Thoughts of the Kyle Orton, Brandon Marshall and Josh McDaniels Monday Interview

I finished watching all the interviews from Monday 6/28/2009 at the Broncos website with Kyle Orton, Brandon Marshall and Josh McDaniels.

Kyle Orton

It's hard not to like Kyle Orton. He's doing the best he can with the situation that he's been dealt. In his interview with the Denver media, he's a straight shooter. He didn't avoid any questions but rather answered them methodically and professionally. It's a great way to establish a solid stable foundation within the organization. The Broncos need all the solid players they can get.

Looking back, it's kind of funny how we as fan's didn't ask for the Spring fiasco, and probably neither did Kyle. After all, he finally established himself in Chicago as being the 'Starting QB.' After being upended and shipped to Denver as fast as you can order a Chicago Dog, it must have been the last whirl wind he expected from the windy city.

Personally I think that Kyle is a guy who just wants to call a franchise home; hoping our Denver Broncos football family will like him enough to grow on him and want him to stay. I like what I saw in the interview. I fear though that this is his one chance to run the table this season and I hope he does well. I'm a smuck when it comes to underdogs... I always like to root for them. Especially when it's a make or break situation. It's those types of stories that make sports history great. I really want Kyle Orton to be one of those stories.

Brandon Marshall

Brandon's body language and his answers to media questions pretty much tell the story. Brandon really doesn't want to play for the Broncos WITHOUT being PAID the BIG LONG TERM CONTRACT he is looking for. His only reason for showing up was to continue to get paid and also not to get fined. Right now it seems like he's just going through the motions (like a lot of unhappy employees) to earn a pay check. Sometimes work isn't as glamorous as we'd like it to be. But we all have to make a living, right? I'm wondering how the story pans out through training camp... for good or for worse?

Josh McDaniels

The interview with Josh McDaniels was straight forward, but was not very assuring about the Brandon Marshall situation. It seems like McDaniels answered all the questions regarding Marshall with intentional ignorance. I find this interesting because his focus in rebuilding has been all about character players. Right now whether McDaniels likes it or not, Marshall's character is in question. I really don't think that ignoring it is going to make it go away, and for now that's what it seems like he's doing.

What You See Is What You Get

There is a clear compare/contrast between Marshall and Orton. Both in comparison are in peculiar situations and both are in situations they didn't ask for. In constrast however, Marshall ended up in his situation for his off field antics. Orton ended up in his situation for other people and the Broncos organization off field antics. The other contrast is that Marshall is a very talented receiver, Orton is an average QB at best compared in respect to their peers. Kyle is doing everything he can to stay with the Broncos, Brandon is doing just enough to not get fined.

Kyle Orton is going to give it his all when he goes out on the field. There is no doubt about it. He seems solid and in the right state of mind to enter camp. I believe Rod Smith mentioned on the NFL Network a month ago that you have to enter camp that way. Orton definitely put in the necessary work during the off-season. I hope it pays off during camp.

I don't know if Marshall will be traded since his trade value isn't as much as it should be, but I don't know if he'll play hard either. I think that if they wanted to get rid of him, then the Broncos would have done it by now. Either that or they learned from dealing with a previous player that rushing the process through isn't the best way to handle the situation. Chances are he's going through the motions while his mind is elsewhere wishing for that contract that he wants. In my opinion, if you pay Brandon Marshall, this fiasco all goes away PLUS, you'll have a happy Pro-Bowl wide receiver, and a happier starting quarterback. Not only that but the whole offense should be on the same page and ready to roll come the regular season.

As for Josh McDaniels, he seems to be answering the questions about Marshall the same way he answered questions in April - lots of smiles, lots of lies, lots of singing and dancing, and for this fan a whole lot of lack for trust. I think he is intelligent and probably has to answer the question like he did, it's only day 1. However I hope he doesn't ignore the Marshall situation too long. Convincing Pat Bowlen to make Marshall happy would definitely make up for past mistakes.

Mecklenburg Blog

I just finished reading the Karl Mecklenburg blog at the Denver Broncos website at:

http://blog.denverbroncos.com/denverbroncos/young-leaders-promising-change/

All in all another feel good post. Most (all) of my comments on the Broncos website go to 'moderation' before being posted or tossed in the trash, so I really don't make much of an attempt to opinionate myself there anymore.

However the Blogs of the Cheerleader pics for the upcoming calendar are damn right smokin hot!!! RED HOT!!! Steamboat was definitely boiling the local blood during those photo shoots! Wow, nice job ladies.

Okay back to Mecklenburg.

I loved to watch Mecklenburg play Line Backer back in the 80's along with Rulon Jones at Defensive end. I never thought Meck was the greatest linebacker to don the orange and blue, but he was definitely one of the hardest workers. He seemed to have a knack to end up where the ball carrier was and definitely a team player. He would fit on McHoodies team like a round peg. I get what he was saying about 'change.' Whether we like it or not, it's going to happen so deal with it and support the Broncos. I agree with him whole heartedly about supporting the Broncos franchise.

Regardless of the 3 SB losses with Dan Reeve's, I liked his coaching style. When he left, most people, and especially Bronco fans of today forget that Wade Phillips coached for a couple of season. We didn't just go from Dan to Mike. Trust me, I remember when Wade coached, and I couldn't wait for him to be relieved. Anyone else in the league would have been an upgrade!

So the transition to Mike Shanahan was a great feeling and he kept the franchise together. That change to me was a lot more hopeful than the current change. I understand that Mike got stale the past 6 years or so, and his pride got the best of him. I remember yelling at the TV, don't kick to Dante Hall... Devin Hester... Darren Sproles... but the damn fool did it anyway! And it cost the team many of those games! So he was getting very predictable, and the old school bugger couldn't even send emails... he had to have his daughters do it for him. Mike definitely lost touch with the modern times and it began to show with the relationship with the players. I was glad to see Mike be put to pasture, but I'm kind of guessing that we haven't seen the last of Shanny (I'm predicting history will repeat itself and Dallas will be calling you to replace Wade once again!)

McHoodie has shaken things up, and that change can be considered a bit too dramatic. In my opinion, it is. Can McHoodie make a playoff run this year? Everyone points to the Dolphins and Ravens as the example of bringing in a new head coach/QB and having a successful season. However the Dolphins were 1-15 and the Ravens were 5-11. Both teams needed to be shaken up in order to be successful for the next season. We're an 8-8 injury prone team that had a high octane Offense/no Defense that missed the playoffs by one game. We had a proven pro-bowl worth QB who shouldered the team in Elwayesque fashion (similarly ala 80's without a decent running game) to try and salvage a playoff berth. We are definitely not like the 2007 Dolphins and Ravens.

However, this is a copy cat league so it shouldn't surprise me that when the west coast offense was what dominated the league in successful teams, Pat Bowlen went out and got Mike who was offensive coordinator of the San Fransisco 49ers dynasty.

Now that the Holy Grail of the New England (just drink the friggin kool-aid) Patsies has become the dominant force, Pat once again goes and gets McHood-rat, Offensive Coordinator of the Patriots. It worked once before, I guess it's possible to work again.

I'm giving Pat the benefit of the doubt in seeing a young (maybe even arrogant) Mike Shanahan inside that hoodie, but I really doubt he expected to lose a franchise QB with the hiring. For those that have short term memory loss, Pat declared at a press conference that "Jay is the Man in Denver." I'm speculating that Pat saw a lot of Elway in Cutler to make such a comment, I know I did. So the question I still wonder about is: if Pat could see 6 months into the future before hiring McHoodie, would he have still hired him? Hmmm...

Either way, change will happen and we as fans of the Broncos will have to deal with it. I think McHoodster has to make the playoffs this season, and if not he definitely will have to make them next season. It's that or he can be the next Wade Phillips of the Broncos. Funny thing is that Wade never chased off the face of the franchise... so I doubt McHoodster (if he's gone in a couple years) will have that anonymity that Wade enjoys of his lack luster performance in Denver.

PS.

From the last post, I got a comment that San Diego Defensive Coordinator Ron Rivera was the former Defensive Coordinator of the Chicago Bears during the year of their Super Bowl appearance against the Indianapolis Colts. Apparently he got to sharpen up his defensive chops against the second team offense who was quarterbacked by our own starting quarterback Kyle Orton! Ron has the skinny on what Orton can do... doesn't bode well for us when we face the Chargers... seriously! Thanks for the post Anonymous dude!