| | By John Clayton
ESPN.com
GREELEY, Colo. -- The Broncos press guide boasts a 13-page section on retired quarterback John Elway. Starter Brian Griese's bio barely spills over into a third page. In Denver, Elway has more car dealerships (17) than Griese has games played (15).
Yet Elway's long shadow was the least of Griese's concerns last season. A week before the opener, Griese was named the starter to a veteran team that preferred Bubby Brister. In the huddle, Griese was a stranger, and this wasn't paradise.
|  | | Now when Brian Griese speaks in the huddle, his teammates listen. |
"Last year, it wasn't my job," Griese said. "It was a tough situation. Everybody had their alliances with Bubby, and rightfully so. They had prepared to go into the battle with him. It's hard for offensive guys to switch alliances."
This offseason, Griese took nothing for granted. He painfully broke down every play so he could work on his weakness. He spent time with each of the skilled position players, picking their brains for ways to better work with them. In essence, Griese left little doubt that this was his team.
The only question remain is for how long.
"Brian is a better quarterback than last year," wide receiver Rod Smith said. "He's more of a leader. He's more in charge of what's going on. He's a more confident football player. I think he learned his limitations last year and now knows what he can and can't do."
That was the hardest part. No one likes to study his faults.
"The first thing I had to do was sit down and swallow my medicine and look at every snap I played last year and critically say what I did not do well," Griese said.
For three months, Griese admits he was in a bad mood. He dwelled on the fumbles in the red zone, the interceptions -- all the mistakes. He reviewed the times he was impatient and forced throws. He studied the times he held onto the ball too long and took sacks. It wasn't pretty.
"The first thing you have to do if you take over a team is play well," Griese said. "I didn't play well in situations last year. I wasn't consistent enough. Having a good drive and three or four bad drives is not going to win you many games."
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Replacing a legend
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Brian Griese had his troubles replacing John Elway last season, but his numbers in 1999 were actually better than Elway's stats in his first season as the starter in 1983. Here's how their debut seasons compare:
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com-att
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yds
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td
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int
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Griese
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261-452
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3032
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14
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14
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Elway
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123-259
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1663
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7
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14
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Coach Mike Shanahan, a master of knowing quarterback psyche, played things cool. He's never come out and said that Griese is the starter. Instead he promotes an open competition between Griese and Gus Frerotte that doesn't really exist. Griese worked the offseason to make this his team and his huddle.
In the last year of his contract, though, Griese understands the reality that he must win nine or 10 games to keep the job beyond this year. Shanahan thinks in terms of Super Bowls, and if Griese can't put the team in position to be in a championship game, he's going to be looking for a quarterback who can.
"Brian has to go out there and prove himself," Shanahan said. "I've got a lot of confidence in him. I believe his teammates do, too. Until you do it, people always have that question. I listened to people say for 14 years that John Elway couldn't win a Super Bowl. I didn't believe that and he was MVP two years in a row. It took 14 years to shut some of those people up."
Shanahan's lesson to Griese is to first believe in yourself. Players aren't going to follow quarterbacks who aren't confident. What has him quietly smiling is that Griese is acting the part of a confident quarterback. He's seeing a leader emerge.
"Brian realizes it's his huddle," halfback Terrell Davis said. "Whether you are a 14-year player or a second-year player, when you are the quarterback, it's your team. You have to take control of it. You can just tell maybe by the arrogance of the way he controls the huddle now that if a receiver is making or not making a play, he is going to address it."
Silence in the huddle turned the Broncos into lambs last year. Davis remembered that mistakes weren't addressed on the field.
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“ |
Brian has to go out there and prove
himself. I've got a lot of confidence in him. I believe his teammates do, too. Until you do
it, people always have that question. ” |
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— Mike Shanahan, Broncos head coach |
"Last year, we caught ourselves taking plays off," Smith said. "A lot of the guys this year are more focused, more committed."
Frerotte came out publicly Saturday and conceded that the starting job was Griese's. It was something every Bronco knew.
"It's been a good offseason for me and for the rest of the offense," Griese said. "I knew I hadn't been consistent last year. I'm my own worst critic, and I caught a lot of crap from the media last year. It didn't bother me. I have high expectations of myself. I couldn't wait to get to training camp."
Though he's never going to be considered a strong-armed quarterback, Griese does have more zip on the ball than a year ago. He played the entire season less than 100 percent because of shoulder surgery following the 1998 season.
"I wasn't as accurate last year," Griese said. "It wasn't a question that I had to go back and refine my accuracy. I was overcompensating for the injury that I had. My mechanics broke down because I had to overcompensate. This year, I've been putting it on the money."
Shanahan will find out if his faith in Griese -- which turned into a negative last season -- can be cashed in for a trip to the playoffs.
John Clayton is the senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
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