t make it on Denny Green’s rebuilding Arizona Cardinals, but Shanahan found room for him. The Cardinals, after all, couldn’t live with quarterback Jake Plummer, now a Bronco of course.
In Denver’s thin air, Sauerbrun might just become the first to punt a football into orbit. To be sure, he’ll try. But Sauerbrun has been punting on thin ice for years, ever since the Chicago Bears made him a second-round draft choice and couldn’t live with his off-field antics.
An investigation into a South Carolina doctor that led to a medical license suspension centered around several Panthers including Sauerbrun who were allegedly accepting prescriptions for illegal steroids. Sauerbrun at first told CBS television that he liked the doctor a lot, then called back to say he didn't know the guy at all. The Broncos expect his punting to be more consistent than his memory.
As for Rice, the Broncos answered an e-mail message from agent Jim Steiner, who put out the word that the GOAT — “Greatest of All Time” — was looking for work.
To be a 42-year old and be able to do what I am doing is amazing,” Rice said on the NFL Network. “There's going to be some negativity. That’s OK. It’s about the love of the game.”
Shanahan made no promises.
“I told Jerry that I don't know if he’s lost a step or two steps, but you’re going to come here for one reason and that's to compete with the other guys,” Shanahan said. “And if you’re one of our top five guys at the end of camp, then you’re going to be on our football team. If you’re not, I said I’d have one of the toughest jobs in the world.”
If Rice can’t make it there, chances are he can’t make it anywhere. Denver has suddenly become the last stop on the NFL train for a lot of players. For Clarett, it’s only the beginning of a journey. At least that's what the Broncos hope.