Denver Broncos - Committed to Win the Super Bowl

PFT brings our attention to a letter sent by Pat Bowlen, the owner of the Denver Broncos, to the team's season ticket holders in response to the Jay Cutler debacle, which some would argue rivaled last year's Chad Johnson debacle.  Leaving aside what you think about the Jay Cutler situation, let's consider two points:

(1) The Broncos had a young, promising quarterback that showed an ability to succeed early in his career (which as we know, is hard to come by).  Cutler was about 1/20th as loud as Chad Johnson was last year in asking for a trade.  Nonetheless, the situation became a distraction for the Broncos as the Quarterback was non-responsive to his team and his agent insisted that Cutler be traded.  Rather than bringing that distraction and media frenzy into the 2009 season, they dealt him (for Kyle Orton, 2 first round draft picks and a third round pick).  Only time will tell if this deal is a good one but given the spiraling out of control of the situation, it's tough to argue with the Broncos pulling the trigger.  Perhaps Denver coach Josh McDaniels' decision to go after Matt Cassell and try to trade Cutler was a mistake in the first place but that's besides the point.  The team had a player who didn't want to be a part of the team and a potential distraction (and one not nearly as big as the Chad circus last year) and they dealt with it.  Meanwhile, despite Chad's antics last year, Chad remains on the Bengals this year and after a horrid 2008 season, is once AGAIN skipping voluntary workouts.  And this despite the fact that Carson, Chad and TJ couldn't get on the same page during voluntary workouts last season after the latter two skipped last year's voluntary workouts. 

(2) More importantly, Denver's owner wrote the season ticketholders a letter to address the Cutler media frenzy and assure Bronco fans that Denver is committed to being a championship team.  Bowlen writes to his fans:

Understand this:   it remains about team.  Our franchise has gone to the Super Bowl six times, with three different coaches and with many different players.  It has never been about one player, and it never will be.   Coach McDaniels shares this vision, and everyone in the organization — players, coaches and staff — must understand and accept this unconditionally.   If anyone does not, that person will not be a part of this franchise.

He also says:

One of my directives to Josh McDaniels upon his hiring was that he consider everything possible to return the Broncos to the level which you and I both expect, and this certainly includes making a fair evaluation of every opportunity presented to us which might improve the team.

Bowlen, an NFL owner of a team that has made it to the Super Bowl six times and won two of them, addresses his fans and assures them that the Denver Broncos are evaluating everything in order to ensure that the team returns to glory.  The Denver Broncos are about the team.  The team is committed to returning to their levels of success in the past.  In the past, they have won 2 Super Bowls and been to 6.  Meanwhile, Mike Brown has 0 playoff wins in 18 years and has made the playoffs one time.  We've discussed the ridicularity of the Bengals communications with season ticketholders this year (both here and here).  Never once has Mike Brown informed or even demonstrated to his fan base that the team is committed to do everything it takes to win a Super Bowl.  The scouting department remains small.  Our head coach is not held to a high standard and medicority, or just under it, is rewarded.  We continually leave major problem areas unaddressed, namely the O-line and D-line. 

Mr. Brown, please take a lesson from Pat Bowlen in (a) running a winning, championship NFL franchise and (b) basic people skills.

Comments

[BMN]

It's all about one man in Cincy: Mike Brown. It's not about winning, it's about winning his way and if he can't win his way, he'd rather not win at all.

BMN

[PAl]

The most frustrating thing about the Bengals is realizing that Mike Brown does not think the way most people do. He believes things are up when everybody else says things are down, he beleives things are black when everybody else says they are white,etc. He is going to do things his own way even though his way has been proven wrong for 18 years. He doesn't see it. He thinks he is the only one right and everybody else is wrong! How many times do you hear him rationalize his failure by starting off his sentence with "In this league"? Well, you idiot "In this league" you are a laughing stock,a doormat for other teams. The only reason that the rest of the owners don't laugh in your face is out of respect for your father and the fact that you do make money for the NFL, thanks to the "taken for granted but hopefully not much longer" fans.

We will all promise you that if you hire a GM and he does well we will give you full credit for being smart enough to realize(after 18 years)that you don't know anything about how to win "in this league".

[Robinsgr]

I am very tired of hearing him blame the teams failures (his failures) on "injuries". Every team has injuries. Winning teams learn how to overcome them. MB uses them as a crutch and an excuse.

[MIKEBROWN_MURDAYOURSELF]

I agree. The injuries excuse cannot be allowed. Look at the list of team injuries, the Ravens are two or three spots behind the Bengals.. didn't they just have a stellar season? Maybe if we drafted well our backups would be better than the guys at a fourth grade pick-up game. Or get some trainers with a diploma, not some tore up fraud with an internet degree.
Whatever the solution is, I dont really care.. I hate to say it but I like the recent decisions the FO has made. If they keep filling spots (like hopefully getting Tank Johnson!) then I will continue to feel like Mike Brown wants to win. The draft and FA after the draft will be a huge indicator as to what direction the Bengals have decided to turn. I would love to remain a Bengals fan, but I may be forced to go elsewhere until Mike "the Retard Son of a Hall of Famer's Bitch" Brown dies or sells the team to someone who knows football and does things THE RIGHT WAY!

[SamWyche]

I'd like MB to own and not manage and am just as dissappointed with instititionalized losing that is the Bengals but... I like Mikey's stance to not was $9million + in dead cap space to deal with a big baby last year. You let the inmates run the asylum and every year its another guy acting like Chad. The Packers have dealt with that. Chad is getting cheaper to dump but I'd rather punish his punk a** with the 4 game "conduct detrimental to the team" suspension.

And you know, if the Bengals were run right, we wouldn't care how this was handled either way, because we would be a contending franchise each year.

[Rich]

I've been a Bengals fan for so long that the point of this post doesn't make sense to me.

[bif]

in mikey boy's defense, a letter such as this would cost at least a couple hundred dollars in postage alone. the bengals don't have a couple hundred dollars just lying around to be thrown about willy-nilly on things as foolish as keeping the fans happy or informed.