Elway, John A.
Football
b. June 28, 1960, Port Angeles, WA
One of the few players ever chosen in the early rounds of baseball's amateur free agent draft and the NFL's draft of college players, Elway starred in both sports at Stanford University.
He was named to some football All-American teams as a sophomore in 1980 and was a consensus All-American in 1982, when he finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting. Elway set NCAA Division I career records for passing attempts, 1,246, completions, and most games with more than 200 yards passing, 30. He had a career total of 9,349 passing and 77 touchdown passes.
Elway was chosen by the New York Yankees in the second round of the 1981 baseball draft and he batted .319 for the Oneonta team in the New York-Pennsylvania League in 1982. The Baltimore Colts made him the first player picked in the 1983 NFL draft, but he refused to play for the Colts and was traded to the Denver Broncos for two players and a first-round draft choice.
Denver signed him to a 6-year contract worth $12.7 million. A part-time starter as a rookie, he took the team into the playoffs, but the Broncos lost in the first round. Led by Elway, Denver went to the American Football Conference championship game four times, winning the title in 1986, 1987, and 1989, but losing the Super Bowl all three years.
However, the Broncos returned to the Super Bowl twice and won it both times, in Elway's final seasons with the club.
In Super Bowl XXXII, Denver beat the defending champion Green Bay Packers, 31-24. The following year, they overwhelmed the Atlanta Falcons, 34-19.
There was some thought that Elway might return for another year, in the hope of winning a third straight Super Bowl, but he announced his retirement.
Elway guided the Broncos to 148 victories, including 47 games in which the team staged game-tying or -winning drives in the fourth quarter.
His finest season, statistically, was 1987, when he was named Associated Press player of the year and United Press International AFC offensive player of the year. Elway that season completed 224 of 410 passes for 3,198 yards and 19 touchdowns.
