ROMANOWSKI SHOULD BE SILENCED

Whether he was provided drugs illegally or not, Bronco linebacker must
stifle himself

It really is a shame the Denver Broncos don't hand out individual postseason
awards anymore, because linebacker Bill Romanowski would have been the
front-runner for Player Most Likely to Get Silenced for Good award.

Past winners include David Duke and Pat Buchanan.

Romanowski already had put together quite a legacy in his few years as a
Bronco, even before the events of the past two weeks, when he was accused of
illegally obtaining huge amounts of prescription diet pills to help enhance
his on-field performance. That came shortly before he was accused of using
the n-word in reference to African-American athletes. It takes some doing,
alleged criminal behavior and racism in one fell swoop. How he managed to
miss out on clubbing baby seals in the process, I don't know.

Here is the requisite disclaimer: Romanowski has only been accused of these
things, and he is innocent until proven guilty. But if they're true -- or
even untrue -- Romanowski will have difficulty with his teammates, many of
whom are black. It's sort of hard to work hand in hand with someone who
feels like taking a shower afterward. Romanowski has denied all of the
accusations.

We already know what Romanowski thinks of one black player, San Francisco
wide receiver J. J. Stokes. During a 1997 Monday night game against the
49ers, Romanowski spit in Stokes' face.

The argument could be made that using the n-word is one of the ugliest
manifestations of racism there is. It would be a pretty good argument too.
But when Romanowski spat in someone's face, someone's black face, it said
more than any noun ever could. As the old saying goes, a slow-motion replay
is worth 1,000 words. It was played and sprayed over and over again on
national television. There was immediate reaction from Romanowski's black
teammates, who were unhappy with what had happened, how it looked and what
it meant.

"I think the worst thing you can do to a person, especially of our
background and race, is to spit in his face," said Shannon Sharpe, his
teammate at the time, who is black.

Soon afterward, several black Broncos came forward and said they were
willing to stand by Romanowski, even without umbrellas. It had every
appearance of being choreographed, with coach Mike Shanahan playing Bob
Fosse.

The Broncos find themselves dancing again in 2000. In a witness statement,
linebacker Martin Harrison, a Bronco for a short time in 1998 and a former
teammate of Romanowski's with the 49ers, said Romanowski "expressed his
feeling that the white athlete had to do more to compete with the black guy
in a mostly black sport.

"He talked about using speed, steroids or growth hormones along with other
supplements -- vitamins, minerals, whatever it took." And perhaps anger in
pill form. The body of Romanowski's work, colored black and blue, has cost
him $70,000 in fines over the years. Perhaps some of this can be explained
by Romanowski's alleged stimulant use. Sports Illustrated reported last week
that a friend of Romanowski's obtained the diet pill phentermine, as well as
prescription-strength ephedrine, for the linebacker. The mixture of the two,
a source told the magazine, "would give you the pharmacologic equivalent of
crack cocaine, an amazing buzz that makes you alert and reckless." That
could explain a lot.