Living On The Edge

With his decision last week to discuss at length his relationship with Elway and Shanahan when he was the Broncos' coach, Reeves chose to reopen the wounds and make sure this would not be a Super Bowl dominated by the usual manufactured hype. My goodness, these folks really don't like each other very much.

Reeves was the Broncos' coach when Elway joined the team as a rookie in 1983. Despite three Super Bowl appearances together, these two fiery, emotional men had a stormy relationship. The demanding, impatient, quick-tempered Reeves can be difficult to work with; Elway, frustrated by Reeves' emphasis on a conservative running game and gifted with an ad-lib ability that ran counter to his coach's set ways, could be just as stubborn. Shanahan--who was an assistant with the Broncos in two different stints (1984-1987 and 1989-1991) before being fired by Reeves, his once good friend, after the '91 season--served as a buffer between the two.

Elway has described his last few years with Reeves, who was fired after the 1992 season, as "hell." Reeves has slammed Elway's immaturity. In the middle of all this is Shanahan, who, in Reeves' opinion, sided with Elway. Reeves believes Shanahan turned Elway against him, in part by not informing Reeves that Elway was unhappy with the head coach. Reeves claims the first time he learned the full extent of Elway's complaints was when he read a newspaper article in 1990. Reeves also says that Elway, who was calling his own plays in 1990, was guided in his choices by Shanahan--without approval from Reeves. Reeves says he has no proof to substantiate any of his claims.

Shanahan denies any conspiracy. He says he acted as a peacemaker, that Reeves was aware of Elway's unhappiness, that he tired of his role and finally brought the two men together and told them to work out their difficulties. He denies plotting out plays with Elway behind Reeves' back. He says he turned down the Broncos' head-coaching job after Reeves was fired to avoid any look of impropriety. Reeves, bothered by Elway's friendship with Shanahan, refuses to back away from his stance. Shanahan says Reeves' charges of insubordination damaged his reputation, that he is searching for a fall guy. Elway says Reeves' handling of Shanahan further damaged his relationship with Reeves. He says that if he had played more of his career under the more flexible Shanahan, he would have enjoyed even greater personal success.

Don't invite these three men to the same football clinic. Unless you want to learn about something other than X's and O's.

Senior writer Paul Attner covers the NFL for THE SPORTING NEWS.

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