Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!
 

It Isn't Easy Being Griese

Originally from the
Rocky Mountain News
Clay Latimer,
Columnist

October 25, 2002

 

Brian Griese

"Griese was not the main reason or the only reason we were not successful."
--Shannon Sharpe, after the 2002 season

MIAMI - Brian Griese did all he could do to set up the perfect ending to his high school football career.

He tossed passes to his receivers for hours on muggy summer mornings, pumped iron, watched hours of videotape, then saw his plans get blown away in late August 1992, when South Floridians started boarding-up windows and rushing to stores for emergency supplies.

Churning their way was Hurricane Andrew, the storm of the century, a disaster so potent that when it plowed into land at 170 mph it instantly crushed homes and tossed cars across the sky.

Out of the rubble, Griese tried to restore a sense of normalcy to that season. But Andrew wiped three games off Christopher Columbus High School's schedule and hung over the rest of the season like a depression.

Calm days have rarely come Griese's way. At the University of Michigan and, later with the Denver Broncos, the son of a legend repeatedly has found himself in the eye of unsettling storms.

He won the Rose Bowl with Michigan and led the Wolverines to an undefeated season, topped the NFL in passing and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl. But Griese also has been dragged down by his own odd mishaps and alcohol-related offenses. He has alienated teammates with an aloof, some say, arrogant demeanor. And he has turned surly when diplomacy was required and pointed fingers when restraint was crucial.

In fact, the life of Brian isn't close to the one many envisioned in 1998, when Griese landed in Denver, the embodiment of a natural-born leader.

"Being the quarterback and the bright person he is, it kind of shocks you he does or says something that gets him back in the press. It surprised me then and it surprises me now," said former Broncos tight end Desmond Clark, now with the Miami Dolphins. "You say, 'Brian, what are you thinking?' "

 

CONTINUE