THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY AUGUST 25, 2009
SPORTS
5B
NFL
Broncos deal with problems on and off the field
Denver searches for stability as former quarterback returns to town
ARNIE STAPLETON
Associated Press
Associated Press
ENGLEWOOD. Colo. — It doesn't take lay Cutler's return to Denver for the Broncos to find themselves in the middle of a circus.
Cutler and the Bears will visit Invesco Field on Sunday night in a preseason game like none other, one that marks the home debuts of coach Josh McDaniels, the man who chased Cutler out of town just weeks into his new job, and Kyle Orton, the methodical quarterback who replaced the Pro Bowl passer.
The Broncos still find themselves dealing with a soured superstar who has trust issues with the team, a simmering feud with the coach and a trade request on the table.
Sound familiar?
While Cutler forced a trade to Chicago after his clash with McDaniels six months ago, fellow Pro Bowler Brandon Marshall hasn't been able to punch his own ticket out of town.
The recalcitrant receiver asked for a trade in June and thought one would be in the works after
meeting with team owner Pat Bowlen, but McDaniels quickly quashed that notion, and Marshall reported to training camp insisting he was only doing the
$15,888 daily fines hosed face for holding out.
He's only practiced about a half-dozen times this offseason, and he's only taken a handful of snaps with the starting offense this month.
Zero takeaways and six turnovers is not the kind of thing the Broncos need when the games start to count ...
He pulled a hamstring on the first weekend of training camp and didn't return until a week ago after his acquittal on a misdemeanor battery charge in Atlanta, a verdict he had hoped would give him leverage for a new deal to replace the one that will pay him $2.2 million this season
Cutler and the Bears will visit Invesco Field on Sunday night in a preseason game like none other ...
His agent met with McDaniels last week on the same day Marshall met with a team executive, who apologized on behalf of the Broncos for an incident in which the receiver's teammates were instructed not to say they were happy for Marshall over his acquittal on charges he beat up his then-girlfriend 18 months ago.
Then, Marshall ran almost exclusively with the scout team last week after telling reporters he wasn't ready to resume his role as the Broncos' main receiver because he was nowhere near mastering the new playbook.
While Cutler has already shown flashes in Illinois of the brilliance and also the petulance he was known for in Denver, the quar-
So McDaniels left him behind along with some injured players
when the Broncos traveled to Seattle for their second preseason game Saturday.
But will he run any of the Broncos' offensive plays? Or will he simulate the Bears receivers instead of running his own routes? And will he be on the field Sunday night?
The Broncos resume practice Tuesday and McDaniels said he expects Marshall to be in the mix.
The Broncos' issues go beyond Marshall.
terback the Broncos got in return for the strong-armed, mop-topped star, hasn't exactly had a smooth transition.
Orton had a nightmarish three-interception performance in the Broncos' preseason opener at San Francisco following an awful stadium scrimmage that spawned the catch phrase "Orton hears a boo."
He atoned for his dismal debut last weekend at Seattle — save for an odd left-handed lob on fourth-1 that was intercepted in the end zone.
After the game, McDaniels sidestepped the question of whether he was looking forward to Cutler's return this week.
"I'm looking forward to this week because there's another list in there on my desk of things that we have to fix," he said.
Chief among them are Marshall's sticky situation and a minus-six turnover differential that has the coaching staff scratching their heads.
Zero takeaways and six turn-overs is not the kind of thing the Broncos need when the games start to count and they try to make their fans forget all about letting Cutler go.
Turnovers are "something we've talked about a ton, and maybe we haven't talked enough about it — or maybe we've talked too much about it, I don't know," McDaniels said.
One thing is for sure: all the talk this week will be about Cutler's return to face the team he left behind.
Denver Broncos' head coach Josh McDaniels talks with Kyle Orton in the first half of an NFL preseason football game against the Seattle Seahawks August 10, in Seattle. The Broncs resume practice Tuesday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
INTERNATIONAL
Track star receives warm welcome
Semenya undergoes testing after gender questions were raised
ASSOCIATED PRESS
JOHANNESBURG — South African runner Caster Semenya, who is undergoing gender testing after questions arose about her muscular build and deep voice, returns home Tuesday to celebrations after her 800-meter win at the world championships.
South Africans have rallied behind the 18-year-old, who is not accused of trying to cheat but of perhaps unknowingly having a medical condition that blurs her gender and gives her an unfair advantage over other female runners.
South Africa's gold medal winner Caster Semenya displays her medal after the ceremony Aug. 20 for the Women's 800m final at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin. Caster, who is undergoing gender testing, returns home tuesday to celebrations.
The governing African National Congress party, unions and other groups were urging their members to come to the airport Tuesday morning to greet Semenya at a rally.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jacob, Semenyas father, said it was not clear when his daughter would visit the family's village in northern South Africa. But Sammy Molofo, an ANC Youth League leader in the area where the runner grew up, said a weekend homecoming celebration was being planned there.
President Jacob Zuma was to meet Semenya and the two other South African medalists, men's 800-meter champion Mbulaeni Mulaudzi and men's long jump runner-up Kgotso Mokoena at the presidential guest house in Pretoria. According to a statement from his office Monday, Zuma wants "to congratulate them on their sterling performance in Berlin."
COSATU, the country's main trade union federation, said Tuesday's welcome would be for the whole team, but "especially Caster, who has been the victim of such a despicable campaign by international athletics officials to discredit her magnificent achievement by maliciously raising unfounded
questions about her gender."
Semenya's family and friends say there is no doubt she is a woman. But it is not always easy to get a clear-cut answer from scientists on the question in some cases.
The IAAF, track and field's governing body, will decide Semenya's case according to whether her "conditions ... accord no advantage over other females" after consulting a gynecologist, an endocrinologist, a psychologist, an internal medicine specialist and a gender expert. Her genes and physiology as well as how she sees herself and how she is seen by her community could play a role in their determination.
South Africans have been outraged not just that questions have been raised, but that they have been made public.
On Surday, Lamine Diack, the IAAF president, said the affair was handled badly.
"I deeply regret that confidentiality was breached in this case and that the IAAF were forced into a position of having to confirm that gender testing was being carried out on this young athlete," Diack told reporters in Berlin. "It is a regrettable matter and I have requested an internal inquiry to ensure that procedures are tightened up and this never happens again."