I don't fault the logic of these fans. In fact, the thought process makes perfect sense to me. All of the teams in the running lack anything close to a playoff-caliber starting quarterback in the NFL, and their fans know it. The Colts are the notable exception, of course, because of Peyton Manning's uncertain status. But most Colts fans realize that the team would have to take Andrew Luck if the opportunity arose.

All of those fans are willing to endure short-term pain for the long-term gain that they believe Luck would bring. A franchise quarterback, which everyone seems to believe Luck is, can lead to prosperity for a decade or longer. For fans in Denver and Miami who are still talking about the good old days, the chance to see their team add a quarterback who might do what John Elway and Dan Marino once did is enticing.

So even though it may be gut-wrenching to see their team lose every week, those fans believe it is worthwhile as long as they can secure the rights to Luck. The problem is putting it into practice.

Which leads us back to the original question. It is one thing to hope it happens organically. It is quite another to think your team should do it intentionally.

Does the owner tell the players to stop playing as hard? Or the coaches to spend those sleepless nights in the office devising a strategy to put the players in the worst possible position to succeed? Of course not. Not only would news of that leak immediately, but it is also crazy to think that any player or coach could spent countless hours preparing to lose. That's not how they're wired.

The only plausible scenario for something like this would be if management subtly started to make decisions that weren't in the best short-term interests of the team. Maybe they would play younger guys to "get them experience," or trade or cut some of the team's better players and declare that the moves were made because the players were malcontents. They might put in another quarterback to "see what he can do."

The only team even coming close, as far as I can tell, is the Broncos. The decision to trade Brandon Lloyd to the St. Louis Rams was curious. The move to Tim Tebow at quarterback was understandable, but again, probably not what gave Denver the best chance to win this year. I don't mention those moves to suggest that the Broncos are trying to tank it; I am sure that they are not.

Instead, I bring them up to focus on the result. What happened after those moves were made? The Broncos promptly went out and beat the Dolphins, earning their second victory of the season, which made getting the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 draft increasingly unlikely.