If you know your recent NFL history, you're probably not at all surprised that the Denver Broncos have been forced into a situation where they're going to have to trade their starting quarterback sometime before the draft.
The Broncos are in this situation for a plethora of reasons. The blame has been thrown in all directions. Is it the owner's fault for lying to the player? Is it the new, inexperienced head coach's fault for not effectively communicating with the player? Is it the general manager's fault for entertaining trade offers for the player? Is it the player's fault for acting like a spoiled 12-year-old?
The answer is probably "yes" to all of those questions. Everyone shares a little of the blame. The entire situation hasn't been handled correctly by anyone involved.
But while all of those people deserve some of the blame, none of them deserve the most blame. The most blame goes to the agent, Bus Cook.
I've read a few articles blaming Bus Cook for how this situation degenerated, but I'm not sure the fans understand the extent to which he's to blame.
If you talk to Denver fans, they're either incensed at their young, big-headed head coach or they're blind with rage at their selfish baby of a starting quarterback. You really have to push to get someone to mention Cook's name.
But when you give them a little back story, it starts to make more sense.
Bus Cook was involved in the messy breakup between Steve McNair and the Titans.
The breakup involved leaked trade rumors, negotiating through the media, a team complaining that the player wasn't returning phone calls, a player being locked out of the team's training facility, lawsuits being filed, and eventually bitter feelings and a forced trade to a division rival.
Any of that sounds familiar?
Bus Cook was/is Brett Favre's agent. No need to rehash the Favre saga, but needless to say he didn't come out of that looking good, he ended up on another team, and his former team left the situation with an extreme dislike for the agent.
When Bus Cook is involved, one of two things happen: record breaking contracts, or a messy, messy divorce. Team be damned, fans be damned, Bus Cook always gets what he wants.
He's gotten record breaking contracts for the likes of Steve McNair, Brett Favre, Randy Moss, and Calvin Johnson. The only one of those situations that hasn't ended in a messy divorce where the player ended up looking extremely bad is the Calvin Johnson situation ... and let's give that one a few more seasons.
When Mike Shanahan was "the man" in Denver, it was a forgone conclusion that Jay Cutler was going to be Bus Cook's next record-breaking contract. When Shanahan was fired, Cook's radar went up.
When the Broncos tried to trade for Matt Cassel, the writing was on the wall. Cook knew he wasn't going to get a record breaking contract for his young quarterback.
So he went the messy divorce route. It's his modus operandi. Get the contract, or get the hell out. Let nobody, not even your own client's reputation, get in the way.
Roger Goodell has been trying to clean up the game since he became NFL commissioner. He's cracked down on the players. He even cracked down on one of the NFL's marquee franchises. Agree with him or not, he believes it's all for the good of the game.
I can think of no single move he could make that would be better for the game than banning Bus Cook from representing NFL players.
Sean Crowe is the New England Patriots Examiner at Examiner.com. He writes a column every other Thursday for Sports Central. You can e-mail him at [email protected].
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