Houston Newspaper Blog

[elsid13]

Ten time better then Burger Bill's stuff

August 25, 2006
Random notes from Rocky Mountains
Chron.com SportsCast -- 3 minutes (2MB) Chronicle writer John McClain reports from Denver.
http://blogs.chron.com/nfl/2006/08/r..._rocky_mo.html

• • •

Rocky Mountain High: Okay, so I'm not actually in the Rocky Mountains, but I can see them from my hotel in Denver. Every time I come to Colorado, I want to belt out "Rocky Mountain High." Maybe I'll do that on my audio installment today. What do you think? Now, don't get ugly and mean-spirited on me again like you do when I write about our neighbors to the north or the former quarterback of our national champion Longhorns.

Before I get into my odyssey that brought me from Canton to Denver by way of Cleveland and Houston, let me tell you what I'm working on. For Saturday's Chronicle, a story on Texans' general manager Rick Smith, how he went from pro scouting director to assistant general manager to general manager in six months. Talk about a fast track to success. For Sunday's Chronicle, I'm writing about why Gary Kubiak is so wildly popular in Denver. We're talking about a former backup quarterback and assistant coach who'll probably get a louder ovation at Mile High Stadium on Sunday night than his former boss, Mike Shanahan.

Anyway, the short trip to Canton was quite an experience. Five of us, including Rick Gosselin (Dallas Morning News), Len Shapiro (Washington Post), Don Pierson (Chicago Tribune) and Jerry Green (Detroit News), met at the Pro Football Hall of Fame to determine our two senior nominees for induction in February. If you read my last blog, you're familiar with the candidates. And what a group it was. Remember, these are players who were passed over by our regular 39-man committee when they were modern-era candidates to go into that deep senior pool, or the swamp as Paul Zimmerman of Sports Illustrated has called it for years.

Each year, five of us go to Canton to vote on our senior nominees. Two members of the Hall of Fame are brought in as consultants. This year, it was Mel Renfro and Willie Lanier. Their knowledge was invaluable to us. After spending several hours going over our research, asking questions of Mel and Willie and stating our cases to each other, we nominated Gene Hickerson and Charlie Sanders.

Although I pushed hard for Bob Hayes, I can't argue with Hickerson or Sanders. Both are very deserving. Hickerson played guard for the Cleveland Browns. He blocked for three Hall of Fame running backs -- Jim Brown, Bobby Mitchell and Leroy Kelly. His election is long overdue. Sanders was an outstanding tight end on some bad Detroit Lions teams. He made seven Pro Bowls. Like Hickerson, he was incredibly excited to find out he was one of our senior nominees.

What this means is that Hickerson and Sanders are automatic finalists for when our regular committee meets the morning before the Super Bowl to determine the Class of 2007. Two times during the season, the 39 members of our committee will whittle our list of candidates to a final 15, plus the two senior nominees.

The candidate I'm the most fired up about is Bruce Matthews, the former Oilers/Titans offensive lineman who was voted to 14 Pro Bowls during his 19-year career. What a treat it'll be if Matthews is voted in, as I imagine he will be, a year after Warren Moon. That means Mike Munchak, Elvin Bethea, Moon and Matthews will be former Oilers inducted into the Hall of Fame over a six-year period.

After our meeting in Canton Wednesday, I drove to Cleveland for a late flight to Houston, which was delayed. I thought I'd miss my connection to Denver. I took that route because I always fly Continental. When we finally got to Houston, I did an O.J. going from Terminal C to E but made it with time to spare. I think I would have been timed in 4.5 or 4.6 tops. I got to Denver around 11:30 p.m.



• • •
At home in Colorado: On Thursday, I spent much of the day at the Broncos. Denver is one of my favorite cities. Colorado is one of my favorite states. I imagine I've been here more than 50 times through the years. And the Broncos are one of my favorite teams. They're always treated me extremely well when I've visited through the years.

Jim Saccomano, the vice president of puplic relations, is a prince of a fellow who's one of the best in the NFL at what he does. This is his 29th year with the Broncos. He's got an exceptional staff of Paul Kirk, Pat Smythe, Rebecca Villanueva and Dave Gaylin. As always, they took great care of me. They set me up with owner Pat Bowlen, general manager Ted Sundquist, coach Mike Shanahan and running backs coach Bobby Turner, among others.

I was here during the playoffs in January doing stories on Kubiak's imminent hiring as the Texans' coach. I was able to talk with everyone but Kubiak, who was put off limits to me and the local media to avoid a huge distraction.

I've always respected Shanahan, who's known as "The Mastermind" up here. The Broncos have the most stable organization in the NFL. This is Shanahan's show. He's all-powerful. He controls everything. He's got an owner, Bowlen, who lets him do what he was hired to do. Shanahan has won two Super Bowls. I think with another one, he's guaranteed of induction in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Truthfully, I'll vote for him, anyway. During this era of free agency and the salary cap, the Broncos' consistency is so impressive.

Nobody talks to Mike Shanahan like his son, Kyle, the Texans' receivers coach. Except this week, they talk on the phone almost every day. They have a great relationship. I expect Kyle will be on daddy's staff sometime soon. Who knows, he might even replace his father. Everyone in this organization knows Kyle because he grew up with them before he took off for Duke, Texas, UCLA, the Bucs and now the Texans.

Kyle took some good-natured shots at his father this week. He said he wouldn't talk to him on the phone because his dad was "sneaky" and would try to pry information out of him. Kyle said he'd go through his mother, Peggy. He said he wouldn't look across the field at his dad Sunday night because Mike has an evil eye stare that can be intimidating. Kyle said he's been working on an evil eye stare of his own.



• • •
Birthday bash: Thursday was Mike Shanahan's 54th birthday. Reporters asked him what he was going to do to celebrate. One asked him if his son had sent him a present or called to wish him happy birthday. He said no, that since Kyle wasn't going to talk to him this week on the phone, perhaps he'd just call his mother and tell her to send along happy birthday wishes.

Sundquist, the general manager, is another one of my favorite NFL people. He's a Houston native who attended Spring Woods High School. He's very respected and well-liked. It's always fun to talk with Ted, who's had an interesting career.



• • •
At home in Colorado: I spoke with one of my favorite NFL assistant coaches, Mike Heimerdinger, the offensive coordinator. He was an assistant at Rice for five years. Then he coached the Broncos' receivers before moving to the Titans and Jets as offensive coordinator. If Heimerdinger had not been able to get out of his contract with new Jets coach Eric Mangini, Shanahan wouldn't have allowed Troy Calhoun to leave for Houston as Kubiak's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

When I came here in January to do the Kubiak stories, I had no clue who Troy Calhoun was. Shanahan told me he was one of the best and brightest coaches he'd ever met. Now that I've gotten to know Calhoun a little, I understand what Shanahan meant. Shanahan was sure talking up Calhoun and Kubiak this week.

Everyone I've spoken with up here -- and you can read about this in the Chronicle on Saturday and Sunday -- is convinced that Kubiak and Rick Smith will be very successful if owner Bob McNair remains patient and continues to give them the resources they need to win, as Bowlen does the Broncos.

Speaking of Bowlen, I interviewed him in his office overlooking the practice field. I asked him about his philosophy as an owner, and he had an interesting response that should be the motto of every owner in every sport.

"I know what I don't know," Bowlen said. "Sure, I know more than I did in 1984 when I bought the team. But I also realize there's a lot I still don't know. I try to hire good people and show my faith in them."

In other words, Bowlen hires good people, gives them the financial resources they need to succeed and doesn't try to force them to do things they don't believe should be done. Man, imagine if every owner adopted that philosophy.

While I was waiting to do an interview after practice today, the Broncos' assistant special teams coach introduced himself to me. Thomas McGaughey played and coached at the University of Houston. What a nice guy. He asked me to tell all his friends back in Houston hello. So hello. Thomas is very highly thought of within the organization.



• • •
Glazer's take: One of the visitors to the Broncos facility was Jay Glazer. He's going to be hosting a football show on FSN with former players Eddie George, Tim Brown and Jason Sehorn. The hour-long show is called, "Pro Football Preview" and will be televised Friday, Saturday and Sunday beginning with the first week of regular season.

Glazer's got it going on. He's the Fox information guy, and he's the first information guy to host a show. He's married to a beautiful actress, Michelle. They just moved from New York to Scottsdale, Ariz. Anyway, check out Glazer's show. George is one of my all-time favorite players, and he's on the verge of an outstanding broadcasting career. He's approaching his new field as he did the NFL. Eddie George and Jim Brown are the only backs in history to rush for at least 10,000 yards without missing a game because of injury.



• • •
Media update: Two other familiar faces at the facility this week have been Justin Sternberg and Brian Schack from Ch. 13. They've been interviewing the Broncos about Kubiak and Smith. They were dispatched to Denver by their producer, Wendy Granato. If you read my blogs or listen to me on Sports Radio 610, you know that Wendy is one of my favorite people. A hard-working, award-winning, brains-and-beauty package with two beautiful children and a lug for a husband. Hey, don't tell her husband I said that, okay? That's our secret.

Okay, that's it for today. As always, thanks for reading, and don't forget my stories on Smith and Kubiak, please

[Jagrego]

Thx, that was nice.

[Hercules Rockefeller]

This was the reporter who told Armstrong and Neveritt that the Texans, at least as he had heard so far, had no interest in picking up Van Pelt if Denver cut him.

[Inkana7]

Great article.

[brncs_fan]

Originally Posted by elsid13

I've always respected Shanahan, who's known as "The Mastermind" up here. The Broncos have the most stable organization in the NFL. This is Shanahan's show. He's all-powerful. He controls everything. He's got an owner, Bowlen, who lets him do what he was hired to do. Shanahan has won two Super Bowls. I think with another one, he's guaranteed of induction in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Truthfully, I'll vote for him, anyway. During this era of free agency and the salary cap, the Broncos' consistency is so impressive.

Good Article. Thanks for posting it.

[Rock Chalk]

Told ya'll, McClain is one of the best football writers in the nation. Damn I wish he wrote for Denver.

[Atlas]

Let's get a 3 way trade going with Houston. Denver Sends BurgerBill to the Redskins the Skins send Houston a 5th round pick and Denver gets this guy as a beat reporter.

So crazy...... it just might work

[R8R H8R]

Originally Posted by Atlas

Let's get a 3 way trade going with Houston. Denver Sends BurgerBill to the Redskins the Skins send Houston a 5th round pick and Denver gets this guy as a beat reporter.

So crazy...... it just might work

Now that's funny!

[goldengopher1976]

Originally Posted by Atlas

Let's get a 3 way trade going with Houston. Denver Sends BurgerBill to the Redskins the Skins send Houston a 5th round pick and Denver gets this guy as a beat reporter.

So crazy...... it just might work

we could probably get the skins to throw in a 4th rounder in 2009...

[Rock Chalk]

Originally Posted by Atlas

Let's get a 3 way trade going with Houston. Denver Sends BurgerBill to the Redskins the Skins send Houston a 5th round pick and Denver gets this guy as a beat reporter.

So crazy...... it just might work

I emailed McClain and asked him to go work for the DPO

[TexanBob]

Originally Posted by Alec

Told ya'll, McClain is one of the best football writers in the nation. Damn I wish he wrote for Denver.

He's such a suck-up. Notice how everyone was "great", "nice", "the best", etc.

Granted, I hate the columnists who never have anything nice to say about anyone but the thing McLain is noted for in Houston is paying more attention to the Cowboys than the team in his own city.

I'd trade him straight up for Tracy Ringolsby and never look back.

[-Slap-]

That means Mike Munchak, Elvin Bethea, Moon and Matthews will be former Oilers inducted into the Hall of Fame over a six-year period.

A team that never even played in a Conference Championship Game in the Moon/Munchak/Mathews era.

The Broncos played in six Conference Championship Games in the same span.

[Rock Chalk]

Originally Posted by TexanBob

He's such a suck-up. Notice how everyone was "great", "nice", "the best", etc.

Granted, I hate the columnists who never have anything nice to say about anyone but the thing McLain is noted for in Houston is paying more attention to the Cowboys than the team in his own city.

I'd trade him straight up for Tracy Ringolsby and never look back.

McClain was constantly on top of the NFL when it was time for them to choose a new expansion franchise and constantly bolstered Houston's position time and again.

As for being a suck up, he's just stating simple facts. Denver has a great organization with great personell, what is there bad to say about them?

I do like Ringolsby though, but I dont think Id take him over McClain.

[Broncoman13]

Originally Posted by Alec

Told ya'll, McClain is one of the best football writers in the nation. Damn I wish he wrote for Denver.

I've met McClain and Al Carter a number of times. Al's son and I played ball together at Doobie High. He's an outstanding writer as well. I miss some of their stories and certainly miss AM610. It may not be the best sports radio in town, but it beats Amarillo's!