The Fall Guy

If the first crack you make after hearing that Broncos GM Ted Sundquist got the pink slip is, “I already thought they had a GM; his name is Mike Shanahan,” you’re not far off — and that’s why firing Sundquist is merely a cosmetic move, which will result in no real progress for the Broncos unless Shanahan has some form of spectacular draft that pays off.

The nagging fear I have watching this team’s personnel and front office moves is that Shanahan is simply another version of Al Davis with an enabler in Pat Bowlen: all the power in his hands and no one to tell the coach if he’s fucking it up. Sundquist could never have been that guy, and shouldn’t be considered even remotely responsible for Denver’s failings over the past two seasons with regard to making the playoffs.

How many defensive coordinators and flashy signings of would-be playmakers can you go through until the so-called Mastermind gets questioned about whether he’s gotten too set in his ways to do any sort of meaningful change to the franchise?

Someone had to fall on his sword for 2007 — or have it thrust into his chest, and that’s the GM who was just a name next to the title. Every year, Shanahan inches every bit closer to the man in football he most despises, and this is yet another demonstration of a power trip.

Sundquist out as Broncos GM [Denver Post]