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Travis Henry cut; path to 2,000 yards opens up for Selvin Young

MJD

The extremely virile Travis Henry has been released by the Denver Broncos. He was listed atop the Broncos depth chart and was expected to get most of the carries in Mile High this year, but that won't be happening now. Mike Shanahan doesn't like him anymore.

“Although Travis has the ability to be one of the top running backs in the NFL, we have to make decisions that are in the best interests of our organization and its goal of winning a Super Bowl,” Shanahan said. “We did not feel his commitment to the Broncos was enough to warrant a spot on this football team.”

That's not good. If a guy's attitude is so bad that a team is willing to outright release him, despite the fact that he's their number one running back, his attitude must be pretty awful.

And it's especially disconcerting, given Henry's super-positive attitude back in January. He had a rough 2007, with injuries and an alleged positive drug test that Henry disputed (and he did eventually pass a lie detector test as well as a hair follicle test). Still, it wasn't a happy year, and he had vowed to make things right.

"I want to make it right to the Broncos, the fans and myself," he said. "I want to be a Bronco and make it all right. I don't want to be anywhere else. I owe those people something for all that happened last year. I want to clear my name there. I'm so hungry to do right there."

Shanahan apparently wasn't so convinced of his hunger level.

Maybe Selvin Young knew more than anyone else did back when he predicted that he'd run for 2,000 yards. At the time, it didn't even seem like he had a clear path to the starting job, and to get 2,000 yards, he would have to average about 20 yards a carry.

But with Henry gone, it appears that Young is Denver's #1 back. Andre Hall is also on the roster, the Broncos selected Arizona State running back Ryan Torain in the draft, and they also recently brought in Michael Pittman as a free agent. Mike Shanahan likes to spread the carries around, so 2,000 yards for Selvin Young is still unlikely, but it doesn't seem as crazy today as it did a week ago. Still seems pretty crazy, though.

And of course, no discussion of Travis Henry is complete without mentioning his children, who comprise about 11% of the world's population. Henry's fathered nine children with nine different women, and hasn't always been great about paying child support. Court records show that he once had to borrow money from the Titans to make payments.

If his coach is saying he's got attitude problems, and the Broncos saw Michael Pittman as a viable alternative, Henry probably isn't going to score a big contract out there on the free agent market. This is where not having nine children would be an advantage to a guy.