ENGLEWOOD - It's not every year you find an Ivy Leaguer in Broncos training camp.

In fact, it's sort of a Mark Twain idea. The main difference between safety Steve Cargile and Twain's Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is the vintage of the mythology they're observing.

"You hate to have guys that are a whole lot smarter than you," coach Mike Shanahan admitted.

I was about to suggest he should be used to that by now, what with all the meetings he's had with the wretches over the years, but apparently he anticipated the thought.

"No, I'm talking about a lot," he said.

Cargile's degree, from Columbia University, is in economics. His 2004 classmates may be repackaging asset-based securities as we speak.

"Obviously, he's not playing for the money," Shanahan said.

On the other hand, Cargile's presence raises this question: If he's so smart, why is he taking a beating in NFL training camp, fighting for a job, when he could be wearing a suit and helping a hedge fund go under or something?

"It's just a dream," he explained. "It's a dream you've had since you were a little kid, and just because you take a different path to get there doesn't mean you can't make it there.

"That was my mind-set when I decided to go to Columbia. I wanted to get an education because that's something that was important to my family, so I wanted to get a good degree, but also, I still wanted to play football."

Where have you gone, Marty Domres?

If there is a moral to Cargile's story in post-Darrent Williams Denver, it is that parenting really matters. He was born and raised in Cleveland. His parents, a computer operator and a public school principal, emphasized education from the start, sending both their boys to private school. He was one of several Broncos who paid a surprise visit to the kids at Rev. Leon Kelly's anti-gang program in northeast Denver this summer.

His older brother, Jerome, went to the University of Akron, where he played football with Jason Taylor. He is now a personal trainer in Houston.

If it had been up to Steve, he would have gone to Ohio State on a football scholarship. Unfortunately, the Buckeyes had eyes for only Bam Childress, the big star at Chanel High. So Cargile, whose grades made him popular with Ivy League coaches, opted for the big city.

He had a chance to transfer to Ohio State after his freshman season, but Columbia and New York had opened his eyes to a world beyond Ohio, and he was hooked. When he switched from wide receiver to safety his senior year, the NFL took notice.

Dallas signed him as a free agent out of school in 2004 and he spent most of that season on the Cowboys practice squad before being cut in the spring of '05.

Last year, he went to camp with Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers cut him in September. The Broncos signed him to their practice squad in November. When they activated him a month later, he became the first Ivy Leaguer to appear in a game for the Broncos since George Burrell of Penn, another safety, in 1969.

Monday morning, during a camp workout in shorts, Cargile charged up from the secondary to crack a ballcarrier as he headed for the sideline. Shanahan gave the play an enthusiastic review from across the field, which is not that common.

"You probably saw him (Monday) - he flashes," Shanahan said. "And now, he's one of those guys - does he do it in a game, consistently?

"He's got a chance to play safety. He's exceptionally bright and he's what you look for. He's a guy that, when he got his opportunity (last year), he made five tackles against Arizona on special teams. When you get a guy like that, you're looking for a position for him because you know he can help you in another area, especially if he's a backup."

In fact, Shanahan insists that for all their athletic ability, the key to his star-studded secondary - Champ Bailey, Dré Bly, John Lynch, Nick Ferguson and Domonique Foxworth - is brains.

"The more people you have like that, the better chance you have to win Super Bowls," he said. "That's where you win championships, with guys that are smart. People that aren't smart, they make mistakes at crucial times because they don't prepare themselves or they can't concentrate."

Clearly, this is Cargile's advantage.

"The four exhibition games, he'll get a chance to play and that'll be his opportunity to show us what he can do," Shanahan said. "But he's a guy you're pulling for because you know he can pick up any offense, any defense, he knows all the responsibilities and he's playing because he loves the game."

So long as he doesn't show up the coach over a Scrabble board or something, he's got a shot.

kriegerd@RockyMountainNews.com

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