A Few Seconds of Panic, Stefan Fatsis' new book about his time with the Broncos as a kicker before the 2006 season, includes on its one hundred sixty-second page the following awesome quote:
This year's per-team salary cap is $101,866,000, and the Broncos will come as close to that number as possible. Fully funding the team was a condition Shanahan set when he became head coach in 1995; a few years earlier, he had spurned an offer from Bowlen for reasons of internal politics and authority.
Bowlen says he wouldn't do it any other way. 'I'm not going to be judged on how much money this organization made,' he tells me one day. 'I mean, [f], that doesn't even enter the equation. Zero. It's, 'How many games did he win? How many Super Bowls did he win?' There's not a lot of things that I really want other than winning Super Bowls. I mean, what do I want, a bigger house? No. More space in Hawaii? Own my own jet? I mean, none of that makes a hell of a lot of sense to me at this stage in my life.'
If the Nuggets' cheaping out on Marcus Camby has bothered you half as much as it has me, then Bowlen is surely a breath of fresh air. With as much as I complain when some owners let me down, let me say how much I appreciate what Bowlen's ownership has meant for my favorite team over the past two-plus decades.
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I just finished reading A Few Seconds of Panic, and without spoiling anything, let me just say that if you're a serious Broncos fan, it's an absolute must-read. The book chronicles Fatsis' attempt to turn himself into an NFL-caliber placekicker despite being in his early forties. In other words, it's half semi-serious attempt, half awesome insider's look.
If you're reading the book just to hear about the Broncos, as I did, know two things going in. The first is that, focusing on the 2006 camps and preseason, it's already a little dated, as key players on the team include guys like Jake Plummer. This didn't bother me at all. (If anything, it made me miss Plummer, and the book reconfirmed my feelings on him and the still-developing Jay Cutler.) The second point is that the first few chapters are mostly about Fatsis and very little about the Broncos; believe me when I say the payoff is worth the wait. Broncos lovers will love this book. HPS recommended.
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