A gigantically big DUHHHHHH!! to the Denver Broncos. I'm a lifelong Bears fan who lives in Colorado Springs, CO, so I also follow pretty closely the Denver Losers, uh, I mean, Broncos.
Today in our daily paper are presented the ten reasons the Broncos stunk it up this season. I guess the writer put in more diplomatic terms. But let's face it...they stunk it up this season.
One of the primary reasons was the decision to kick to Devin Hester during the Denver loss to the Bears, caused, the writer says, in good part to the two touchdown runbacks of a Denver punt and kick-off by Hester.
I would like to suggest that the bigger reason the Broncos lost was their bragging before the game that they weren't afraid of Hester and would kick to him. Todd Sauerbrun, the Denver kicker, in particular was especially boastful about that fact. Another big DUH! That's like holding a carrot in front of a rabbit Todd! Of course, anyone with half a brain knows that.
Let's see, wasn't it the Pittsburgh Steelers that baited the Patriots this year with their own DUH! brag that they would win their upcoming contest against the next World Champs? And what happened there? As I recall vaguely, the Steelers got slaughtered. Do you think the taunt by the Steelers had anything to do with the lop-sided score? If you don't, the roof over your stadium is half open!
Even Andy Reid, who I consider one of the more intelligent coaches in the NFL, told his guys before the Seattle game this season with the Bears that he didn't want a ball to go anywhere near Hester. He won.
When will teams learn that the brag is the kiss of death, unless you're Joe Namath predicting a win over the Baltimore Colts in the 1969 Super Bowl III. And Namath didn't do it for the bravado, as do players nowadays. He did it when the Jets were 7-1 underdogs, and he did it without the TV cameras. He actually believed the Jets could beat the Colts. Only after that fateful game did it become a big story. And ever since then, wacko NFL players have been trying to get their own 15 seconds of fame - and it's mostly the unknowns - by standing before the sports world and making fools of themselves.
And, by the way, we'll discuss my opinion of the other nine reasons the Broncos stunk it up in a later blog. Happy bragging!
Keywords: 1969 Super Bowl, Baltimore Colts, Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, Hester, Namath, New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers, Sauerbrun
