TotalBroncos

In the Pantheon of great NFL quarterbacks, John Elway’s name is always going to come up on the short list. From 1983 through 1998 for the Denver Broncos, Elway defined a team and a town as few players ever have. Now, as the team’s executive vice president of football operations, Elway was able to bring Peyton Manning, another member of that Pantheon, to the Mile High City in hope that more Lombardi Trophies could be won by Elway’s favorite team. So far, so good — Manning looked masterful in the Broncos’ 31-19 opening win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, completing 19 of 26 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns. Manning, never known as the most mobile of quarterbacks, even ran for a first down on a seven-yard play — perhaps Manning’s tribute to his formerly more mobile new boss. We recently spoke to Elway about his longtime team, his new quarterback, and his involvement in Dove’s ” Journey to Comfort ” campaign. Shutdown Corner: It was obviously a big triumph for your team, the opening-week win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Peyton Manning playing the way he did. I spoke with his dad this week , and we discussed the struggle Peyton went through to come back. You persevered a lot through your career — the Super Bowl losses, the feud with Dan Reeves — so you’re a survivor. You’ve been through it. What were your impressions, watching Manning, knowing what he went through, and then seeing him play like that? John Elway: Yeah, no question. I was just so proud, not only of Peyton, but the whole football team. To be dead-honest with you, knowing what I knew about Peyton, and the time I’d spent with him before he came here and just knowing what kind of guy he is — that’s what gave me so much confidence. The fact that he wanted to come back and play football, and play football well … anytime you challenge a guy like Peyton Manning,  you know he’s going to succeed. Because he has that willpower and the will to work. I felt that when he was released by Indianapolis — it’s still surprising that he was released, though I understand — it also put a chip on his shoulder. Not that he needed to work even harder, but he really wanted to prove that it wasn’t the right move. So, whenever you challenge a guy with the ability and the work ethic that Peyton has, you’re going to see good things come out of it. SC: From a quarterback perspective, are there things he can do that you couldn’t? How are you different? JE: You know, I think we just had different styles. His game is probably a bit more cerebral than my game was, especially early in my career. The older I got, the more cerebral I became — you lose some of your athletic ability. I was  more a mover and a scrambler, and he’s more of a pocket guy. But i think the mentality, as far as a quarterback’s concerned — no matter how you get it done, it’s your competitive nature and how bad you want to win. I think we’re very similar there. SC: There’s a new guy in the NFL out of Stanford, your alma mater — Andrew Luck. You’ve most likely heard of him. What are your thoughts on his overall makeup and skillset? JE: I think he’s going to have a great career. He had it all coming out of college – -not only the physical side, but the maturity on the mental side. He’s smart, he ran that whole offense at Stanford under [Jim] Harbaugh, and I think he’s going to have a tremendous career. He’s going to get better with each start, and he’s going to get better as his team gets better around him. SC: Mike Shanahan, one of the guys most crucial in your development, now has a new quarterback in Robert Griffin III. I’ve seen Shanahan offenses with mobile quarterbacks like you and Jake Plummer, but the system he’s set up for Griffin might be the most diverse he’s ever done. What were your thoughts about that first game? JE: That’s where Mike is so good — Xs-and-Os-wise, offensively, I don’t know that there’s anyone better. He did a tremendous job with a rookie quarterback going into that first game, and how the Redskins brought RGIII through the preseason. Starting him in that first game against New Orleans, they did a great job of putting him in situations that quarterbacks can handle. They did a great job of keeping him in things he was comfortable with, they didn’t make him make plays that were difficult for any quarterback, and they created situations in which he was able to flourish. A lot of those quick screens, together with the read option they ran to take advantage of Robert’s mobility, they did a tremendous job with the game plan. And then, with Robert playing the way he did, I thought it was great. SC: It was a bit similar to the way [Denver Broncos offensive coordinator] Mike McCoy handled Tim Tebow when he started mid-season for your team last year. You don’t force an NFL game plan on a system college quarterback — you merge your concepts with what he does well. The Panthers did the same thing with Cam Newton. It seems that there’s a greater understanding of the need to meet those quarterbacks halfway. JE: To me, it s a sign of a great football coach. They can adjust what they do to get the most out of anyone playing any position. In that case, as you said, with the quarterback position, what McCoy did last year with Tim in adjusting the offense to what Tim was best at — same thing at Carolina with Cam. To be able to get the most out of an athlete, you do have to meet him halfway. What they did with Cam, and what we did with Tim, it’s a compliment to those coaches. SC: Your current position in running the Denver Broncos — you don’t need to do this. You’re obviously doing it because you love football, and it’s certainly not ceremonial. What is your day-to-day? Take me through what John Elway does every day at Dove Valley. JE: I’m in charge of football operations, so I oversee all decisions on the football side. I’m heavily involved in personnel — once we get involved in the season, with the draft and free agency, I make the final decisions on all those things. [Head coach] John [Fox] runs the football team on the field, and I’m here to try and supplement that team the best I can. To give us the best 53 guys during the season, and then we go into the offseason and improve the team through free agency and the draft. So, I’m really most involved on the personnel side. But then again, I’m responsible for anything on the football operations side.

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The Shutdown Corner Interview: John Elway (Shutdown Corner)