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Published on 12/11/2010 at Sat Dec 11 13:56.
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The Short Sight on Elway

Posted Sat Dec 11th by

John Elway waits on the sidelines before the Broncos play the Seattle Seahawks. (REUTERS/Rick Wilking)

John Elway waits on the sidelines before the Broncos play the Seattle Seahawks. (REUTERS/Rick Wilking)

I think that most writers who have been covering John Elway‘s more predominant role with the Denver Broncos have forgot recent history (I am pointing at you Mike Florio). In 2004 Pat Bowlen attempted to sell Elway ten-percent of the Broncos, but was blocked by the Broncos’ former owner Edgar Kaiser. Colorado courts ruled that Kaiser was entitled to buy ten-percent back, under the same circumstances that Bowlen had provided to Elway.

Bowlen and Elway along with Stan Kroenke (the current owner of St. Louis Rams, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Rapids, Colorado Avalanche and major shareholder of the English soccer club Arsenal) also co-owned the Arena Football League’s Colorado Crush. The Crush won the Arena Football title in 2005 and maintained as one of the best teams in the AFL.

Why wouldn’t Bowlen want Elway to be a big part of his franchise? Who cares about Elway’s scouting experience; Elway has been a major part of every title Bowlen’s ever been a part of. Elway was the major reason Bowlen let Dan Reeves walk and brought in Mike Shanahan (and two Super Bowl victories over the next three seasons). As a matter of fact, the Broncos have only won playoff game since Elway’s been gone.

So welcome home John, hope that your voice is prominent in the next meeting between Bowlen, Joe Ellis and Brian Xanders. Please give be sure to give your opinion on who Denver’s next head coach/offensive coordinator/defensive coordinator should be. We the fans are all ears and I certainly hope Mr. Bowlen is as well.

  • http://twitter.com/dxmanning Joshua Manning

    I LOVE Elway! But GM/V.P. of player personnel? The last thing the Broncos needs is an unproven hire with NO business résumé WHATSOEVER!!!!!! Pat Bowlen has no room for error on his next hire for a head coach or GM because of what happend with Josh McDaniels and his “boy toy” Brian Xanders.

  • http://nation.theorangepage.com/blog Ian Henson

    Why does everyone hate Brian Xanders so much? He's magnificent at doing contracts as far as I am concerned. Josh McDaniels had final say on players. Xanders was brought in under Shanahan and Bowlen promoted him to GM when he let the Goodman's go.

  • areferee

    I-Man,

    I believe many fans hold Brian Xanders equally responsible for all of the mishandled personnel decisions during his and Josh McDaniel's regime. In addition, he is the point man in the Champ Bailey negotiations, which, I believe, is another miscue that makes him equally deserving of the fate that befell his head coach. They are both equally responsible for our ultimate downturn, except, possibly, the Spygate II issue.

  • http://twitter.com/dxmanning Joshua Manning

    I didn't meant to say Xanders was the problem, just that McD just control everything that Xanders couldn't handle (like roster moves). Hence why I called Brian Xanders a “boy toy”.

  • herc_rock

    I'd rather John stay on the PR side. I don't want to have any reason to dislike him. No coaching, no personnel stuff. If he fails miserably at it…I don't know. I just don't want to ever have to call for John Elway's head, you know?

  • laramiefan

    The question to be asked of the fans is will the club be better with his (Elway) influence or better without . John Elway is well educated in the way of business and football is definetly a business . He has been very successful in sports . Name someone comparable to him that has reached his success level . Of course you can name all kinds of former athletes that become TV or radio commentators but , how many have been successful in the pure world of business ? John Elway will make the Broncos a better team no matter what capacity he decides to work at.

  • Rob_Bronco

    I couldn't agree more. This is a dangerous road to go down. Think back on some of the greatest playersleaders ever to wear the uniform – Montana, Bradshaw, Rice, Smith, LT, and the list goes on and on. All of these players were winners and were football Gods in their respective positions. However, none of them were ever asked to lead a franchise and I believe it's for exactly that reason. Those who are the best at their position focus all of their efforts on that one role. They don't have the time to sit back and study every aspect of the game. And because they don't do that, their talents rarely translate to success in managing an NFL team.

    John has done some great things for the team but I don't know that he's the person we should turn to. Hire Cowher or Gruden and give them power over player personnel. They'll be looking for that anyway. If you go with an unproven coach, you're going to be in the same position you're in now.

  • 5280

    Man, it's amazing how many people don't understand their football! Elways 17 year hall of fame carreer would be an excellent reason why having no FORMAL personnel experience doesn't matter. Don't you “bronco fans”, if that what u call yourself, want soemthing that is all your own? Elway having something to do with success here in Denver is really the only thing we know. all of our success has been largely because of him. and if he were to get a front office job with denver he might be the only thing denver know about succes for the foreseeable future. Denver would be the oranization who has stuck with the same formula and has been successfull with it longer then any other organization in history. And if Bowlen hire Kubiak as the new head coach, we denver fans could have something special that is all our own. The steeler fans wont be the only ass holes who happen to be in every single city besides there own. and how is Elway ever gonna learn how to be a good GM/COO if he doesn't start somewhere? If your a bronco fan like me, the only thing you know is Elway. I was born into a world where Elway was GOD and no matter what happened to the team it was okay, because we had Elway. I want that back, and if it was like that when he was playing then i dont see how it can't be like that now. If you really look at his resume you cant really find one reason why Bowlen shouldn't take a shot at this. He's been league MVP, Superbowl MVP, an umteen time probowl selection, he's in the hall of fame, he's even given up his salary to get effective players on his team so he knows what it takes to get talent on a team and he can spot when a talented player would be effective on his team, he's already taken an areana football team to championships so hes had a test run at the job and been successful. How is this not a nobrainer???

  • http://nation.theorangepage.com/blog Ian Henson

    This is completely my speculation, but I think the issue with Champ is that he'll be 34 before next season, right? So what happens if there is no season in 2011, now we have a $10M 35 year-old cornerback.

    I also feel that Bailey's camp may be taxing the Broncos a bit, meaning if Denver wants him to stay, they're going to have to pay him more than the Broncos feel he is worth.

  • http://nation.theorangepage.com/blog Ian Henson

    Couldn't agree more, the Broncos are better with him than without him.

  • kerry

    magnificent at doing contracts? like that smoking deal of 20 million dollars to Jarvis Green? HAHAHAHA. yeah totally magnificent. 5 yaers to Renaldo Hill? come on man.

  • Broken Bronco

    he let Reeves go and brought in Shanahan to win 2 Superbowls over the next 3 seasons?!? HELLO – WADE PHILLIPS was brought in after Reeves was fired. Sorry, got a bit excited there.
    Xanders is terrible, the litany of poor contracts the Broncos have handed out the last 2 seasons is frightening. Outside of being a “yes man” to Joe Ellis, I'm not sure what he provides the organization.