Quarterback's arrest won't be a distraction/ Legal problems becoming

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Oct 31, 2000 | by John Branch

ENGLEWOOD - The Broncos acted as if they had been through it all before. Which, of course, they had.

Brian Griese is just the latest teammate to run afoul of the law. It may have been the talk of the town, but it wasn't the talk among Griese's teammates.

"The media or the people outside of here get more distracted than we do," said tackle Tony Jones. "We've been through so much. We just have to support the guy. Even if he's wrong, you still have to support him like a family member."

Griese, Denver's starting quarterback, was charged Saturday night with driving under the influence of alcohol. He had been pulled over for driving 80 mph in a 65 mph zone on Interstate 25 in south Denver, then failed a roadside sobriety test. A breath test said his blood- alcohol content was above Colorado's 0.10 percent legal limit.

It was mostly a disruption for Griese and coach Mike Shanahan, who spent the weekend in Texas visiting his son. He received a phone call when he returned to Denver Sunday night telling him what happened, then called Griese.

The quarterback normally addresses the media just once a week, on Wednesdays, but the two decided Griese should talk Monday about what happened. The idea was to address it and, with luck, move on.

"We didn't want that to linger for a couple of days," Shanahan said.

Griese joins the list of Broncos starters finding themselves in legal trouble since the team won SuperBowlXXXIII.

Linebacker Bill Romanowski faces felony charges related to illegally obtaining a prescription drug called Phentermine, and is due back in court Nov. 6.

Receiver Rod Smith was sentenced to two years of probation and 36 weeks of counseling after pleading guilty in June of verbal harassment of the mother of his two children.

And linebacker John Mobley was given a year's probation and 24 hours of community service after totaling his car south of Denver in June 1999. The original charge of driving under the influence - his blood-alcohol level was 0.139 percent - was reduced to driving while impaired.

Those have all been labeled as "distractions," though players insist that what happens to their teammates off the field has little bearing on the team on the field. And if Denver's 4-4 season doesn't improve in the second half of the year, players said, no one will use "off-field distractions" as an excuse.

"The reason we lose is because we aren't playing well," Jones said. "On Sunday, I don't think we're going to be thinking about what happened to a guy during the off week."

Added fullback Howard Griffith: "A lot of people are going to talk about it, by the water coolers, in the papers, it's going to be a topic. For us, we have other things we have to try to take care of - mainly, a victory."

Griese's arrest also sparked talk about professional athletes as role models, and how legal problems get magnified because someone is famous.

Cornerback Terrell Buckley caught a local-news promotion following Colorado Avalanche goalie Patrick Roy's domestic-violence troubles a week ago. The advertisement lined up about five pictures of Denver athletes who have been arrested.

"Even back to Vance Johnson," said Buckley, referring to the ex- Denver receiver. "That was the '80s. I'm saying to myself: it's 2000. How many guys have come through here since then?"

It's the trade-off of being famous. Some players are more comfortable with it than others.

"Obviously, they wouldn't put you on the news if you had a DUI," said safety Billy Jenkins, pointing to a reporter.

"We're in the spotlight, but we have to live with our responsibility. That comes with the territory. We're professional athletes and role models. We have to realize our role."

Police blotter

Quarterback Brian Griese became the latest in a string of Denver Broncos, and Denver athletes in general, to find themselves embroiled in legal troubles when he was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol on Saturday.