A Lesson In Sportsmanship: Pay Attention Todd Haley

By S.C. Hunt

And I thought Josh McDaniels had issues…

Todd Haley is a petulant whiner, and he needs a wake-up call. This is the NFL, brother. If you don’t play well, you get your butt beat. If want to call “uncle” or throw in the towel, fine, but don’t snub a colleague at midfield for the world to see, and then wag your finger in his face like some substitute chemistry teacher. Your team got it handed to them on Sunday—deal with it.

Haley showed his true colors by refusing to shake McDaniels’ hand after Sunday’s beat down, which makes absolutely no sense to me. Last January, Haley’s Chiefs came to town and handed the Broncos a 20-point loss. McDaniels soldiered to the middle of the field and shook Haley’s hand. Fast forward to Sunday afternoon, where the Broncos repaid the favor and beat the Cheifs by 20. Haley? Too petulant and preachy to pay some respect to his counterpart.

What a tool.

Need more proof of his adolescence? After the Broncos were thoroughly humiliated by the Raiders a month ago at Mile High, McDaniels didn’t snub Oakland coach Tom Cable. Nope, after getting smacked 59-14, the young coach shook Cable’s hand.

I don’t care much for McDaniels—I think he’s too smart for his own good and ends up outthinking himself about half the time. But I respect his class—you take your lumps and you acknowledge them. After the Raider debacle, he had the fortitude to apologize to Broncos fans for his team’s poor showing. I wonder if Haley will make such an apology to Chiefs’ faithful today.

Word has it that Haley was upset with McDaniels for keeping the passing game going, and for blitzing with a big lead. Memo to Haley: Denver has virtually no running game—even on his best day yesterday, Knowshon Moreno lacks a consistent burst, and Denver’s offensive line is young and has yet to completely come together. Additionally, Denver’s defense has been razed all season long—if blitzing is needed to protect a big lead, so be it.

Now Haley—who’s catching heat from his team’s own fans for his childish behavior—gets to explain to the world how it’s just not fair that the 3-6 Denver Broncos with more issues than the G-20 Summit pushed his Chiefs around to the point where he thought it excessive.

Sack up, Todd. Apologize to McDaniels, and then apologize to KC fans—they deserve better.

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