This is a little late, but to all our great readers, enjoy your 4th of July and stay safe.

So, Brett Favre has reportedly decided to un-retire.  Major shocker there.  However, the mixed reaction from some football fans, even Packers fans, got me thinking. If the tables were turned, would you want our Hall of Fame quarterback returning?  Would you welcome John Elway‘s sudden return from retirement?

Without a doubt, in 1999, there wasn’t a single Broncos fan out there who wouldn’t give his right leg to see Ol’ Number 7 walk back out to the football field.  These days, Elway’s 10 years older, and without a doubt couldn’t do the same things he could back then.  My hunch is most fans would rather see Jay Cutler continue his development into a potential star rather than seeing a 48-year old Elway likely struggle out there.

So let’s use the year 2001 as our hypothetical… Brian Griese just completed a Pro Bowl season with a QB rating over 100, and John Elway suddenly announces his un-retirement.  He wants to play, and he wants to play for the Broncos or be traded.

Would you want Elway back in 2001?  Could you bare to see #7 in another color?

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• Al Wilson’s dispute over pay for lost wages in 2007 is winding down.  [Hashmarks]
• Unless you’ve been dead to the football world this morning you’ve heard the rumors of Brett Favre coming back and being dismissed.  [RMN, SI]
• Woody Paige would put John Elway on the Colorado sports Mt. Rushmore.  This makes an article?  We are in the dog days of summer.  [Denver Post]
• Terrell Davis was in Denver and gave his views on the 2008 Broncos.  [cbs4denver]
• Domonique Foxworth is part of the committee trying to find a “successor” for Gene Upshaw.  [Sporting News]
• Willie Middlebrooks is catching on well with the CFL Argonauts.  [Toronto Sun]
• Herc reviews the book ’77.  Good stuff.  [Orange Bucksnorts]
• An article on second year undrafted free agent Marquay McDaniel.  [denverbroncos.com]

Has anyone else been curious as to where Travis Henry disappeared to since the Broncos cut him back on June 2nd?  Even the NFL insiders such as Schefter, Clayton,  Mortenson, etc. haven’t heard a peep out of the running back.  You would at least think that the guy would be out trying to earn a job by doing workouts or something similar to what Kevin Jones has been up to.  But nothing, not even a blip on the NFL Free agency radar.

This gives credit to a statement that Bill Williamson made after Henry was cut.  After Travis was released by the Broncos, Williamson stated that he thought Henry was done in the NFL.  End of career.  After scraping the interwebs trying to find a trace of our former halfback, the only real evidence popped up in an NFL.com article by Adam Schefter.  He proposes that the Titans could possibly end up fronting some salary to bring him back to Tennessee being that they “know Henry and could better control him.” Yeah, good luck with that guys, you can have him.

You have to wonder if Williamson is right.  Did Henry’s desire for football just give out?  Maybe he figured having to divide up his portion of that NFL salary between himself and his nine different child support checks wasn’t worth the effort.  He also has an uphill battle ahead to re-enter the NFL on a squad.  First he has the stigma of completely giving up on his team after they made efforts left and right to accommodate him over the past season. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

• Mike Sando writes why he thinks NFL coaches selected Bowlen as the #2 owner in their poll.  [Hashmarks]
• Statistically Bill Callahan is the “dirtiest” coach ever and the Raiders have the most personal fouls.  Haven’t we been saying this all along?  [Hashmarks]
• Apparently standing is no longer allowed at Arrowhead Stadium.  [Yahoo Sports]
• Terry Frei responds to all the buzz his article from Monday has caused.  [Denver Post]
• Highlighting the good things Dave Logan has done for Colorado.  [denverbroncos.com]
• A list that doesn’t actually have Shanahan on the hot seat.  Kiffin is, shocker.  [Sporting News]

• Champ Bailey puts his name on the line and calls Rodney Harrison dirty but a good teammate, Al Wilson also gets added to the list of the dirtiest.  [ESPN]
• Brandon Marshall isn’t the only NFL player in trouble for domestic issues right now.  [MyFox Colorado]
• Warren Sapp really doesn’t like Oakland.  Quoted as saying things happen in the Raiders organization “that shouldn’t go on in sports”  [St. Pete Times]
• Pat Bowlen makes the top three for most respected owners by coaches.  [ESPN]
• Selvin Young and Chris Myers are two names on the list of unknowns to watch.  [New Era Scouting]
• An article looking at how audio in defensive helmets is going to change the game.  [FoxSports]
• A look at defensive end Larry Birdine.  [denverbroncos.com]

I give you the perfect football pass…

Writer Stefan Fatsis has an excerpt from his book “A Few Seconds of Panic: A 5-Foot-8, 170-Pound, 43-Year-Old Sportswriter Plays in the NFL” up in an article on the Wall Street Journal.  You might remember we originally covered the book here last week.  It’s Fatsis’ story of joining the Broncos during their 2006 training camp as a backup kicker to see what it was like to endure an NFL training camp and get a behind the scenes book.  You also might be interested to know that Broncotalk has secured an interview with Mr. Fatsis and we will be doing a review of the book to go along with it.

This article gives a fantastic look at Broncos training camp, all of the things you don’t see and hear about.  It has me even more excited about getting my hands on this book.  It goes into Shanahan’s meticulously detailed playbooks for every season he’s coached the Broncos.  Of course he refers to the 97′ and 98′ binders the most.  It proceeds to follow Shanahan into a press conference at training camp.  “As a rule, Shanahan gives the media enough to file their stories but not enough to create distractions for himself or his players, or to draw attention to himself.”

The excerpt details Shanahan’s past as a QB, assistant coach at college, the pros, and finally a head coach of the Raiders and Broncos.  It also has an interesting tidbit about Shanny coaching the Raiders and a mistake with an agenda he’ll never push again.  Makes you wonder if this was one reason he didn’t go over well with the organization.   Especially hearing Mike explain what he wanted to get and knowing the past history of that team.  I’ll leave that nugget to Fatsis.

This article also shines a good spotlight on Denver’s torrid affair with Todd Sauerbrun.  It becomes all the more relevant after recent events.  Here is the discourse after Todd tested positive for Ephedra:

Shanahan tells me he found out about punter Todd Sauerbrun testing positive for the banned stimulant ephedra three days ago, on July 4, and summoned Todd to his office the next day. “You say, `Dumbs—. What are you doing? You know they’re looking at you. Why are you putting ephedra in your body?”‘ Under the NFL’s drug-testing rules — which are posted on a magnetic bulletin board next to a 32-inch Samsung flat-screen just inside the front entrance to the locker room — all players are subject to random testing up to six times between the final game of the season and the start of training camp. Because of an arrest for driving while impaired when he played for the Carolina Panthers (he pleaded guilty, was fined $100, and received a year’s probation), Todd can be tested year-round up to 24 times.

Shanahan says that Todd initially told him he had taken ephedra, available in any vitamin store, to lose weight. “Dietary thing,” Shanahan says. “Give me a break.” Rather, I learn from Broncos players and officials, Todd took the stimulant to increase stamina and endurance while weightlifting. For Shanahan, the suspension is a bureaucratic and media headache, and potentially a competitive one, too. But it’s not a new headache, and not one that especially upsets him. Steroids, marijuana, felony arrests, attitude problems — Shanahan has seen it all. “When you’re younger, it’s life and death: `Oh my God, how could this happen to me?’ ” he says. “When you get older, you understand it’s part of the profession and you deal with it.”

Good stuff there, I’m already mightily impressed with the juicy details Stephan was able to extract from training camp.  This is almost as good as if the Broncos were to be featured on Hard Knocks.  So without me relaying the entire article to you, read it for yourself.

Inside the Mind of Mike Shanahan [Wall Street Journal]

• Brandon Marshall is catching everything in sight with his injured hand once again.  [Rocky Mountain News]
• A history of athletes and domestic violence spotlight Marshall’s history with his ex.  [Denver Post]
• Terry Frei doesn’t agree with his own newspaper and others plastering domestic violence cases all over the cover.  Especially before there is even a case.  [Denver Post]
• Elway’s Crush upset the Utah Blaze in the AFL playoffs this weekend.  [Boulder Daily Camera]
• Commissioner Roger Goodell comes out against outragous rookie contracts.  [Rocky Mountain News]
• The official site takes a closer look at 2nd year safety Roderick Rogers.  [denverbroncos.com]