Youth isn't always served with Broncos

Youth isn't always served with Broncos
December 19
Rocky Mountain News columnist Bernie Lincicome
"Forgiveness is in the waiting room. Understanding is buying the next round. Blame has no ticket on the big Bronco bus.

However this all turns out, and it should be fine if mediocrity is fine, the Broncos' grasp will have exceeded their reach. They are a young team.

They are an injured team. They are a work in progress.

They are all there, backs waiting for the pat. Good job. Considering.

This would be if they beat Buffalo on Sunday or San Diego loses in Tampa or, probably the most valuable experience of all, they must meet the Chargers for final validation, or if they blow the finish, still it will seem enough.

The beauty of low expectations is that when expectations are reached they appear so much higher, so when Mike Shanahan assured the faithful that the Broncos would reach the playoffs, it seemed bold and brave, when it should have been taken for granted.

This is the same coach who, when dumping Jake Plummer, concluded that only the Super Bowl should be the goal and any player not equipped to help the Broncos reach that goal might as well be in Idaho.

And yet sniffing around the lowest nonwild-card spot is reason for a marching band and balloons.

As a season unfurled, made of parts luck, deeds and misdeeds, there was more the notion that it matters less now than tomorrow. This is what a young team does, plays well, plays poorly, takes the blows, gets the scars, and one day soon it will turn into the New England Patriots.

The Broncos have the quarterback, they have the coach, they have the ambition. It has to happen.

And if it does not, they are young, aren't they? So young that they cannot be trusted to know the score of the San Diego game before they play their own against the Bills.

Shhhh. Let's wait until they are nestled all snug in their beds before we put the presents under the tree.

Ah, the young have time. They are young.

Well, the important ones are. Jay Cutler. Brandon Marshall. Eddie Royal. Ryan Clady. Those are the young good ones. Enough to build on.

These are the ones who represent the Broncos as young when in truth the Broncos are more or less the same age as any other NFL team, older than Oakland, Kansas City and San Diego in fact. The Broncos are typical, a bunch of up-and-comers and a lot of soon-to-be-goners, wannabes and used-to-bes.

For some reason, unlike sitcoms and gymnastics, youth is not considered an advantage in professional football."
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