Happy Birthday John Elway!
By Brad James
John Elway celebrates his 57th birthday Wednesday. His exploits on the field and in the front office have served the Broncos well for years…
Wednesday, the Denver Broncos celebrate the 57th birthday of John Elway, one of the greats in franchise history.
The team’s executive vice president, Elway first came to 5,280 feet in 1983.
The no. 1 overall draft pick in this storied quarterback draft was selected by Baltimore, refusing to play there. Thus, he was traded to the Broncos and the rest, as they say, is history.
Elway proceeded to have a Hall of Fame career, winning two Super Bowls in the process.
From 1983-1998, Elway tossed for 51,475 yards and 300 touchdowns and 226 interceptions.
Elway was also known for his legendary 4th Quarter comebacks. His 35 such comebacks make him fifth all-time in this category in NFL history.
Since returning to the franchise in an executive role in 2011, the Broncos have gone 67-29 and 6-4 in the postseason. This also includes two Super Bowl appearances and one Lombardi trophy, won in 2015.
While he has had his mistakes in the draft, especially in the lower rounds, he has done more good than bad.
In this statistic shown here, Elway is responsible for the majority of these wins:
None of this is new news, it everything on page 6 is remarkable. pic.twitter.com/NWGBdnodfQ
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) June 28, 2017
It’s quite reasonable to suggest that this season the Broncos can surpass the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most regular season wins since 1975.
In any event, the Broncos have become a consistent winner because of Elway and legendary owner Pat Bowlen, who bought the team in 1984.
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What I admire most about Elway is his willingness to admit where he has failed. Despite his magnificence as a quarterback, he once lined up under the guard as a rookie.
Nevertheless, he overcame this and became one of the great signal-callers in his day.
As an executive, he hasn’t really had any significant “lining up under the guard” moments.
If nothing else, he adroitly assessed what went wrong in 2016 and has addressed the issues in question.
The offensive line should be significantly solidified. If this comes to pass, one can reasonably expect Broncos Country to rejoice.
Thus, Happy Birthday John Elway!