DENVER -- So now the coach formerly known as Mastermind prepares to make his pact with the devil, who always insists, by the way, on a no-cut contract. Now, he agrees to give up his soul (I know, he makes his living in the NFL, pretty much a soul-free zone anyway) in return for a possible return to the Super Bowl.

	Mike Shanahan has his eye on Steve Young.

That's the real story. Steve Young is just there to move the plot along.

Mike Shanahan, who purports to be Young's friend, is willing to risk scrambling that friend's brain for another chance at glory. If you're surprised, you haven't been paying attention.

Our very own Mastermind was willing to tamper, if he had to. He was willing to massage the salary cap, if he had to. Here's how far he would go: Shanahan left his own charity golf tournament Monday to meet with Young at a hotel near the airport. It's possible, after all that, Young still could choose to retire. It's also possible John Rocker contributes to the ACLU.

Everyone, including the San Francisco 49ers, believes Young will play for the Broncos next season. In the fevered imaginings of some Broncos fans, it will be as if John Elway had never left, although Elway, it should be noted, did leave -- and with all his faculties intact. If Young goes to the Broncos, aged Hall of Famer steps in for aged Hall of Famer, legend replaces legend, poets give way to the boys from the New England Journal of Medicine. Or to put it another way: So much for the Gus Frerotte era.

You can forgive Young, even though his apparent decision to continue playing is so sadly predictable. OK, maybe he's got a law degree. Maybe he's a bright guy. But, in the end, Young looks like just another athlete who can't see past his adrenal gland.

But if we forgive Young his dream, can we forgive Shanahan if Young is starpled awake to the sound of an ambulance siren?

I'm not going to be presumptuous enough to offer Young advice. He's a grown-up. He knows the risks. He's had all the concussions -- not any of us.

He's the one who lay on the field unconscious last September, who went through the post-concussion syndrome, who missed 13 games last season. He has met with the doctors. He can do his own risk-benefit analysis at least as well as, say, Eric Lindros can.

But I do find it funny (funny, that is, in the non-ha-ha way) that he says he wants to play so his unborn child can someday see him on the field. I would worry -- but this is just me -- that my child would some day see me carried off the field.

We know what drives Young. We would all like to be able to live life on our own terms. The irony is that the terms may be set for him.

This is not a new concept. If you missed it, ask Chris Miller. If you missed it, ask any number of boxers who found doctors willing to say they were healthy enough to fight again.

It's an old story and a sad story, and so is Shanahan's. Before last season exploded in the Broncos' collective faces, before Bubby and his 20 percent, before Terrell Davis' injury, the question was whether Shanahan could win without Elway.

We knew he could win with Elway. Give him credit. He's the one who built the team that Elway took to two Super Bowl victories. But those were Elway's Super Bowls. For Shanahan to move into Lombardi-Landry-Walsh-Gibbs territory, he had to win at least one of his own.

But life after Elway proved harder than anyone had imagined. There was no Super Bowl. There were no playoffs. There wasn't even a winning season. The man who specializes in the quarterback position had to demote Brister, then watch as Brian Griese struggled. You might say that if the Frerotte signing were a vote of no confidence in Griese, then a Young signing would mean the election was over.

Finally last season, you'll remember, the Broncos went with Miller. You may remember it, but Miller, who has advised Young not to keep playing, remembers only part of it. It's too rich that Shanahan gave Miller his fatherly advice to retire and then -- faster than you can say Vince Lombardi Trophy -- pursued Young without a hint of fatherly concern.

They have got one Super Bowl together, when Young was the quarterback and Shanahan was a mastermind in training as the 49ers offensive coordinator. You could see them coming together again. You could see Terrell Davis regaining his Most Valuable Player numbers. You could see a Dale Carter-free defense working itself into championship form.

You could see it happening at least once.

That is, of course, only if Young doesn't end up seeing double.

Mike Littwin is a columnist for the Denver Rocky Mountain News