Time to put this to bed. We have talked at nauseum about Travis Henry, and now that the poster boy for moral standing is no longer wearing Orange and Blue, we can put the Travis Henry era behind us.
First, Mike Shanahan closed the book by meeting with memebers of the media, discussing his reasons why the cord was cut with last season's prized Free Agent acquisition --
The release speaks volumes. You've got the little things, and if you don't do the little things, obviously you can't count on somebody.I think our players expected it. I don't think it really surprised anybody. They know the type of standard we demand and if you don't step up to that standard, you're not going to be with us.
We have certain expectations about the way we do things. He didn't meet those. That's it. So this is the way we're going to go.
He's an excellent running back, but to do the things, (to) go where we want to go, everybody's got to be going the right direction. (He's) just too inconsistent as a person, and if you're inconsistent as a person you're usually not going to win championships.
To get the true sense of where this relationship had deteriorated to, look no further than to Shanny's answer when asked of Henry's reaction to the news -
I haven't told him, I just released him. I haven't talked to him.Even teammates, guys that usually tow the fence when it comes to roster moves, had strong feelings, at least in my opinion -
Andre Hall - That's on him. He brought it on himself. I know he's supposed to be out here. Lots of guys are out here hurt.Champ Bailey - After what happened last year, with Coach going to bat for the guy, I don't think he would have turned his back on the guy right away the next year without having a good reason. Whatever the reason, I wish Travis the best.
That leaves Selvin Young as the #1 guy, though Michael Pittman isn't ready to concede the competition without a fight -
I know my intention every year is to start. You compete to come in first. You never compete to come in second. We've got a lot of hungry guys here and we're all competing, but I'd like to be the guy.It's one less back here, and the competition is open. Nothing is written in cement now. I'm going to press to be the starter. Selvin Young is going to press to be the starter. Andre Hall, the same thing.
I believe (the Broncos will) put the best man out on the football field. And I do believe that's me. I've been there, I've done it, I've played in the Super Bowl, I've played on a championship team. But we've got hungry guys, and they are going to play the best guy.
Let the competition begin.