Breaking up is hard to do

Matthew Hill, Special to the News

Published September 18, 2006 at midnight

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We have all met her. She keeps framed pictures up of her ex-boyfriend because they are "still really good friends." She sleeps in his old clothes that she conveniently forgot to return because "they are so comfortable." Worst of all, she refuses to be content with whomever she is dating because she is too busy comparing his every trait to her ex.

The girl who refuses to move on is at best horribly annoying, at worst downright pathetic. Look in the mirror, Bronco fans – she may be you! Do you still wear an Elway jersey to Bronco games? How about anywhere else in public? Do you find yourself shaking your head after witnessing an interception and muttering, "Elway wouldn’t have made that throw"? Do you mutter this at your child’s Pop Warner games? Do you have to force yourself not to genuflect every time someone says Elway?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, I need to remind you of something. It may hurt to hear, but you need to listen – HE’S GONE AND HE’S NEVER COMING BACK! This bizarre infatuation/religious devotion that so many Bronco fans have toward John Elway is flat-out creepy!

Take a deep breath and actually look at what you have. You have a quarterback who led you to the AFC Championship game a season ago (a game lost in large part to the defense allowing Roethlisberger to go 22 of 29 for 275 yards and two touchdowns) and has been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL the past three seasons. His stats (60-to-34 touchdown-to-interception ratio with a completion percentage over 60 percent) along with his team’s record (33-15) over that period illustrate this. Granted, Plummer will occasionally throw some ball that he never should have even considered throwing, but the great competitors will do that. The fact is Plummer is a winner who is clutch in the fourth quarter and isn’t afraid to take risks in order to lead his team to a victory.

None of this matters to the Elway worshipers. All they see when they look at Plummer is a guy with an ugly beard who isn’t worthy of shining Elway’s shoes, much less following in his footsteps. They scream for a clean-cut rookie backup who led his team to a 5-6 record in the Southeastern Conference last season. They call for a rookie with one preseason worth of NFL education to take over with the expectation of leading their team to the Super Bowl. They forget that even Elway had a 7-to-14 touchdown-to-interception ratio as a rookie learning the complicated NFL game.

We all know Elway was a superstar who brought titles to Denver, but turn the page. Neither Jake Plummer nor Jay Cutler are or ever will be John Elway. Denver was fortunate to have one of the all-time greats line up behind center, but it’s time to put away the ex’s pictures and old clothes, have one last good cry and move on.

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