Just Say "Hell No!" to TO

Mike Celizic of NBCSports.com had this to say about the possibility of the Broncos signing T.O.:

The good citizens of the Mile High City like to think that they’re just a tad more sensitive than those of us who have to live at elevations where there’s actual oxygen to breathe. Their idea of a hero is John Elway, an all-around great guy with a piano-key smile and an aw-shucks response to his own greatness.

But Broncos coach Mike Shanahan has the air of a man who needs just the slightest of nudges to go over to the Dark Side, if he isn’t there already. Remember, his teams have always been known as eager practitioners of the chop-block — a legal move, but one that defensive linemen hate because it tends to destroy their knees.

Shanahan once coached T.O., and Shanahan also is feeling some pressure now that Broncos fans are starting to notice that their team hasn’t won a playoff game since Elway left. And coaches who once had something approaching success with a player always think they can do it again.

The Broncos are playing well, but sooner or later they’re going to have to face the Colts in the playoffs. If Shanahan thinks T.O. can turn defeat into victory, he might go for him.

Now, Shanahan has proven that he isn't the greatest judge of character in the NFL. After all, he is the guy who signed Dale Carter, Daryl Gardner, and Bill "there's nothing I wouldn't put in my body if it didn't help me compete" Romanowski - a regular who's who list of NFL degenerates. But T.O. isn't nearly as bad as any of the guys mentioned above. He's a jerk, but a fairly straight-forward and relatively honest jerk. Plus, he's a thousand times more talented than the guys mentioned above. So what's keeping the Broncos from considering making an offer to T.O.?

Hopefully the answer to that question is a sense of team pride. I can't think of a bigger insult to someone as cool as Rod Smith as having him team-up with someone as ridiculously uncool as T.O. None of the degenerates listed above proved valuable to the Broncos (except maybe Romanowski who, let's not forget, was teamed with upstanding and under-appreciated fellow linebacker John Mobley and the incredibly talented duo of Terrel Davis and John Elway) and I can't imagine someone like T.O. bringing more to the team than he would take away. Someone's going to get T.O. It'll probably be the Raiders, and hopefully it won't be us.

And what's with this Celizic guy? In my book it's okay to rip strangely opportunistic coaches like Shanahan - I've done it myself many times. But it's not cool to imply that ignorance comes at altitude. If that was the case, you'd think the Vikings were playing in the Himalayas - and speaking of the Vikes I can definitely see T.O. headed there. Later...