Several Broncos on Thin Ice

On Sirius NFL Radio, they feature a two-minute news flash update twice an hour called the two-minute drill. Any recent signings, trades, cuts, etc. are brought up, as well as clips from recent interviews reviewing the recent top stories.

Lately, the two-minute drill has become nothing more than a glorified police blotter. With the recent arrest of Adam “Pacman” Jones, the circumstances surrounding Michael Vick‘s alleged dog fighting ring, as well as the possible trouble Terry “Tank” Johnson is in again with a thin DUI, having high character players on your roster has never been a more pertinent issue. And to the surprise of many, including myself, Mike Shanahan and Ted Sundquist have not shied away from making moves to grab high-risk players this offseason. We have at least six potential high-impact players in 2007 that are on a “one-strike-and-you’re-out” basis. To say they’re on thin ice could be the understatement of this arrest-filled offseason.

1. Todd Sauerbrun

Punter Todd Sauerbrun was brought back to the Broncos after he was cut last year. He’s already had enough strikes in Shanahan’s mind, but he’s getting that all too rare and special “second chance.” Broncos fans all know that after his four-game suspension was announced during training camp, Paul Ernster played admirably for us, particularly in the defensive and special teams slugfest against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football. So the Broncos brass let the 3-time Pro Bowl punter go. Ernster didn’t follow up his early performances with similar ones all the time, and ultimately the moves were made to bring back Sauerbrun. He knows, though, that if he even thinks about touching the illegal weight-loss supplement ephedra again, he won’t be wearing orange and blue in the future.

2. Brandon Marshall

With Rod Smith‘s future probably the biggest question coming into this season, the pressure is on second-year receiver Brandon Marshall to step up and take the reigns of this Broncos receiving corps. But earlier this year, Marshall was making the police blotter as reports indicated that he had been charged with misdemeanor kidnapping.

Yeah, misdemeanor kidnapping – like anyone had any idea that that crime even existed. Apparently Marshall allegedly blocked his girlfriend’s taxi with his car, and some reports even indicated that he was shouting at the cab driver and even slammed his fist into the car. Ultimately the charges were dropped, but when Shanahan was asked before the Draft how he was handling the Marshall situation, he simply stated that he knows it won’t happen again. And as I said then, that’s good enough for me.

3. David Kircus

Another Broncos receiver made the police blotter this offseason, as young up-and-comer David Kircus was arrested for assault about a month ago. Kircus insisted on taking a lie detector test to prove his innocence, and in the Court of Shanahan, that was enough to warrant keeping him on the team. Much like Marshall, another incident involving the real courts and Kircus could be looking for work elsewhere.

4. Marcus Thomas

The shortest leash has to belong to Marcus Thomas, whose first-round talent fell all the way into the Broncos’ laps in the fourth round. He has a history of disobedience and rebellion in college, but his potential is so great that the Broncos decided the risk was worth it. And now this talented troublemaker finds himself at a turning point in life, and so far so good. But one joint and the game’s over for Thomas – Shanahan and Sundquist aren’t going to put up with the egg on their faces that a violation of their agreement would impose.

5. Jarvis Moss

Another Florida rookie is on thin ice – our first round defensive end Jarvis Moss has also had a history with marijuana and will need to make sure he stays clean to see the field. I’m not as concerned about Jarvis – he got a second chance at Florida, just like Thomas did, except that he took advantage of the opportunity and stayed clean, finishing his college career with a once-in-a-lifetime performance at the BCS Championship Game. Expect big things from this talent.

6. Travis Henry

The best free agent signing of the offseason could become the worst the second Travis Henry touches a joint again. He’s one violation away from a full year suspension – but the good news is that the NFL’s substance abuse policy rotates its violators out of the system after two years. Henry is on the cusp of that success, but he’s not there yet and until he reaches the point where he is rotated out of the system, Broncos fans have a legitimate fear. Without Henry we’ll be relying on Mike Bell to carry most of the load – and while he had moments last year, he doesn’t have the experience or history of making the big plays consistently that Henry does.

Why do I bring all of this up now, you ask? For both fans and players, we are in the deepest muck of the NFL offseason. Players are bored, waiting for training camp (and in the Broncos’ case, minicamp), and if there was ever a time for idle hands to do their dirty work, it’s now. Staying focused on the prize will be the only way the Broncos can hope to make a run this offseason. For fans, we’re counting on all of our players, not just the ones mentioned, to stay out of trouble and and out of the police blotter.