INGLEWOOD, CA. –From the snap of his helmet to the punch, linebacker Randy Gregory was the Grinch who stole the last shred of respectability from an NFL franchise that became an embarrassment to Broncos Country under coach Nathaniel Hackett’s watch.
“You all want to know if I punched him in the mouth, I did,” Gregory said on a sad Christmas for a bad football team as he left the locker room after a 51-14 loss against the Rams.
However, you didn’t have to look at the scoreboard to see that Hackett lost control of this team. It’s not a question of whether he gets fired, but how team owner and general manager George Paton can keep Hackett for the remaining two games on the schedule.
The NFL has no choice but to fine Gregory, and if the Broncos want to retain any dignity, they should suspend the incorrigible linebacker for repeated tantrums.
“What altercation?” Gregory told his locker when approached by reporters after the game. Maybe he was confused, unable to keep all the hubbub straight. Gregory threw away his helmet in disgust after the Rams took a 24-3 second quarter lead and were flagged for headhunting LA quarterback Baker Mayfield in the fourth quarter.
You are a villain, Mr. Grégory.
We can’t make this up: Gregory wore a bright green Grinch sweater to the stadium. When he put on his football kit to go on the field, Gregory showed all the tender kindness of a crocodile who is seasick.
Of the 11 miserable losses this season, this dismantling by the Rams was perhaps the most painful of all, with Russell Wilson throwing three interceptions and offensive lineman Dalton Risner recovering quarterback Brett Rypien on the line of touch.
But when the fourth quarter ended happily, things got worse somehow. As players from both teams mingled on the field, exchanging holiday greetings, Gregory threw a punch at Rams offensive lineman Oday Aboushi.
Gregory should never have been able to embarrass the organization like this. Hackett should have removed his helmet and paused it after the 30-year-old linebacker snapped his helmet 9 minutes and 42 seconds before halftime.
I asked Hackett why he didn’t bench Gregory then.
“We took him out and let him in,” Hackett replied. After that, he started to get a little upset. He wants to do a play.
From his earliest days on the job, Hackett acted more like a kindergarten cop than a competent head coach, doling out hugs rather than instilling discipline in the Broncos and treating an NFL training camp like a camp. children’s summer.
A team aspiring to win a championship needed to do better homework before signing Gregory to a five-year, $70 million deal. It was a mistake by Paton, who also gave Wilson a $245 million contract extension before throwing a pass that mattered to the Broncos.
When Wilson suffered a concussion against the Kansas City Chiefs, I suggested he sit out the rest of the season, for the sake of his physical health, giving his brain plenty of time to heal.
He ridiculed any such idea last week, insisting he was ready and looking forward to Christmas. You know this game is a physical game. I didn’t sign up – and I’ve said this before – but I didn’t sign up for tennis,” Wilson said.
Against the Rams, Wilson beat the Broncos single-handedly, opening the game by throwing two interceptions on three pass attempts, putting Denver down 17-0 and proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that he had no not passed the stupid rotation protocol.
File that under things that even those of us who doubted the sanity of giving Wilson a $245 million contract extension could never have foreseen.
After Wilson carelessly threw his second interception directly into the hands of Rams linebacker and former teammate Bobby Wagner, the quarterback was dissed by Patrick Star, a cartoon character from “SpongeBob SquarePants” who made the comment on broadcast of the game on Nickelodeon: “It’s not what he wanted to cook.
Oh my. When Wilson begins to get dispelled by an animated starfish, it’s more than a new low. It’s the bottom of the sea.
Perhaps the team should reconsider its options and bench Wilson for the final two games of the season to preserve the sanity of Broncos Country fans.
Haven’t we all suffered enough?
We were beaten 51-14. There should be people (checked). It shouldn’t just be sunshine and roses on the sidelines. People should be crazy,” said Risner, who disagreed with Rypien.
After Denver beat sad Arizona a week earlier, there were rumors that the team might have to give Hackett a second chance to do it right in the new year.
Well, isn’t it obvious now? The Broncos must resolve to do better in 2023 than a coach who can’t hack him.
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