Like most of you I have questions about decisions the Broncos have made in the past couple years - play calls, game plans, roster moves, etc.  All the media coverage in the world can't tell fans the reasons why teams make most of these decisions (In this case, this is not a knock on the media.  It is just the reality of teams' secrecy)

So my question is this - If you could be a fly in the wall in Shanahan's office and could hear the reasoning and back and forth behind the Broncos decisions but you could not repeat that info to anyone, would you want to know it?  Or would having that knowledge without being able to share it be torture?

We have all heard the stories about Brandon Marshall's off field troubles.  But I came across something today that I had never heard about before and I was hoping someone here would be able to fill me in with the details.  There was an article in the Orlando Sentinel about the relationship between Marshall and Jags WR Mike Walke, who played and roomed together at UCF.  It was a nice piece, but nothing special until I saw this quote

When Marshall took in his young sister's son, Walker helped watch him, too.

I have never heard anything about this before.  It sounds like it shows a different side of Brandon than the public has seen.  Anyone heard about this or know more? (Assuming the details are public of course.  I don't want to intrude on the Marshall family's privacy).

Sam Adams at the Rocky Mountain News has an excellent article related to the release of the movie "The Express: The Ernie Davis Story".  The article focuses on Davis's relationship with Little.  Davis recruited Little to follow him to Syracuse just as Jim Brown had recruited Davis.  All three wore the number 44 and each had an amazing career with Little breaking many of the records that were set by Jim Brown and subsequently broken by Ernie Davis.  The whole article is absolutely worth reading as is the video accompanying it (there is a link on the right side of the article to the video).  I will leave you with this quote from the article, but go read the entire thing.

"Floyd was probably the best of all of us in college," Brown said. "He doesn't get his due. The man should be in the (Pro Football) Hall of Fame. Here we are talking about Jim Brown and Ernie Davis, and there's Floyd Little - a three-time All-American who's probably better than both of them."

To be clear, Brown was talking about Little's college achievements but even that statement is remarkable considering that Jim Brown was probably the greatest all around college athlete of the last 75 years.

This is just a collection of things that have gone through my mind the past few weeks. 

1. I read the ESPN.com columns on the next wave of young QB’s. I loved the analysts there and elsewhere who complained that Jay Cutler appeared to force the ball late in the season last year when perhaps Cutler’s primary issue with his undiagnosed diabetes was that he did not have the zip on his throws. I wonder who else would appear to force their throws if the ball came out at only 80-90% velocity.
2. Tony Scheffler needs to step it up. He has made some nice good plays, but also some costly ones – most notably the fumble vs NO and the dropped TD vs Oakland. He is not on the field in goal line situations; Denver is using Graham, Nate Jackson and Lichtensteiger in the jumbo set which makes me think he may never be the (run) blocker that Denver wants.
3. On the other hand if Scheffler manages to win the starting job and Nalen gets healthy, all eleven offensive starters will be Broncos draftees or free agents they signed out of college. On the defensive side of the ball there are only three (Doom, Marcus Thomas and DJ) with three others seeing any time on defense (Paymah, Crowder and Moss). Looks like the 2009 draft will be focused on defense, like both the 2005 and 2007 drafts (and unlike the 2006 and 2008 drafts that focused on offense primarily)

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So both Chris Mortensen of ESPN and Jay Glazer of Fox Sports are reporting that Al Davis has decided to fire Lane Kiffin.  While this set of reports is a bit more ominous than the last (they say that Kiffin has been informed of the decision), there are two reasons I will wait to see it to believe it.  One is that this was a tough loss for the Raiders and it is a case where sleeping on it may actually calm Davis down from an emotional overreaction (aka pulling a Steinbrenner).  The other is that I don't see Davis firing Kiffin at all this season unless he thinks he can get away with not paying the rest of Kiffin's contract. Who knows, maybe Kiffin gave Davis the out he needed with his comments the last couple weeks (ala Larry Brown with the Knicks). 

So, my friend finally sent me some pics he took during the HOF induction weekend.  Thought I would throw them up for y'all to enjoy.

Here is the poster for this year's HOF inductees. I could not resist adding the picture of this poor, delusional soul after last night's game.

Jersey's of the enshrinees

  the crowd at the enshrinement ceremony

 a real redskins fan

 Elway's bust

  and lastly, the drive

This is a combo of what I think will happen with what I would like to see. There are 56 players on the final roster since Edell Shepherd does not count since he is on IR, Carlotn Powell does not count since he is on reserve/PUP and Brandon Marshall will not count once his suspension starts on Saturday. (The fourteen rookies on the team are in italics)

** EDIT ** I have lost the ability to count.  There are only 55 players in my chart below not the 56 that the Broncos can keep if Marshall's suspension is not overturned.  So throw Nic Clemons onto the team as the 10th DL and 56th player.

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In week 5 as a member of the Tampa Bay Bucs that is.  The Tampa Tribune is reporting that Favre has agreed to not block a trade to Tampa and that a trade is expected in the next 24 hours.  The good thing is that as of right now John Madden will not be broadcasting the game vs Denver.

Some speculation on my part - If this deal does go through, Jeff Garcia will be traded to Chicago.

As I have posted before, I am heading out to Canton for the HOF ceremony this weekend.  We all know that even with Gary Zimmerman's induction, the Broncos are woefully underrepresented in the Hall.  Without taking anything away from Zim's moment, what sign or shirt can I bring to make that point clear?

PS.  TedBartlett905 has claimed one of my extra tickets but I still have three (or maybe four) available for the enshrinement ceremony on Saturday if anyone is looking for last minute plans.