I can remember a time — gosh, it must have been a year ago — when Mike Shanahan really was the unquestioned Mastermind.

	Mike Shanahan has his eye on Steve Young.

Now, you have to wonder whether it's time to come up with a different name. Nominations are being accepted, as of today.

It isn't just the Denver Broncos' millennium-ending collapse, which could be explained as a one-year aberration. Or even the botched quarterback situation, which led, eventually, to a stunning Shanahan apology.

It's the sense that Shanahan, though clearly one of the great offensive thinkers of our day, has somehow gotten himself into a situation that even he can't bend his mind around.

Now that the Broncos have let Shannon Sharpe go to Baltimore (Broncos on Sharpe: Let him eat crab cake), you have to wonder what the master plan is.

Because if, as rumored, the plan includes Steve Young and his still-ringing head, you have to think Shanahan might have spent too much time in the ring with Dennis Rodman.

When the Broncos talk about Sharpe's departure, they will say all the crowd-pleasing things. They'll say they wanted to keep him. They'll say they were at the mercy of the salary cap.

But watch for the wink.

If the Broncos had really wanted Sharpe, they could have signed him long ago. If this became a salary cap issue, it was a late-developing one. Because, believe me, while Sharpe wanted to play for the Broncos for the rest of his career, all he heard was that he should test the market. Well, he tested. We'll see who passed and who failed. All I know is that he was a tight end who could not be defended.

If the Broncos didn't want to sign him, they ought to offer their defense now, while we can still be spun. Yes, his ankles are wobbly. Yes, he's 31. But Sharpe is not just any Hall of Fame tight end, he is a tight end like no one who ever played the position. Ask his now-ex-teammates, who love Sharpe in the locker room and love him on the way to the end zone.

There is nothing quite like Sharpe, and not only when he's offering his wisdom. He's a force on and off the field, and even when wearing an onion suit.

“

And now the Broncos want (Steve) Young? Can this be true? Young has had four concussions in the past three years. Why in the wide wide world of sports would he risk the damage that could come with one more? This would be funny, except it's not funny at all. ”

(The Broncos, meanwhile, are already hoping Byron Chamberlain doesn't start, uh, investing in any burger joints.)

Sharpe's line was: "I'm gone to B-more."

The question, though, is where have the Broncos gone? And is it to be less?

My guess is the Broncos decided they wanted to keep Sharpe, but only when it was too late. My guess is that when the Broncos were on top, Shanahan thought he could do without Sharpe, who drove Shanahan, the control-freak poster coach, more than slightly crazy.

In a typical day, Shanahan would hold a meeting, and before he could put away his clipboard, Sharpe would be sharing his version of events to anyone who stopped by with a microphone or note pad — jokes optional. Hey, this guy announced his deal with the Ravens on his own Web site while the Ravens were denying any deal was made.

He's different. What you have to do with Sharpe is let Shannon be Shannon.

And now he'll be Shannon 1,500 miles away, wearing predominantly purple. Gone will be the megaphone of the Mountain Zone. And gone will be the man who scratched out the play with John Elway in the AFC Championship Game against Pittsburgh that sent the Broncos to Super Win I.

Which brings us back to the quarterback situation.

The rumors are getting hotter the Broncos want Steve Young. Certainly, what you haven't heard is the Broncos denying any of these rumors.

You can ask yourself why. It could be a message to Brian Griese, who would seem to have taken enough messages this season. Or it could be the sound of desperation.

You may remember a warm-hearted day in the late millennium in which Shanahan advised Chris Miller to retire rather than take one more ding to the head.

I think the conversation went like this: Listen, Chris, we think your situation is bad enough we'd even rather have Bubby back than you.

And now the Broncos want Young? Can this be true? (If the Broncos want 38-year-old Young to be quarterback, maybe they'll get Dwight Clark to play tight end.)Young has had four concussions in the past three years. Why in the wide wide world of sports would he risk the damage that could come with one more? This would be funny, except it's not funny at all.

It's one thing for Young to risk what shouldn't be risked. It's another for Shanahan, who is supposedly his friend, to encourage him to risk it.

I wonder what Sharpe would say about it all. I guess I'll have to ask my old friends in B-more for a transcript.