Dear Jay,

   I'm writing this letter to you in the hopes that you will listen to one lifelong Broncos fan.  By now, you are no doubt "laying low" in your attempt to force the Broncos organization to be up front with you on their intentions with you at quarterback. Boy, what a weekend you must have had.  Very few, if any, honest fans of the NFL believe that you are in any way on the same level as Matt Cassel, and many fans are glad that such a ridiculous trade did not go through.  I think you have an amazing talent and competitive spirit that will one day make you a Superbowl champion. I hope that you will do so with the Denver Broncos.

That said, someone has to tell you the truth. The truth is that the emotions that are driving you to be a champion are also keeping you from attaining the goal.  Too often, you press into decisions that are heavily weighted by your feelings at the moment and it affects your judgement. This occurs both on the field, where defenders use your frustration against you, and off the field, where the media quickly grabs a sound bite and spreads it all over the world.

You're a young guy, and as such, its easy to be fooled into believing that you can marshall all your talents and personal traits with perfect execution. Maturity occurs when you realize this is not possible, that you do have flaws, and that you have to rise above the intensely competitive emotions you feel to make rational decisions that will give you the best possible chance of success. 

Case in point, holding out on the Broncos now that the post-non-trade debacle is over is counterproductive in every sense. You will be villified in the media. You will leave your teamates questioning your leadership. And worst of all, if you do manage to be traded, it will likely be to a team with a much smaller chance of actually winning football games.  You gain nothing by not sitting down with the Broncos and working this out. You gain respect from your critics by quickly putting this behind you. You gain trust from your teammates who desperately want to go to battle with you. And if you manage to win big this season, you will earn both money in future contracts and success as a top quarterback in the NFL.

Jay, it's time to be the bigger man. It's time to become a true professional athlete. It's time to come back to the Broncos.

A fan among many others,

Linmoo