Strictly business

Frerotte: Sometimes you really didn't understand where he was coming from. He was always kind of doing all the talking, about everything, but he wasn't always listening. I think he wanted to get involved in the offense, but if you don't really know the offense -- and it was Scott's offense -- that's not necessarily a good idea.

Silver: You'd been with Scott in Minnesota, and that was a big reason you signed with Miami. Tell me about your relationship with him.

Frerotte: Well, he sticks up for his players. I found out later that coach Saban wanted to bench me for that last game of the season, because I had a bunch of incentives on the line, and it could have saved the organization money. But Scott told him, "He's the guy who's gotten us this far. There's no way we can bench him now."

Silver: When you found out that you'd almost been benched, were you shocked?

Frerotte: Not really. I knew it was a possibility because it happened to me in Denver in the last game of the 2000 season. Mike Shanahan took me out late in the game against the 49ers and played Jarious Jackson, and I missed a $500,000 playing time (percentage) incentive by one play.

Silver: Please tell me that didn't actually happen.

Frerotte: It did. It sucked. Five-hundred-thousand dollars is a big deal. We appealed it to the league, because he had taken me out for no reason. But when I asked Mike to get involved [with the appeal], he said it was out of his hands. And I lost. So I never got the money.

Silver: Didn't Mike try to get you to come back to the Broncos as Jake Plummer's backup in '05?

Frerotte: Yeah. I really like Mike as a person. But I know that when it comes to business, it's totally a business with him. So even though I like him, and it was nice to be wanted, I don't think I'd ever go back down that road.

Silver: Because of your relationship with Scott, do you think that when you signed with the Rams Marc [Bulger] felt threatened?