However, the former Broncos running back was part of the most valuable team.

Rivers ended his three-year stint on KCNC-Channel 4 on Thursday night after management decided not to renew his contract.

And when saying management, I point to CBS corporate in New York, where financial decisions are regularly made that affect CBS- owned stations.

Simply put: Rivers was a victim of the downsizing that's impacting major broadcasting operations across the country.

Thus, Rivers' departure should be viewed as a matter of dollars and cents replacing broadcasting common sense.

There had been rumblings that Rivers was let go because of the unfavorable, if brief, publicity he received for being a peripheral member of a club that operated an illegal gambling organization.

There is no evidence to support such rumors.

Even Rivers downplays the theory.

"If I were being replaced at the station, I might wonder about the decision," Rivers says. "But another hire is not being made, at least to my knowledge."

Hired as a weekend anchor, Rivers also had worked regularly with Vic Lombardi and Gary Miller to make Channel 4's sports the best in town.

In addition to offering an affable, intelligent TV persona, Rivers was invaluable because of his "I played the game" insight, particularly in reporting on the Broncos, with whom he spent six seasons.

Fortunately, Rivers and Miller again will team in the Channel 4 broadcasting booth for three of the Broncos' four preseason games.

And Rivers will be available on a part-time, fill-in basis.

But don't look for him to actively seek another broadcasting job.

A "man for all seasons" (and I'm not talking sports), Rivers will continue working in the literary and teaching fields.

He'll soon self-publish his fourth book, "The Colony: A Political Tale," an allegory, dealing with two colonies of warring ants.

"It's all about foreign policy," Rivers says.