Maurice Clarett's gamble for the big dollars in the NFL failed for a second time. The Denver Broncos informed Clarett on Sunday that he is being released. Mike Shanahan surprised the league by using a third-round draft choice on the former Ohio State running back in the final selection of the round. The Broncos coach thought he had the cutback style of running that fit in one of the league's best running systems. As it turned out, Shanahan made a mistake and didn't want to waste time admitting it. With Tuesday's deadline for cutting the roster to 65 looming, Clarett, who never made the field in three preseason games, was let go. Clarett first gambled that he could beat the NFL in court after applying despite not being three years out of high school. The case failed and Clarett had to sit out and wait until the 2005 season to get his chance to turn pro. Clarett's second gamble was on his contract. He felt he was a first-round choice and wanted a contract similar to what a first-rounder would receive. To accomplish that, he tried to do get that contract with incentives. The four-year deal he pushed for included no signing bonus.

Maurice Clarett practiced for the first time in a long while on Thursday, which just happened to be the final practice of training camp 2005. A phantom groin injury had kept him on the sideline for the better part of the last two weeks. Doctors had indicated that an MRI indicated no damage to Clarett?s groin, and they cleared him to return to practice nearly 10 days ago. However, Clarett chose not to come back, preferring instead to stand on the sidelines and watch while his teammates busted their backsides in the hot Colorado sun. So, why would Clarett hold himself out of practice for nearly two weeks giving himself no chance whatsoever to move up Denver?s crowded depth chart at the running back position, while simultaneously alienating himself from his head coach and his teammates?

The Broncos were victorious Saturday night in Houston in their preseason debut. Who cares, right? Let?s get to the important things in the preseason, which include backup quarterbacks and season ending injuries. Luckily, there is no news to report concerning the latter. However, the backup quarterback situation in Denver is intriguing for perhaps the first time since Brian Griese took Bubby Brister?s job in 1999. The aforementioned backup quarterback of interest this year, goes by the name of Bradlee Van Pelt. Even though he was raised in Southern California, he has become one of Colorado?s favorite adopted sons--or maybe I should say one of Colroado State?s favorite adopted sons. Van Pelt starred at Colorado State University before being drafted by the Broncos last season. His reckless style and cocky attitude made him a fan favorite in Ft. Collins, and public number enemy number one in Boulder at The University of Colorado.

Jake ?the snake? Plummer suffered a ?tweak? of his left knee during the Broncos training camp on Saturday. "It's nothing major and with a couple of day's rest it should be OK," Plummer said. "It was not as if I couldn't keep going."

This may be Tom Nalen?s last season in the NFL after a fantastic career in which the Broncos starting center garnered 5 Pro Bowl selections. "I'd be lying if I didn't say I didn't think about it," Nalen said. "I don't have a contract for next year. I don't know what's going to happen." "Tom was the anchor to our championship teams," Sundquist said. "We all know what he has meant to the success of the running game in the Mike Shanahan era."

The Denver Broncos will be very deep at the tailback position come September as they have five solid backs competing for the starting position. Mike Anderson, Tatum Bell, Ron Dayne, Quentin Griffin and Maurice Clarett have all been heard from before, and all have the credentials to win the starting job. "We have five guys that have a legitimate chance at getting some playing time," coach Mike Shanahan said. "Right now, it's on a day-to-day basis. Sometimes, a guy will have a good practice and the next time, he'll have a decent practice. I've been impressed with all of them." At the moment, Anderson and Bell are the front runners for the starting position. "I've been real patient and just over the years, I've had some mishaps and some setbacks," Anderson said. "That's part of life. I'm still here and I'm out there now, and I'm happy." "Last year, I kind of waited for a chance to do something," Bell said. "I want to be in the mix right at the get-go this time."