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John Elway: Five things we learned from end of season presser

By Sayre Bedinger

ENGLEWOOD, CO - JANUARY 12: Denver Broncos General Manager John Elway fields questions from the media during a press conference to introduce Vance Josepf as the new head coach at the Paul D. Bowlen Memorial Broncos Centre on January 12, 2017 in Englewood, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
ENGLEWOOD, CO - JANUARY 12: Denver Broncos General Manager John Elway fields questions from the media during a press conference to introduce Vance Josepf as the new head coach at the Paul D. Bowlen Memorial Broncos Centre on January 12, 2017 in Englewood, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /
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John Elway needs his QB to have ‘swagger’

Elway was asked specifically what he looks for in a young college quarterback. This was a quote that needs some context from Elway, so I’ll give you the full transcription:

"“I think half of it is what you see on film and the other half is figuring out what kind of guy it is. I think the biggest challenge about playing the position is there is a lot of good football players and a lot of guys that have a ton of talent out there. But again, obviously stepping into that role when you come out of college—in college you’re allowed to be a kid. You come to the NFL and the expectation levels rise, especially if you’re a high pick. You’re expected to be good or show signs of being a very good player early. The other half is how are they going to handle the situation and how are they going to handle the [significance] of being a quarterback in the NFL. That is the biggest part and I say it all the time. Just trying to figure out how these guys can handle the tough times, because there’s going to be tough times. When the world feels like it’s caving in are they going to be able to battle through that and not lose their confidence? Because once somebody loses their confidence at that position…what gets you here is your swagger and your confidence as quarterback. You have a chance to play in the NFL and that’s what gets you here and you can’t be afraid of it. Then all of a sudden if you get in the world and all of a sudden things aren’t going well, the world starts caving in on you and you lose that swagger or you lose that confidence, it’s very, very difficult to get it back. You have to figure out how strong they are, what they believe in and how strong they are, what they are as a quarterback and to be able to battle through that. If they can do that, then they have a chance to have a great, long career. To me, I say it all the time: It’s 50 percent the physical side of it and 50 percent mental side. The heart and finding out what they have inside, that’s the difficult part. Not only at the quarterback position, it’s about every position because it comes down to what’s inside, what’s in that heart, how bad they want it and how great they want to be. If they want to be great football players, they have a chance to be great.” (quotes via Broncos PR)"

I am not really sure what to make of all that, except that the only quarterback on the Broncos’ roster we didn’t get to see this season has the nickname of ‘Swag’ (Chad Kelly).

To me, and maybe I’m wrong about this, but it sounds like Elway is pretty accurately describing a quarterback like Baker Mayfield. He’s also talking about having confidence and the ability to bounce back from adversity, which sounds like something he felt he didn’t see from any of the guys currently on the team.

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