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A fan at a Nuggets game holds a sign regarding the controversy between Josh McDaniels and Jay Cutler of the Broncos.

Hall of Famer Otto Graham saying of the father of modern football Paul Brown, “Ninety percent of the time I love him. Ten percent of the time, I hate his guts.”

Young having to be restrained from going after Seifert on the 49ers sidelines by fullback Tom Rathman after Seifert pulled Young from a blowout.

Terry Bradshaw believing that Steelers coach Chuck Noll stunted his growth. Aikman bristling at the loose and disorganized manner of Switzer.

Even Joe Montana with a bone to pick about Bill Walsh.

“In Walsh’s mind, he discovered and molded Montana,” Sabol said. “Walsh felt he was Michelangelo to Montana’s ‘David.’ There was an interesting example of this we got at Films. Walsh used to have us film his game installation for after he retired, and it was fascinating listening to him break down plays. He’d say, ‘Roger Craig will take a half-step here. (Jerry) Rice will run here. And the quarterback will take six steps back and do...’ He’d never say Montana’s name. It was, ‘The quarterback will do this. The quarterback will do that.’

“I asked Walsh about that on two occasions,” Sabol said. “The first time, he told me, ‘Well, everybody would know I meant Joe Montana.’ About seven or eight years later I asked him again and he said, ‘In my system whether it was Young or Montana it was going to work. It’s all laid out to (the quarterback) in such a way that many people could have played the position for us.”

Ironically, just a week ago at this year’s NFL owners meetings, McDaniels spoke of his desire to talk with Cutler one-on-one. But every time he did, he called Cutler “the player.”

Said Sabol, “In this sense, with Josh and Jay, they are both very young and learning about themselves. That makes it to me a very unpredictable situation. If one of them were older, this would more likely work out. But their youth makes this situation very unpredictable to me.”

Theismann, like so many others who’ve been in the game for a long time, is dumbfounded it got to this.

“This whole thing got out of hand,” he said. “I’m not convinced that, no matter what Josh did, this would be the end result. I think what Josh did (considering a trade) opened the door and gave Jay the excuse to say, ‘I want out.’ Now, I’m real curious to see what direction the Broncos go in and who winds up with Jay Cutler. And I know this, when the trade is done, he’ll be happy. He’ll be tickled. He’ll work hard and say the right things and he’ll fix his reputation. This is his one shot at the exit door in Denver and he’s running for it.

“But if you’re Denver, you’ve opened Pandora’s Box when you let the players dictate the decisions,” Theismann said. “And haven’t we seen it before? Different initials? A ‘T’ and an ‘O’ (Terrell Owens)? If I was Pat Bowlen, I’d tell Jay he’s been there for the long run. What Pat’s saying is Jay’s more powerful than the organization. And this is such a petty, B.S. thing.”

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