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[uneasy music playing]
[crowd chanting] Elway sucks! Elway sucks!
Elway sucks! Elway sucks!
[woman 1] I think he's a prima donna, an obnoxious little brat.
[man 1] Come on, Elway, you're gonna be carried out on a stretcher, you wimp!
[man 2] Go home, Elway!
[commentator 1] He got all the money and ballyhoo in the world.
Was he overblown by the media?
[commentator 2] I feel sorry for the kid. He is a target.
[reporter 1] Are you tough enough? Do you feel tough enough to be a QB?
[commentator 3] Once again, John Elway has been sacked four times.
[commentator 4] He's not the guy you win championships with.
[crowd booing]
[Elway] I love the water, and I love boats.
For me, it's always been my safety place.
You get up here, and you get on the water and float and relax.
I like this. I like not having stress anymore.
[commentator] He's not throwing the ball.
Hey, Elway, you big sissy!
For me, I never really realized stress because I always was in stress.
I had always believed in the hard road
because I believed that's the only way you can have success.
But you take the hard way, you reap the benefits.
[commentator] Elway, the most gifted quarterback
to ever play in the National Football League.
[Elway] For me, sitting back, looking over the last 50 years…
[commentator 1] John Elway has done it again!
[commentator 2] Broncos win!
[Elway] …my whole life, winning was the most important thing.
[reporter] Is winning a Super Bowl the only unanswered goal in your career?
[Elway] I can still remember feeling that responsibility
and the expectations to be the best.
[commentator] Greatness is more than just the performance on the field.
[Elway] But I had to sacrifice everything I loved to be able to do it.
[commentator] How important is this football game?
How bad does John Elway wanna win this football game?
[music fades]
[gentle acoustic guitar music playing]
-[producer] You see me all right? -I can. Perfect.
I had never been to Denver before I landed.
You know, we're up in the mountains, kind of a dusty old town.
Felt like we were a little bit in the cowboy country.
It always has been a Broncos town, and it was in those days.
[man] Been here since '70, and it's always been the same.
Crazy.
[blows fanfare]
Charge!
[commentator] The miracle has happened! The Broncos are going to the Super Bowl!
[Antonopulos] We had finally went to the Super Bowl in '77.
And then after that, it kind of fizzled.
[man] And that city wanted in the worst way
to call itself a major-league city.
Everything changed for Colorado in 1983.
[Antonopulos] When he came, it was like the star that was never here
that put everything in motion.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Elway] When I got to training camp,
there was a bunch of trailers with every news story, every radio show.
[man] He might've been the first guy where they had the "Elway Watch."
It was a daily watch on what he was doing, where he was going.
Nowadays, with social media, that's kind of the norm.
But at that time, it wasn't.
[coach] Ace left toe 4, 88 36, OT on 'em. One on one. Ready?
[Kubiak] And then the amount of people that even came to practice.
Come on, offense!
Put 'em back there!
Put them! Let's go get some guts.
I realized how big a deal the Broncos were
to the Rocky Mountain region at that point.
Red 28, hut!
As far as pressure that other people put on me
and all the things in the newspaper, I try not to let that bother me.
I try to let it go in one ear and out the other.
I think that, uh, um, by trying to live up to those standards,
alls it does is add pressure to myself
and… and diminish the amount of… or the… uh…
-[clicks tongue] -[interviewer chuckles]
[interviewer] Yeah, they're all over you.
-[tense music playing] -[crowd cheering]
[Elway] My rookie year, we had to open in Pittsburgh.
[crowd booing]
[Elway] I was very, very excited.
[commentator 1] Question has to be about John Elway. Game one for him.
The most celebrated debut of any player to come in the NFL.
[Elway] Well, my first contract was five years, and it was $5,000,000.
At that point in time, it was the highest contract in the NFL.
Obviously, there's a lot of veterans in the league that were upset with that.
[music intensifies]
[commentator 2] It's interesting when a young man
with the publicity that an Elway has had,
even the football teams, you can tell it's got their attention.
Everybody's craning their neck to see what he's gonna do.
[Elway] Come to the line of scrimmage, and I'm still in a little bit of awe
that I'm playing quarterback in the NFL.
And I look across the line of scrimmage, and I see Jack Lambert over there.
Strong left. Ace ace. I got left post!
[Elway] He's screaming things, had no front teeth,
spit coming out of his mouth.
I came out to the first series, going, "I'm not so sure I wanna do this."
Hut!
I didn't play very well that game.
I was 1 for 8, had a pick.
And so I got benched at halftime.
[commentator 3] I feel sorry for the kid. He's a target for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Part of the growing pains of coming into the NFL.
Nobody's worth $5,000,000.
[music fades]
I can still remember feeling that responsibility and the expectations
that I had put on my shoulders when I was very young.
[pensive music playing]
[man] He was always competitive.
He played all sports and enjoyed it and worked at it.
But football was… was always his love.
I remember they were playing their first game.
I said, "Coach, how's it going?"
He says, "Either your son is the fastest, greatest running back
they've ever seen at this level,
or the rest of those guys are really terrible." [laughs]
[Elway] My dad was a football coach.
He was so influential about how I played the game.
His biggest thing was teaching.
Not coaching. It's teaching.
How do you get through to each guy?
But I think that's one reason why so many people thought so highly of him.
He always told us and told me,
"You treat other people the way you want to be treated."
[music fades]
I had a twin sister. My sister Lee Ann was a year and a half older.
So there was three young kids within a year and a half.
And so we were very close.
This is me and my twin sister, Jana.
I actually… I loved being a twin.
And we were best friends. It was amazing, the relationship that we had.
We never really fought.
You'd think twins, boys and girls twins, same age, would fight all the time.
But we never really fought.
We kind of took care of each other. We stuck tight together.
Never told on each other.
Pretty much, if John wasn't supposed to do something, he did it.
She was the one that was always getting me out of trouble.
If I was out of line,
she was the one that would grab me and get me back in line.
[poignant music playing]
[Jana] I remember my mom would come home.
And we would ask who won, the good guys or the bad guys.
It was a good week when the good guys won. My dad was gonna be in a great mood.
And when the bad guys won, it was a quiet week.
So we were always really keeping our fingers crossed
the good guys would win.
[Elway] A lot of times, he took on more of the negative stuff than he should've.
When they didn't win football games, it was his fault.
I think he would internalize it rather than let some of that out.
And I think that's why, you know, losing, um, upset him so much.
Because he felt like he couldn't… he didn't do enough.
[Jana] If a team wasn't doing well, you'd start sensing, "Oh no. Oh no."
As a kid, we knew it.
And then it would happen, and then Dad would be looking around for other jobs.
It was devastating.
Every time we left some place, I would just cry for the whole time we left.
So winning and losing became very important.
[funky rock music playing]
[Jana] In high school, we moved down to Southern California.
And that was the biggest culture shock.
♪ Well, they say this place is evil… ♪
You know, it was like a bunch of country kids moving down there.
[Elway] I'll never forget. My dad drives me to school.
He says, "John, what position are you gonna out for today?"
I said, "Well, I'm gonna go out for running back."
We had a 1968 Chevy Impala.
Gear shift on the steering wheel, went into park.
And, uh, 15 minutes later, I got out of the car,
and I was a quarterback.
[Jack] He wasn't that enthused about playing the quarterback
because he didn't feel like there was enough action there.
But Jack Neumeier knew as much about the passing game as anybody.
[Elway] Back in the '70s, it was running game first,
and then you spread in the passing game a little bit.
But Jack was the exact opposite.
Coach Neumeier was way ahead of his time back in the '70s.
Well, the first thing that struck you is the, uh… the arm.
He could throw the ball, and everybody knew that right away.
[commentator] The finest high school quarterback
in the nation this past season. Great pass by Elway.
[Jana] He was very, very popular in high school.
He was well-liked by everyone, but he never really knew that.
He was always real nice to people. I mean, it never, um, changed him.
[commentator] He's got it all. He's not in good position
to throw the football.
He throws it about 40 yards, right on the money.
[man] There you go!
[commentator] He's the best quarterback I've seen come out of high school.
[Elway] The better I played, those expectations just grew.
There was a great tradition of baseball at Granada Hills before I got there.
We had a very good baseball team.
I loved playing both, and I wanted to play both.
I got drafted after my senior year out of Granada Hills
by the Kansas City Royals in the 18th round.
So I had options coming out of high school.
[interviewer] Those baseball teams trying to keep you from playing football?
[Elway] Still a little, yeah.
What's it gonna be, football or…?
It's gonna be both. I'm not sure in what, though.
-You going to college? -Yeah.
-Whereabouts? -Stanford.
[dramatic music playing]
[commentator] The statistics tell the tale.
The best college quarterback numerically since Joe Namath.
[commentator 2] Many call him the best college quarterback ever.
When John came to Stanford, two quarterbacks,
as soon as they saw him throw, transferred out.
And they were good quarterbacks. I mean, he can throw it.
I was a swimmer at Stanford
and dedicated my life to swimming from age five and then on.
Didn't do much else other than school and swimming.
So when I went to the football game freshman year with my dorm,
I hear them saying, "Elway! Elway!"
[crowd chanting] Elway! Elway! Elway!
Elway! Elway! Elway!
And I thought they meant like, an "L way,"
like it was a pass or a play that they wanted to run.
[laughing] I didn't know that it was gonna be my future husband.
[commentator] Elway scrambles.
Now he's in trouble.
Oh, look at this!
He's got a man wide open!
[crowd roars]
So that's how I heard about "No, that's John Elway,"
you know, the whole big deal about him being at Stanford.
[music fades]
[Elway] Well, I remember meeting Janet the fall of my freshman year.
She did not know a whole lot about football,
and that was something that maybe drew me to her
'cause she had no idea who the heck I was.
♪ I've been lost before… ♪
[Janet] Oh, he had this long hair
that he would always be flipping it back, you know.
He's knock-kneed and pigeon-toed at the same time.
I learned to love it.
The first time we kissed, we hit teeth, so… [laughs]
[chuckles] I… Yeah, we about broke each other's teeth, if I remember right.
I started to realize, "This is someone that I need to share."
I mean, he would walk down at Stanford and just be bombarded.
♪ Well, I cried, "This can't be true" ♪
[Janet] All of a sudden, I'm dating this superstar,
and yet he didn't handle himself like a superstar.
He was shy.
He was sweet.
He wasn't somebody that would seek the attention.
He did not want the celebrity that came with it.
You know, just wanted to be one of the guys.
It's what makes him who he is.
[crowd chanting] Elway! Elway! Elway! Elway!
[Elway] My last game at Stanford was one of the most memorable games
in college football history.
[dramatic music stab]
[reporter] It's a phenomenal rivalry, which is nearly a hundred years old.
Year in and year out,
the Big Game, incredibly, seems to live up to its hype.
[ethereal music playing]
Because of the marquee value of John Elway in his senior year,
the Cardinal were headed to the Hall of Fame Bowl.
All they needed was a win over Cal.
[crowd cheering]
[commentator 1] California needs only to eat up the clock.
And it all comes down to this. One play, 53 seconds.
[Elway] We were in dire straits being fourth-and-17 from our own 13.
My mindset was always staying in the moment.
Fourth-and-17, you don't have a lot of time to think.
We just try to figure out how we can get the first down.
[commentator 2] Bears start to peel off. Elway back to throw inside his 5.
He's gotta get this one.
-Looks way downfield! -[dramatic music playing]
It is complete at the 43-yard line!
Forty seconds to go. Elway puts it up.
He's got it. Caught at the 39-yard line, out of bounds.
[Elway] We're trying to get into field-goal range
'cause we're down 19-17.
[commentator 2] Here's Elway, bringing them up. Pitch back.
Breaking to his left is Dotterer. Dotterer might go all the way!
He is dropped at the 17-yard line!
Thirty-five-yard kick will win it.
-[crowd cheering] -[commentator 2] Listen to the crowd.
Here's the snap. Here's the kick.
It is long enough. It is good!
Stanford hits it with four seconds to go
and takes the lead, 20-19!
Only a miracle can save the Bears.
[music fades]
We kick the field goal and make it, and we think the game is over.
[Elway] You know, we had a chance to go to a bowl game this year.
That was running through my mind
as I'm sitting on the sideline, thinking, "Wow."
But we knew we still had one play to go.
[commentator 2] Harmon will probably try to squib it, and he does.
Ball comes loose, and the Bears have to get out of bounds.
[dramatic music playing]
Rodgers along the sideline. Another one.
They're still in deep trouble at midfield. They tried to do a couple…
The ball is still loose as they get it to Rodgers!
They give it back now to the 30. They're down to the 20.
All the band is out on the field!
He's going to go into the end zone! He's gone into the end zone!
[screaming excitedly] The Bears! The Bears have won! The Bears have won!
Oh my God!
The most amazing, sensational,
dramatic, heartrending,
exciting, thrilling finish in the history of college football!
California has won the Big Game over Stanford!
Oh, excuse me for my voice!
[Elway] It was a traumatic loss.
Probably, at that time, the most traumatic loss I had ever had.
For the rest of my career,
knowing that something like this could happen,
that anytime there was time left on a clock,
a game is never over till it's over.
[music fades]
[Elway] I had to learn how to lose. I was not good at losing.
Dad talked to me several times about it.
You're gonna have to deal with failure. You're gonna have to deal with losing.
I sometimes think how you lose is gonna determine
what kind of winner you're gonna be.
[brooding music playing]
[Schefter] John never won a bowl game in college.
It was a largely unfulfilled career.
[music turns hopeful]
[reporter] John broke the NCAA record for career passing completions,
has thrown himself into a score of other record books,
and is likely to be the year's top draft pick.
And there's more that's unusual.
John is just as hot a prospect in baseball.
This was one of the most exhilarating days of my life.
We got this telegram.
"Congratulations on your selection by the New York Yankees."
"We are looking forward to you becoming a member of the Yankee family."
"George Steinbrenner, New York Yankees."
The one thing that really surprised me is I was their first pick.
[reporter 5] The Yankees paid him $140,000 to spend a summer in the minors.
John, an economics major, must decide between lucrative offers
from football and baseball.
If there is something special about John Elway's ability
to play football and baseball,
the relationship between father and son is just as special.
The best thing that happened to me
is I've had a father that has not put pressure on me.
Oh, I don't care what he does, just as long as it's what he wants to do.
I was so torn because I could see him as a baseball player.
And maybe I wanted that a little bit.
But I knew the family didn't. I knew Jack didn't.
And I knew in John's heart, he didn't either.
[music fades]
[suspenseful music playing]
[reporter] For the last couple of weeks, he's been the most spoken-about name
probably in American sport.
The 48th annual National Football League selection meeting is now in session.
First choice, first round, Baltimore Colts.
[Elway] My dad wanted to get me with an organization
where I had a chance to be successful and reach my goals.
[commentator] Don Weiss has just received a card from the Colts' desk. Let's see.
Baltimore selects, as the first choice in the draft,
quarterback John Elway of Stanford.
That tells the story right from the top.
I got drafted by the Colts,
and Bob Irsay, who was the owner at that point in time, was very unstable.
I have not any intention of moving the goddamn team.
If I did, I would tell you…
The owner there had a drunken stupor,
had taken the headset off of the offensive coordinator
at halftime and called plays.
There was rumors of all kinds of stuff like that that was going on.
And so leading up to the draft, John had told them,
"I am not coming to play there."
[Elway] My agent was trying to get the deal done before the draft,
and so therefore, the Colts could look good.
[Engel] I was sitting in the room with him when he was on the phone
and said, "I told you not to draft me. Now you got nothing."
We realize that, uh, they earned the right to pick first.
[reporters chuckling]
I want this to be known. We're not challenging the draft.
All of our dealings were honest, straightforward.
Where I'm at right now, I'm bewildered because I'm really surprised. I mean, I…
that after three months of telling them we won't play in Baltimore…
I mean, here we are.
We have an agreement with Baltimore. We're gonna do it the nice way.
We're gonna be… You know, we don't wanna get anybody in trouble.
We don't wanna hurt anybody.
I don't know where I'm at right now. I know that I'm not playing in Baltimore.
Marvin Demoff, the agent for Elway, has just told me via the telephone
that John Elway has chosen baseball since the Baltimore Colts picked him.
[Elway] We made the commitment
that I was gonna play baseball for a year with the Yankees
and then see what happens.
My name would have gone back in the draft the next year,
and then we would've seen what happened next year.
[camera shutters clicking]
[Elway] I had no idea how big an issue it might be.
-[reporter] What are the reasons you have? -First of all, I don't like cold weather.
-[reporters chuckling] -I've lived in it before.
[present-day Elway] Everything had been positive about me up to that point,
but then this kind of turned the world upside down.
A lot of critics came in and said that no one bucks the NFL.
For a guy like Elway to come and say, "I wanna be on the West Coast,
and I wanna be on the beach, and I'm a California boy,"
well, who cares what you are?
You know? And he said, "I'll play baseball."
Play baseball. You should play baseball.
Because he's not the kind of guy you win championships with.
He never did it when he was at Stanford. Personally, don't care if he ever does it.
[man] John Elway shouldn't come into the NFL and dictate where he's going.
He could have done like Terry Bradshaw said
and try to come to Baltimore and make a winner.
Instead, he, uh, tries to come up and be a big-time Hollywood star.
[Elway] Finally, I got a call from my agent.
He said, "You cannot tell anybody this,
but we think we have a deal with you going to Denver."
[commentator 1] Let's talk about this. It's been brewing all night.
Rumors flying around all night.
John Elway is about to become a Denver Bronco.
The Broncos have called a press conference for 10:30 tonight.
[commentator 2] Dan Reeves has left the arena.
I really think that, you know, that us making a deal
has really helped the National Football League
because we kept a great player in our league
that we could not afford, you know, to lose.
[Elway] I thought Dan coming in and coming from Dallas,
Dallas was my favorite team growing up.
Had great respect of him, knew him as a player.
That was something I was really excited about.
[Reeves] Of course, I'm thrilled to death.
[reporters chuckling]
There's not many chances that you get to get a player like John Elway.
[Elway] It was a matter of ten hours.
I'm standing in front of all the press in Denver
and talking about me being a Bronco.
Denver was always on our list. It was always the team I wanted to play for.
As far as the Baltimore thing, I… I consider that thing kind of dead.
That's in the past.
Um, I'd like to discuss the future
and, uh, uh, with being with the Denver Broncos.
-[ominous music playing] -[crowd chanting] Elway sucks!
Elway sucks! Elway sucks!
[commentator] Good afternoon from Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.
It's 100 degrees here right now,
but that's nothing compared to the temperature in the stands,
where 50,000 fans have come to boo John Elway.
[chanting] Elway sucks! Elway sucks! Elway sucks!
[cameraman] Say "stinks" so they can use it.
[chanting] Elway stinks! Elway stinks!
[Elway] I was called more names that game coming out of the locker room
than I had ever been called in my life.
Those fans and those people that lived in Baltimore really took offense to it.
[chanting] Elway sucks!
[Elway] But I did not wanna go to Baltimore
because it was Baltimore or whatnot.
I'd never been to Baltimore, and that never had anything to do with it.
Hey, Elway, you big sissy!
-[dramatic music playing] -[crowd cheering]
[speech drowned out by cheering]
Come on, Elway! You're gonna be carried out on a stretcher, you wimp!
What a way to start your career. Have such enemies.
They beat him to a pulp.
Come on!
[boos]
Oh, that's something. [laughs]
[Elway] I did not ever take my helmet off during that whole game
'cause there were bottles flying out of the stands.
[chanting] Elway sucks! Elway sucks!
Elway sucks! Elway sucks!
[somber music playing]
I've said it all along.
I never had any hard feelings about the people here.
So, you know, the way that they feel about what they feel,
I guess they showed today, so…
-[reporter] Any hard feelings about them? -No. I'm just sure glad I'm in Denver.
[downbeat music stab]
[present-day Elway] First four games were very… They were tough.
-[uneasy music playing] -My head was spinning.
[reporter] Are you tough enough? Do you feel tough enough to be a QB?
I don't think there's any question in my mind that I'm tough enough.
[Antonopulos] His first year, it was incredible.
I'd never seen anybody get beat around like he did.
[Kubiak] It wasn't easy being John. I know he was under a lot of pressure.
The entire organization counting on him to turn that organization around
or take them to a championship someday.
[Antonopulos] I think everyone was expecting
that John was gonna take us to the top right away
and didn't quite understand all the process that he had to go through.
[fans cheering]
[commentator] Jimmy, he got all the money and all the ballyhoo in the world.
-Was he overblown by the media? -[Jimmy] No.
-[commentator] Is he gonna make it? -He just needs some salt and pepper.
He needs seasoning.
I mean, a kid out of college isn't gonna read those defenses.
[tense music playing]
With Dan's offense, it was very different than I was used to.
I had a tough time adjusting to it.
Dan felt like there was a way to win football games.
That old school, run the football,
play tough defense,
not make mistakes.
John felt like he could win the game with his ability, period.
[Reeves] The basic things that John had to learn
was to make sure that his beliefs were the same as the coaching staff
and blending our offensive philosophy together.
Dang, John! Shit!
[Schefter] Dan was a very… strong-minded individual,
and Dan liked things his way.
And by the way, Dan was one of the most successful football coaches of all time.
[Elway] The difference that we had was
I never felt like we were attacking on the offensive side.
We weren't going out there to win football games.
We were going out there to make sure we didn't lose the game.
[Reeves] It didn't work out the way I wanted it to.
Well, that's my fault, I guess, expecting too much out of John too quick.
Uh, defenses are very complicated in the National Football League,
and, you know, he hasn't shown that he's ready
to handle all the things that are thrown at him.
[music fades]
Dan had called me in and said, "We're gonna go with Steve."
Steve DeBerg, who was the guy I was competing with at the time,
started the next four games.
What they're doing is coming after him and making him think very fast,
where everything isn't natural for him yet.
It's been difficult for John. I'd hate to be in that situation.
Love to be making his money. [chuckles]
[somber music playing]
[Elway] I was really, really upset.
At 22 years old, it was very tough to go through.
You know, it made me wonder, uh, you know…
[coughs] …"Did I make the right decision?"
[music fades]
[Reeves] I think there are three "nevers" to being a winning coach.
Never let the press pick your starting quarterback.
Never take a last-place team lightly.
And really, no matter what the score, never let 'em see you sweat.
[downbeat music playing]
[Elway] My dad was the guy that I'd always call.
And he was always the guy that would get me back in the right direction again.
My dad always said, "You can't take the easy way out."
"And you're gonna have to do things that you don't wanna do in life."
"What's your attitude when you're doing those things that you don't wanna do?"
When I look back at my first year,
when Dan decided to sit me down and go with Steve,
I realized that it was probably the best thing that could've happened to me.
I had a chance, you know, to sit and watch for four weeks, get on the sideline,
get out of the middle of everything,
and kind of watch a little bit more, grow up a little bit.
[commentator] We've got DeBerg down.
He took a shot right straight in the chest.
[Elway] And then Steve ended up getting hurt, and so then I was back in.
[commentator] Here comes John Elway.
He's got to learn to read the defenses. He knows that.
And he has really been working on it.
And the whole Denver camp says he has improved tremendously.
Here he is, on the 48 of Seattle, John Elway.
[music turns inspirational]
Elway going for it all!
Touchdown!
And the Broncos are on the scoreboard
as Elway gets his second touchdown pass of the year.
[Elway] Then when I got a second chance,
was able to start making improvement week in and week out.
John has matured a lot this year and a lot more confidence in the huddle.
We get more confidence, and it just… it just helps the whole thing.
[Elway] Things got a lot better. We were winning some football games.
Well, this ball is very important.
This is my rookie year, and we're playing the Colts.
[crowd cheering]
The frustration level that I had going into this game was tremendous.
And then we go down 19-0, you know. And now it's like, "Oh boy."
We finally get into the fourth quarter. We start getting momentum.
Let's make a play! Let's go!
[commentator 1] Elway, with some protection,
throwing into the end zone for Sampson.
He's got the ball! Touchdown!
[crowd roars]
Receivers left. Fourth down and 2, Broncos.
Elway is back. Here comes the safety blitz.
Willhite at the 10! Willhite at the 5!
Willhite to the goal! Touchdown!
Fourth-and-2, and the Broncos get the touchdown to go ahead!
There's the backflip from Gerald Willhite.
[commentator 2] An unbelievable finish.
The relief I felt after this game was tremendous.
It was the first comeback that I'd had in my career.
[commentator 2] I think that's what the Broncos paid $5,000,000 for.
[commentator 1] Yeah, I would say.
[music fades]
We just got off the phone with Edgar Kaiser,
the owner of the Broncos.
He has just sold 51% of the team to Pat Bowlen, an Edmonton businessman.
[high-pitched tone plays, stops]
-Good morning. -[cameraman] Take one.
Here I am. Denver's newest rookie.
[Elway] Pat Bowlen was a tremendous owner, really cared about his players.
Also, the number one thing in his book was winning football games.
The number one goal is to win the Super Bowl.
And in my case, it's not just to win one Super Bowl.
It's to win a number of Super Bowls because I plan to be here for a long time.
[intriguing music playing]
First time in practice, I saw him throw the ball over 80 yards with no effort.
I'm going, "Man, this guy's a freak."
That's the reason I actually came to Denver over Philly,
was the opportunity to coach John.
Mike Shanahan came in my second year, in 1984.
Mike and I became very, very close.
We were like almost best friends.
I think that he was able to give me the ideas of what Dan was thinking.
And I think that led to me having a much better year my second year.
Set hut!
[dramatic music playing]
Damn. Damn.
He kept on working, never looked back.
[Elway] Damn!
People have no idea how hard this guy worked to be who he was.
[Elway] Set hut!
Way to work, man.
He made his mark in the offseason. He made his mark when no one was looking.
[man] This growth period, this evolution, that was all part of it.
You have to have some trials to get stronger.
[commentator] That's not even a great quarterback throw.
That's a Superman throw!
I don't know that there's anyone else in the NFL that makes this throw.
[Kubiak] People saw the talent, but John took it to a new level.
His strength and his body and the things he did physically.
[commentator] I tell you, that Elway's a competitor. He ran that like a fullback.
He could've stayed out to his right. Look at the hole he had.
But he wanted to make the cutback,
lower his shoulder, drive those legs.
Drive, drive, drive, drive!
Doesn't look like he's the fastest guy on the planet.
But I'm telling you, his ability to escape,
it is absolutely amazing.
[Elway] I wanted to be the greatest to ever play.
[commentator] Elway's gonna run it. And he's got the 10.
He scores!
[Elway] That was my expectations of myself.
So what other people thought I could do was secondary.
One of the main reasons the Broncos are winning
is because their quarterback, John Elway, is having a sensational year.
There's no question I'm a lot better quarterback this year.
I'm starting to feel I belong in the NFL.
[commentator] Remember the year he was drafted?
A lot of people wondered, did they make a mistake?
I think he's answering those questions now.
[man] He knows he's the man that's gonna lead this offense.
He's really stepped forward as a leader.
That's the way to fight! Big dog, you got me. Way to fight!
We wanna show people out there that we do have a great football team.
The only way we're gonna do that is by winning the Super Bowl.
[commentator 1] To Sewell. He's looking to throw.
Elway! Elway's got it.
John Elway, heading for the end zone!
Touchdown, Denver! What a play!
[commentator 2] Broncos rally to win.
An inspirational comeback engineered by John Elway.
[commentator 1] Offensively, they have a rising young superstar in John Elway.
And while he is great right now,
he is going to be one of the greats of all time, I think.
And I think a lot of people agree with me. He can do it all.
[producer] Roll six.
[interviewer] Of all the, uh, legendary comebacks
John Elway has led,
which one's your favorite?
Wow. He's had so many.
You know, I'd have to say, because what was at stake, uh,
the Cleveland game.
[intriguing music playing]
[Jackson] There's a lot of drives in the NFL, if you look at the annals.
But there's only one that's called "The Drive."
[commentator] And so we're moments away.
The Cleveland Browns and the Denver Broncos
for the AFC Championship.
These are a pair of teams who have not been to this stage
of the playoffs for some time.
[man] It was cold and windy.
Playing there, and you got the Dawg Pound.
-[fans barking] -[Jackson] Dog biscuits. Sandwiches.
Batteries.
That's all in that end zone.
Whoever wins goes to Super Bowl.
[music turns tense]
[Elway] It was a good battle the whole game.
[commentator] Brian Brennan. He's got it!
[Elway] They scored with five minutes to go in the game.
But we figured we had some chances to win this football game.
And then they kicked off to us.
[commentator] A critical mistake by Gene Lang.
If he lets that football go, it gets into the end zone.
I think he panicked. He covered it on the 2-yard line
and forces Elway and the offense to start way back
on the one-and-a-half-yard line.
The drive starting at the two-yard line with five minutes to go in the game.
Well, we know we have our work cut out for us.
[Bishop] We look over, and all the Browns,
they're all looking at us with shit-eating grins.
I go, "Look at them fuckers."
He looked at me, and he said, "John, we got 'em right where we want 'em."
This being my fourth year,
I really hadn't lived up to the expectations
that I was going to win a World Championship.
So this was the moment.
[music turns dramatic]
[commentator 1] Elway to Winder. To the 7.
All right, 7, baby! All right!
[commentator 2] The pressure is on the quarterback,
with a long ways to the end zone.
[commentator 1] Sewell. Oh, how did he hang on to it?
Steve Sewell at the 48-yard line.
[Elway] Now that we're at the 50, we know that we're in four-down territory.
We're not trying to get in field-goal range.
We need a touchdown.
[music subsides]
[muffled impacts]
This was when the stadium just went crazy.
[commentator 2] And doggone it, are they happy in Cleveland!
[Jackson] Elway gets sacked. And now it's a third-and-18.
And the home team is thinking, "Man, it's lights out."
[downbeat music playing]
[man] Dan Reeves tells Elway, "Don't try to get it all in one play."
That's like telling John Wayne not to shoot the bad guy.
[music turns dramatic]
[Elway] Truly great quarterbacks are able to perform in tough situations
when all the odds are against you.
[Saccomano] He sees Mark Jackson open. A rocket to him.
[commentator 1] Elway is able to drill a 25-yard pass to rookie Mark Jackson.
[Elway] After this play, things really changed,
and things in that stadium got a heck of a lot quieter.
Now we've got some momentum.
[commentator 1] Screen to Sewell, has blockers.
It is Denver's ball for another four downs.
Clock continues to run.
Cleveland 20, Denver 13. Final minute.
[music turns suspenseful]
[Jackson] This is the play that is John Elway.
His ability to extend the play.
[commentator 1] Elway alertly on second down,
getting out of bounds with 42 seconds left.
Short of the first down at the 5,
third-and-1.
[Jackson] We just need one yard.
When we ran this play several times during the season, I never got the ball.
[music intensifies]
[music subsides]
-[crowd roars] -[inspirational music playing]
[commentator 1] Touchdown, Mark Jackson!
[commentator 2] Elway leads the Broncos 98 yards
to bring them within one point of tying this game.
[commentator 1] 20-20.
And now Cleveland says, "We'll play you in overtime."
[commentator 2] Clock does not matter in this situation.
The first score, be it touchdown or field goal, will end this contest.
[commentator 1] He's got running room but elects to throw.
And there's Watson at the 23-yard line.
[music subsides]
And it's all on the shoulders and the foot of Rich Karlis.
Suddenly, as quiet in Cleveland Stadium at this moment
as it has been the entire game.
[crowd noise muted]
[silence]
[triumphant music playing]
[players, staff celebrating wildly]
Oh my God! It's unbelievable!
It's beautiful! Beautiful!
[Elway] The first thought that came to my mind is,
"My dad's going to be proud that I did this and was a part of this."
Super Bowl! Super Bowl! We going to the Super Bowl! [laughs]
[Elway] People started saying that maybe the little spoiled brat from California
could actually be a very good quarterback.
[music fades]
[reporter] At Denver's airport,
thousands gathered for the Broncos' homecoming,
blocking streets,
slowing emergency vehicles, and stopping traffic.
[crowd cheering]
I think it was a bit overwhelming for me, to be honest with you.
For my career, that really was my kind of coming-out party.
Wow!
[crowd cheering]
Wow!
The Drive changed everything forevermore.
♪ Big John ♪
♪ Every morning at the mine You could see him arrive ♪
♪ He stood six foot six and weighed 245 ♪
♪ Kinda broad at the shoulder And narrow at the hip ♪
♪ And everybody knew You didn't give no lip to Big John ♪
Johnny Elway!
♪ Big John… ♪
Johnny Elway, superstar!
[Smith] My nephew loves you. You got anything in your locker?
[Jackson] Got the nickname "The Duke of Denver."
[Saccomano] Duke of Denver.
[Elway] The Duke of Denver.
♪ Nobody seemed to know Where John called home… ♪
[Elway] This is a collection of John Wayne's guns
that are used in many of his movies.
I had an opportunity to buy these, and so I jumped at that opportunity.
Hold it!
[Elway] John Wayne was one of my heroes.
I thought he was one of the coolest dudes on earth.
I got great admiration for John Wayne and the way that he walked and talked.
I'd let it drop, friend.
Don't get mad, mister.
[Elway] I've always enjoyed cowboy movies.
You want that gun? Pick it up.
I wish you would.
I love history, and I just look back
at how hard it was back in those times, to live in those times and be a cowboy
and what they went through. I got deep respect for 'em.
[man] I could see him in a shootout.
I could literally see him standing there.
Fill your hand, you son of a bitch!
His demeanor is to win.
Red 98! Hut, hut!
♪ Through the dust and the smoke Of this man-made hell ♪
♪ Walked a giant of a man That the miners knew well ♪
♪ Grabbed a sagging timber And gave out with a groan… ♪
[Elway] I say that my best impression is a John Wayne impression, which is,
[as John Wayne] "I would've been there quicker,
but I got bushwhacked at the pass."
And so I do that to my friends all the time. [chuckles]
That's the only thing he can say though. If you ask him anything else, forget it.
[laughs]
So The Drive allowed him to be celebrated,
but let's be real.
He was gonna have to win a Super Bowl to be coronated.
Let's make a little noise, Colorado.
-[rifle fire] -[fans cheering]
[fans chanting] Super Bowl! Super Bowl! Super Bowl! Super Bowl!
[younger Elway] As a Pop Warner player, when you're young,
your goal is to play in the Super Bowl.
Hopefully, I'll be able to keep my nerves under control.
[tense music playing]
[crowd cheering, yelling]
[commentator 1] It's a big question whether the Giants, with their defense,
can handle the trickery of John Elway.
[Reeves] All right, gang, this is what we worked for for a long, long time.
Let's go every play as hard as we can. Now let's get at it.
[music turns dramatic]
[commentator 2] Elway to throw on first down. Comes out of the pocket.
This is what they dreaded.
Elway scrambles on first down.
Jackson in Giants territory.
Elway up the middle.
Touchdown.
[commentator 3] You can't give him a lane. That's what the Giants did,
and that's what makes Elway so effective.
[reporter] Perhaps the best first quarter that's been played
in the history of the Super Bowl so far.
[Elway] The Giant game, played really well in the first quarter.
Unfortunately, right before the half,
we had a first-and-goal on the 1, and we walked away with no points.
[commentator 2] Twenty-four yards out. Kubiak holding.
Karlis is no good.
[downbeat music playing]
[Elway] And we got worse from there.
[commentator 2] And now it is all gone against the Broncos.
Their brilliant first half
with the Giants dominating in this third quarter.
[commentator 3] The Broncos have run seven plays.
Seven plays for two yards in the third quarter.
[commentator 4] Simms to Bavaro. Touchdown.
Going deep for Bobby Johnson.
Phil McConkey now. McConkey head over heels.
[commentator 2] He's going in, standing up, and this one's history.
[somber music playing]
[Elway] It was hard to put a finger on, you know, why we didn't win that game.
[reporter 1] The Broncos had their party yesterday.
About 120,000 fans lining the streets of Denver,
cheering them on even if they did lose.
They figured there always is next year.
[energetic music playing]
[commentator] And Denver's Broncos will go to the Super Bowl for the second year,
led by John Elway.
[Elway] Coming back in '87 and being named the MVP,
you know, it gave me that much more confidence.
[reporter 2] The Denver Broncos are champions of the AFC
for the second time in a row.
They're favored to win the Super Bowl for the first time in their history.
I think the Denver Broncos are gonna win this one big.
[reporter 3] How much of the disappointment is still there?
A lot of it. That feeling's still fresh in our minds,
so we're looking at this game as a must-win situation.
[commentator 1] John Elway is on one heck of a roll.
Maybe the best we've ever seen at that position.
[commentator 2] Bronco fans hoping the third time is the charm
for their favorites, who have never won a Super Bowl game.
But then they've never been favored before either.
And the Bronco fans expect John Elway to bring the…
[stumbles over words]
Let's try take two. Okay.
Good afternoon from Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.
[commentator 3] Out of the shotgun, which is their basic formation.
And Elway going for the bomb right at the outset.
Throw's caught by Nattiel! Touchdown!
[fans cheering, screaming]
[commentator 4] Well, the Redskins are stunned.
At the end of the first quarter, we're up 10-0.
And then 19 plays later…
[commentator 5] Four touchdowns in one quarter.
A new Super Bowl record!
[Elway] …we're down 35-10.
Red 28! Red 28! Hut!
[menacing music stab]
[Kubiak] Yeah, I don't know.
[somber music playing]
[Kubiak] It's a game of momentum.
If it gets flying one way bad, it's really hard to get it back.
[commentator 3] Elway is 5 of his last 24.
[commentator 6] We're talking about things that haven't happened
since John Elway was a rookie.
[Kubiak] And then we get beat 42-10.
[commentator 7] Well, if last year was bad, this baby is awful.
[reporter] In San Diego, Bronco fans heard the fat lady singing at halftime.
And in Denver today, the mood was as gray as the sky over the city.
For a town that's never been number one in anything but carbon monoxide levels,
the Broncos' second Super Bowl loss in a row was doubly depressing.
Next year, no.
[uneasy music playing]
[Shanahan] John took it personally.
He had one goal He had to win the Super Bowl.
[commentator] John Elway has done it again.
Three times in four years.
The Denver Broncos, best of the AFC.
[younger Elway] The team from the NFC is gonna be awful tough.
We're gonna have to play our best football to win.
Thank you. Congratulations. Good luck in the Super Bowl.
Thank you, O.J.
Broncos fans didn't want the team to go back to the Super Bowl,
because they didn't want to face any more embarrassment.
You know, John, you and I have been around this game a long time.
I was just thinking this might be the best football team I've ever seen.
[John] This 49er team has everything.
-Gonna be a blowout. -A total blowout.
It's gonna be an ugly game, but it'll be fun anyway.
[Antonopulos] You could tell the pressure was so much on him.
Just all he could think about.
And I'm looking. This is not good.
That's not John.
[younger Elway] We know we're the best team.
Let's go out and prove it today. We've gotta play hard.
-Let's go out and kick some… -[players cheer]
[commentator 1] Montana looked to Rathman.
Hits Rice. Rice scores for San Francisco.
Montana, quickly. Brent Jones.
49er touchdown.
Montana going up top to Rice. Touchdown.
[Elway] They were a much better football team than we were.
Some days you get out there, and you just feel it, and…
and some days, it's a struggle.
[commentator 2] Hey, this has to be the worst three quarters of football
John Elway can remember in his life.
[Montana] Unfortunately for him, it was the Super Bowl.
But you don't wish those kind of days for anyone.
[Elway] Especially when we got behind, I pressed and made some bad decisions
and threw some interceptions that made the outcome even worse.
[crowd groans]
[commentator 2] John Elway is gonna take the heat.
This is his third loss in a Super Bowl.
But as he said, he would rather be there and take a swing at it.
He also said before he's ever gonna be considered a great quarterback,
he knows that he has to win one of these things.
[Janet] It didn't matter how well he played or didn't play.
It just was we lost.
And we lost again, and we lost again.
[commentator] Elway takes the snap and runs it in for a touchdown!
Thanks to Elway's patented last-second magic,
the final score of Super Bowl XXX,
Denver 7, San Francisco 56.
[Homer] Woo-hoo!
[somber music playing]
[Elway] The criticism that comes along with losing Super Bowls,
especially the way that we lost 'em,
what came out of that was, "Well, Elway can't win the big one."
There's a great deal of pressure on him, Brent, to get the monkey off his back.
Before he'll be recognized as one of the great ones,
with Terry and all the people that have been involved in the Super Bowl,
he's gonna have to win one.
You've got to become emotionally and mentally stronger.
You can't let anyone know that you have a kink in your armor.
I'm not one of those guys that likes to cause controversy,
and he is. And for that, I have no respect for him.
His reply was, "Stick it in your ear," was it, huh?
What am I gonna… apolog… I'm not gonna do that.
Then I would be admitting I was wrong.
Depending on whether he won or lost, there was definitely, like, a mood shift.
And we could read it, and we would act accordingly.
It definitely dictated our house
and, like, the heaviness that could be there.
You could see him sitting there on the couch and just, like, rerunning it
and thinking about all the things he could have done differently.
There was no passing of the blame to anyone else other than himself.
[Elway] The frustration level grew.
I think not only with us as a team, me as a player,
but really Colorado as a whole.
Fuck you!
[boos]
Around, like, second, third grade,
you really start to pick up on the gravity of the situation.
[Elway] We got death threats.
There was times we had to have police patrol the house
a little bit more than they have in the past.
[reporter] Off the field, the Denver media probed into Elway's personal life.
Not since his rookie season has John been under such scrutiny.
[Janet] There wasn't that much else going on in Denver.
And so all the focus and the media and everything was on John.
[Elway] Sometimes, you want some privacy.
By that time in the '90s, we had four kids.
I got a lot more protective.
I wanted to have my kids live a normal life as they possibly could.
-Good shot. -Nice!
[bell ringing]
-Who won? -Dad!
[Jack Jr.] Yeah! Can I have this?
Me and you! Me and you! Me and you!
-Huh? -Me and you.
We were just trying to blend in and be a normal kid.
I think that's what we were all missing in our lives,
is that we never had the anonymity.
[Janet] It was very hard to go anywhere.
I needed to get used to the idea that this… this comes with the territory.
-Huh? -Good luck!
Thank you.
I've always believed that, you know, it takes just as long to be a nice guy
as it does to be an asshole. And so I chose to be a nice guy,
and I think that was at the sacrifice to my kids sometimes.
For so long, it felt like, you know, you're playing the good guy all the time.
You know, sometimes I wanted to be a bad guy in a Western.
I wanted to be able to really just be a bad guy
and, you know, end up getting shot in the end of the… the end of the movie.
[music fades]
My relationship with Dan, it was choppy, to say the least.
I was frustrated with the offense, what we're doing.
And so I think that frustration level finally, uh, came out.
[uneasy music playing]
Got a little bit too open with Dick Connor.
He was a great columnist in Denver for a long, long time.
I didn't think it would have the impact or come out as hard as it did.
I've had so many lows this year.
This week has been probably a… an all-time low.
You know, it hurts to… to read something
that you have no idea that there is a problem.
You know, certainly, if there was a problem, I wish John had talked to me.
You know, I've been to Dan's office before
and walked out and thought everything was good,
and nothing's… nothing's really changed.
So, uh, you know, this was another way to hopefully get his ear a little bit
and have him listen to me.
[reporter] One stabilizing force in Elway's season was Mike Shanahan.
[Elway] Other than my dad, Mike Shanahan is by far the best coach I've ever had,
which I think was something that Dan didn't like.
I'm in the weight room with John one morning
and I get a call to Dan's office,
and I go to his office, and he throws a newspaper at me.
I mean, he was pissed.
He said, "How in the hell did this get in the newspaper?"
I said, "Dan, I've been trying to make this relationship work
over the last, you know, six, seven years."
I said, "I'm gonna go downstairs. I'm gonna get John."
So as I came in there, I said,
"John, would you tell Dan why you don't like him?"
"And, Dan, would you tell John why you don't like him?"
John looks over, and he said,
"I hate you more than any person in this world."
"And this is why."
They both went for 15 minutes, and I thought it was great.
-[music fades] -[Elway] Dan ended up firing Mike.
You know, I felt responsible for that because Mike had nothing to do with it.
Thirty years later, you know, that's probably one thing that I regret.
[Schefter] The relationship between them became strained enough
that the Denver Broncos had a deal
to send John Elway to the Washington Redskins.
[downbeat music stab]
And Pat Bowlen put the kibosh on that.
[Elway] When that came up, the possibility that I might have to go somewhere else,
it was scary to me 'cause I'd never wanted to play for anybody else.
The stability of being in Denver for my kids,
living in one spot, was important to me.
That opened my eyes to understand exactly where Dan was.
[uneasy music playing]
The frustration level kept growing and growing and growing.
Fuck!
Dang it!
That went out right here, lookit!
That's what it is, right there! You're so full of bullshit!
I knew, you know, this is just a matter of time.
[melancholic music playing]
[Bowlen] Let's understand right off the bat
that Dan was a great coach.
[younger Bowlen] I plan to take a lot more active role.
That's what I wanna do.
And I think when you think about that,
if I would've, uh, agreed to renew Dan's contract a year from now,
we probably both would've been miserable and at each other's throats.
-Did John Elway have any influence? -None.
…my bicep. I can feel where it's sore…
[younger Bowlen] John's a player. He's not a coach.
Players don't make decisions on who coaches.
I gotta watch out for you guys. Sneak on up with that thing.
[Schefter] Pat chose John over Dan, no matter what they say or feel.
Pat Bowlen, in the end, decided to ride it out with John Elway
over Dan Reeves.
[Elway] I was happy that Mr. Bowlen made that decision to try to start anew.
I was excited about seeing if we could turn things around
with a new system and new coach.
Obviously, my first choice was… was Mike Shanahan.
-[camera shutters clicking] -Mike agreed to come back.
The best thing that happened to my career.
[energetic music playing]
[Engel] John finally felt like, "I got a voice,
and I got the guy I want with the knowledge that he has."
"And we're gonna win."
[Elway] When Mike came back, we had a really good football team.
I said, "John, I'm gonna give you a running game."
"You're getting too old. You can't take shots."
"You can't keep on doing that. You're not gonna survive."
Mike did a great job of convincing John was,
"You've had too much on your plate." John embraced his role and bought into it.
[Elway] But the most important thing was Mike was an aggressive play caller.
I loved the fact that he attacked.
And I said, "I'm game with anything."
[music intensifies]
To have a guy like Terrell Davis come into my life,
that made my job so much easier.
A guy that I could lean on instead of getting leaned on.
Not a better player, in my opinion,
that's ever played the running back position than Terrell.
[man] Every headline, everybody talked about it.
It was, "John Elway has not won a Super Bowl."
As teammates, you feel like…
like, you want to help him get his first Super Bowl.
So that was our goal.
[commentator 1] Here comes the blitz. He steps away from it
and lets the pass go long.
-[commentator 2] Are you kidding? -[commentator 1] Touchdown!
Shannon Sharpe makes the catch!
Elway was submerged, jumps up,
and throws a strike to Shannon Sharpe at the 4-yard line.
People ask me, "Who's your favorite receiver?"
I always say, "The open one."
And then second, I say, "Shannon Sharpe."
Hey!
Pittsburgh!
[Elway] Shannon was a leader in that locker room
as far as keeping things light.
I think that was one thing that brought the bond of that football team together.
Come on, D. Come on, D.
Make a play for us here. Come on, baby.
Never say never. Never say never.
Whatever we were doing, he did.
Wow!
[Sharpe] If we're rolling dice, "What are you guys playing?"
He'd roll dice with us.
If we're playing cards, he's playing cards.
I think that's why guys would be willing to run through a wall for him.
He didn't set himself apart.
[Elway] My dad, he always told me,
"Being on a team where everybody's busting their tail
to go and win games."
It was about taking care of the people that take care of you.
[music turns dramatic]
[yelling indistinctly]
I'm calling the president. President, we need the National Guard.
We need as many men as you can spare 'cause we are killing the Patriots.
You're doing everything out of the book.
-[player 1] We still getting-- -But… and we're what? 11-1.
[player 2] 11-1!
[inspirational music playing]
[Elway] In '96, we were 13-3.
We had the home-field advantage wrapped up.
Jacksonville was a relatively new team.
That was my 14th year.
I was really excited to get back to the Super Bowl.
-[bell tolls] -[music fades]
[muted]
[Davis] We weren't even close to who we were supposed to be in that game.
[ominous music playing]
[crowd groans]
[Elway] They came in here and upset us.
We end up getting beat 30-27.
[crowd booing]
[music fades]
[Engel] John was very angry, you know, not like I had seen him before.
That noose was tightening.
[Elway] I'm sure there was some crying going on that night,
and the kids saw me, and because of the expectations,
that was probably the most devastating loss I'd ever faced.
[dramatic music playing]
[Elway] When we came back in '97, we were really on a revenge tour.
Oh yeah!
We had something to prove, but the proof was not for the other team.
-It was in each other. -[Elway] Red 98, hut!
[Sharpe] John knew this was gonna be his last, best chance.
It was either gonna be now or never.
[commentator] Handoff. Davis, right side.
Davis is at the 5, touchdown!
Standing up goes Terrell Davis
for the Broncos' third touchdown of the first half.
[player] Great job, boy!
I love this, baby. I love it. Revenge is so sweet.
[Elway] Huddle up! Red right, F short, 18 5, all right.
-Set hut! -[commentator] Hand off. Davis.
Terrell squares his shoulders into the end zone!
Touchdown, Denver!
Yeah!
[cheering]
[commentator] And they are stunned here at Arrowhead Stadium.
Two minutes left. Third-and-6 for Denver
at the Bronco 15-yard line. They lead 24-21.
This place is going nuts.
Snap is good. Five-man rush.
John throws. Pass caught!
First down on the 30-yard line. Shannon Sharpe!
Biggest first down of the year!
Elway to Sharpe for 18 yards!
Oh, baby!
Denver goes to the Super Bowl!
They are the AFC champions!
[music fades]
[Elway] I called my mom from the plane
and said, "Mom, can you believe we get to go back to the Super Bowl?"
And there's a long silence, and finally she says,
"Do we really have to go back to the Super Bowl?" [chuckles]
[tense music playing]
[Jessica] I was terrified.
The media was saying the Broncos had no chance against the Packers.
I'm also worried about my dad, of just like, "Is he hearing this?"
"Does he realize that, like, he is not supposed to win this game?"
Green Bay 24, Denver 17.
-Green Bay. -Green Bay.
-Green Bay's gonna win.
Green Bay's gonna win.
Hi, I'm Joe Montana.
I don't know the score, but I'm taking Green Bay.
Do you kind of view, at 37 years of age,
"Maybe this is my last chance at the Super Bowl"?
[reporter 1] Will it be hard to go to the Hall of Fame
if you don't win the Super Bowl?
[reporter 2] How does it make you feel when you hear people say,
"He can't win the big one"?
[younger Elway] You heard that for, you know, 14 years.
It's burning there all the time. I think that that's what kept me going.
We understood what was at stake. Green Bay were the defending champs.
They're back in the game. They got the reigning MVP.
[commentator 1] Brett Favre, league's best player,
three consecutive years, never happened before,
against the sentimental favorite, Elway,
trying to undo those three previous Super Bowl experiences.
We knew they were a great football team.
Their defense was ranked number one in almost every area.
We were going to run the ball to win that game.
And he knew it.
He was like, "Whatever it takes."
[announcer] At quarterback, from Stanford, number seven,
John Elway.
[player] Blue 58!
Blue 58, hut!
[suspenseful music playing]
[commentator 2] Brett, to the end zone. Back there is Antonio Freeman.
Touchdown, Packers!
On an absolutely gorgeous throw by Brett Favre.
[grunts]
[Elway] Terrell had a tremendous game.
Offensive line just controlled the line of scrimmage.
[commentator 2] Elway, handoff, Davis, into the end zone, touchdown!
Yeah!
[Davis] I get kicked.
[music turns ominous]
[commentator 3] I think Davis may be shaken up.
Terrell Davis is on both knees.
[Davis] All of a sudden, my vision starts to go out.
And I'm thinking, "Oh no, I'm about to get a migraine."
So when TD went down, you know, I was concerned.
He's a little woozy.
He did struggle with migraines. He just never had one during a game
that I remembered.
[commentator 2] This would be costly for the Broncos.
He ain't gonna run it hard no more. He's scared.
They out the game. They're gonna take Davis out.
-I can't see. -[Shanahan] Okay, just do this.
Don't worry about seeing. We're going to fake it to you to 15 lead.
But if you're not in there, they won't believe we're gonna run, okay?
[inspirational music playing]
I think we all felt like we're not letting up.
That showed you what kind of guy Terrell Davis is.
He went in there. I said, "TD, just go forward. I'll adjust to you."
[younger Elway] Let's go red left, F short, 19, Bob King. On it.
Set hut!
[commentator 2] Play fake, Davis. Elway rolls right.
Come on, John, come on!
[commentator 2] He can run it in.
[music building]
-[music fades] -[commentator 2] Vintage John Elway there.
And the 37-year-old making it happen with his legs.
[Davis] Long halftime.
By the time we went back out, I could see.
We are going pedal to the metal.
We're gonna steamroll the hell out of everybody.
[intriguing music playing]
[commentator 3] Super Bowl XXXII is tied at 17.
We're in the third quarter with three minutes remaining.
[Shanahan] It's third down, 6 and a half, and we're on the 12-yard line,
and we're going against one of the best red-zone defenses
in the National Football League.
John is gonna go crazy when I call this play.
But I said, "I've gotta do it."
Okay, Point Slice.
-Go west, right slot. Point Slice. -[player] Let's go.
This was a play that we put in
specifically for this game, against this defense.
And I wasn't a big fan of the play.
John hated it. John hated the play.
[Sharpe] We run the play in practice.
And every time we ran that play in practice, I caught the ball.
I said, "Mike, what happens if we don't get that coverage?"
And he goes, "John, it's 100% of the time in this situation."
-[Sharpe] Guess what happened? -[stirring music playing]
[commentator 3] Eleventh play of this drive
that started back at the Bronco 8.
Third-and-6. Elway, shotgun.
We called that play. They don't run the coverage.
John goes and makes the play.
[Elway] I knew as soon as I walked out and saw them lined up
that it was not the defense we wanted.
[Davis] As soon as I went to put my hands up, say I was open,
John got flushed out of the pocket.
And as he's running, my mind was thinking,
"Go there so if anything happens, you can jump on the football."
But I didn't.
I just stood there and watched him.
[rousing music playing]
Come on, John, come on. Come on!
[commentator 4] Inside the 10, head first.
[music stops abruptly]
[silence]
[commentator 4] He dives inside the 5-yard line!
[Davis] I saw that he had got the first down.
Man, we all went crazy.
[commentator 5] Elway scrambling, looking, running,
diving inside the five-yard line for a first down.
Is he only 37?
[laughs]
[commentator 5] How important is this football game?
How bad does John Elway wanna win this football game?
You see that quarterbacks go down, not Elway.
When he did that, it was like, "Holy shit, we can't let this guy down."
-Goal line! Goal line! -Goal line! Goal line!
[Kubiak] That football team was there to win that thing for him.
TD, they all knew how much it meant to John.
[commentator 5] Elway, Davis.
Davis to the end zone.
Touchdown, Denver!
Yes!
[commentator 5] That was a 93-yard drive.
[music stops abruptly]
[serene music playing]
[commentator 4] Thirty-eight years without a championship in football
has come down to one play.
Fourth-and-6.
-Thirty-two seconds to go. -C'mon.
This is it.
C'mon!
[commentator 4] One play to the championship.
[Favre] Let's go now, deep breath, let's go. Blue 58, hut!
[commentator 4] Blitz is on. Favre throws it!
Pass is gonna be
incomplete! Denver's gonna win it!
[heartwarming music playing]
[commentator 4] Oh, baby, they're gonna win this thing!
Are you kidding me?
The Broncos have done it!
They have shocked everybody, and they have won Super Bowl XXXII!
[Elway] I was able to let every bit of emotion
I'd ever had stored up inside me…
To be able to let it go was, you know…
[Janet] So elated, just couldn't believe it.
And the kids were there. It just…
Just incredible. Yeah.
It was just this thousand-pound weight off of all of our shoulders.
[Jessica] Relief, complete relief.
Which I… Honestly, I think is a better feeling than happiness.
This one's for John!
[crowd cheering]
You could definitely tell he'd never been that happy before.
[chuckles] And that's…
[Shanahan] Jack, get your butt over here!
[Jack] My hand is shaking. I'm proud of you.
I'm so damn proud of you.
-[present day Elway] Then to see my dad… -[Jack] Damn skippy, you did it.
[younger Elway grunts]
[Jack] Finally did it.
…who was, uh…
as happy as, uh… as I was.
He's such a big deal, I might even buy it.
[player] Yo, sir!
[poignant music playing]
Ooh.
That brought back great memories.
[reporter] Bronco fans are soaring with pride in the Mile High City.
More than a half million honored the Super Bowl champions
with a parade through downtown Denver.
The Broncos upset the Green Bay Packers 31-24 Sunday night,
making John Elway the oldest QB ever to win a Super Bowl.
[younger Elway] There's only so many times
you can get hit right in the forehead with a fist.
But this time, we did the punching.
[crowd cheering]
[inaudible]
[Elway] I'm not sure that you ever deserve something,
but I tell you what, the 53 guys and coaches on this team,
we earned it as well as you. Thank you.
[crowd cheering]
[reporter] He says he is considering retirement,
but first plans on savoring the moment, at least for a little while.
He says he'll decide his future after talking with family and teammates.
[crowd chanting] One more year! One more year! One more year!
-One more year! One more year! -[music fades]
One more year! One more year! One more year!
[man] I have to think, sitting next to you,
you wanna play one more year. At least one more.
Don't you wanna go out there and see what it's like
to hit the turf as the defending Super Bowl champion?
-You gotta want that. -I mean, uh…
-[audience cheering] -[Letterman] Yeah?
My dad had never allowed me to quit anything
other than wrestling in eighth grade.
You know, we had a long sit-down.
He looked at me and said, "John,
you still have the physical tools to play this game."
[uneasy music playing]
Everybody keeps congratulating me for coming back.
The thing is, I never left.
[reporters chuckling]
It didn't feel right. My heart didn't… it didn't tell me it was time to quit.
The bottom line is, I'm coming back so we can win.
[Shanahan] He was gonna get himself ready to play. He was gonna play.
But he was hurting.
He was sacked more than Dan Marino and Montana combined.
[younger Elway] I've had this knee since I was hurt in high school.
I hurt it in high school.
I don't think any different about it now than I did then.
[Jessica] We've all learned, you put your head down and get through it.
That is how you build your character. That's how you prove your character.
[commentator 1] I think John Elway may have hurt his hamstring here.
[Jessica] You're tough. It's only pain.
[commentator 2] Elway was in… in extreme pain.
[commentator 1] I think with the back, you really don't know.
And you just do it.
[commentator 1] Davis, first down and more.
Fifteen, ten, touchdown!
It's all over.
The Broncos repeat as AFC champions,
and they'll return to the Super Bowl.
Here come the cheers for John Elway.
[commentator 2] Sixteen years.
[commentator 1] Greatness is more than just the performance on the field.
This man has become an integral part of this Denver community
and will be for a long time.
John was football first.
And he knew that I had the family.
I just felt that was…
What I was supposed to do was make his life easier.
And I carried that through our marriage.
[music fades]
By that time, we were pretty disconnected.
And we began to go more south in our relationship.
[poignant music playing]
[Elway] My mom doesn't get enough credit
because she was the one, when Dad was working,
that took care of us kids because…
Really a great man, but he enjoyed his time with his coaches
and his off time too, which you have to do in that kind of job.
It takes a special woman.
And, uh, I joke and say, we've been married 40 years.
So I say, "I was real good to Jan. I never went home."
-That was the long hours. -That's why we've been married 40 years.
And I think probably, uh, prior to us getting married,
she didn't quite understand, you know, what a coach's life was all about.
But, uh, she was, uh, not only a great wife, a great mother,
and a great coach's wife because, uh, she realized what went with the job.
[Elway] He said, "John, listen to this."
He said, "My priorities are, my job is number one,
and my family is number two."
He says, "Everyone else will say it's different than that."
He said, "But you know what, John? My job was to take care of my family."
"And if I did not have a job, I could not provide for my family."
[Jack Jr.] I used to be pretty intimidated,
and I wasn't really open with him much growing up.
Also, he wasn't around.
I tried to be as stoic as I could, I guess. He's a very stoic person.
You know, the goal of what I wanted to prove in football,
I think that focus and determination did take away from my family.
I tried to be as present as I possibly could.
But, you know, sometimes when I was home, I wasn't nearly as present,
because I was thinking about what was going on in my football life.
[Sharpe] All his kids are… they're not kids anymore.
They're starting to be young adults. And he's missed a large portion of that.
Those are the sacrifices that athletes, they make.
But you understand what it takes to be great
because you can't be great between the hours of nine and five.
[dramatic music playing]
[music drowns out speech]
[Elway] Once we found out we were playing Dan Reeves in the Super Bowl,
Mike and I looked at each other and said, "How is this possible?"
[sportscaster] Reeves and Shanahan.
Well, let's just say, there's a little bit of history there.
[Reeves] There's still a lot of hurt
that won't ever go away from what my family's had to go through.
Hey.
Who would have thought four years ago we'd be going against Dan?
Oh, I know. Hey.
Two times in a row.
-We gotta kick his ass. -I know it.
[sportscaster] Steve DeBerg, the backup quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons,
videotaping what is definitely the highlight of his 18-year career.
[younger Elway] This is what we worked, played so hard for.
Just remember, we can't win it in the first quarter or second quarter.
We've gotta play 60 minutes of Bronco football.
We'll be World Champs.
Let's have 60 minutes of fun and get out and win this thing on three.
-One, two, three! -Win!
[commentator 1] Super Bowl XXXIII is underway.
I-formation now. Denver first-and-goal inside the 1.
Handoff to Howard Griffith over left guard.
Griffith is in for a Denver touchdown.
[commentator 2] Robinson, who's supposed to have middle containment,
just got beat and then outrun.
Those moments for me, it's like, you can't really describe it to people.
I got to see the man, the myth, the legend
in his essence at the pinnacle of his career.
Let's go. Let's bury 'em now. Bury 'em!
You've gotta get that defensive role on a roll.
-What you guys done in the playoffs. -Let's go!
-Don't give up a touchdown! -Know what I'm saying?
You can't give up a touchdown. You haven't yet, and you're not gonna!
-They say falcon tastes like chicken. -Stop. There you go.
They say it tastes like chicken. I don't know.
[commentator 1] Griffith to the left. Elway, with an empty backfield,
runs a quarterback draw
and lunges to the goal line.
-He is in. -[man] Yeah!
[commentator 1] Touchdown, John Elway and Denver.
He gets up with a big smile on his face, and why not?
His club is in front 30-6.
[commentator 3] John Elway on target to be the game's Most Valuable Player.
And you know what, Jeff?
That almost gives you a feeling that maybe this is his last game.
[music fades]
[tranquil music playing]
[muted cheering]
[inaudible]
[Elway] I turn around when they come back and announce and give the trophy out.
I get to take the trophy from Terry Bradshaw.
So it was what comes around, goes around,
and what a wonderful guy to give me the trophy in my last game.
No hard feelings.
[groans, chokes]
[Wayne] The hell there ain't.
-[bittersweet music playing] -[inaudible dialog]
[inaudible]
[applause]
-Thank you. -[music fades]
This… this is hard.
There's an over/under in the locker room
on, uh, how many times I'm gonna cry.
[laughter]
So I'm gonna… I'm trying to bet on the under.
-[laughter] -But I can't do it physically anymore.
Uh… uh…
[voice breaking] And that's really hard for me to say.
-[poignant music playing] -[Elway] Ooh. [sniffles]
Secondly, uh, it came down to family.
And, uh, they've been great, uh, for 16 years… [sniffles]
…since, uh… since the kids have been born.
And, uh, the family life is focused around me and football.
And it's time that, uh… [sniffles]
…it focuses around them.
[applause]
-[music fades] -[wind gusting]
[present-day Elway] I wasn't really worried about the future.
I was really thinking,
"I'm gonna relax for a couple of years and get out of the spotlight
and then be a dad to the kids."
After having been ecstatically high, having won two Super Bowls,
and now thinking that I'm gonna ride off in the sunset.
And life's great. And everything's perfect.
I accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish
in, you know, in the NFL.
You know, life turned around
and probably got as tough as it's ever been
in the next three or four years.
[somber music playing]
Jana got diagnosed with stage-4 lung cancer,
and she was a nonsmoker.
You know, it was some weird… She was having cramps in her calf.
We're doing everything we could to try to figure out a solution to this.
My dad was very upset. And things weren't right.
I was noticing something a little bit funny
in the way that he was kind of acting.
Easter morning, my mom called.
We were still in bed, and Janet answered.
She just looked at me and said, "Your dad died last night."
He had passed away that night.
Had a heart attack.
I remember getting up and not knowing what to do.
I put some shorts on, and I just ran. I just went and ran.
I must have run six, seven, eight miles.
Then about a year and a half later, my older sister, Lee Ann, called me.
She says, "John, you need to get here now."
Jana, she was in the hospital, and she was having a tough time breathing.
And so I got out there that day.
And she needed to have an MRI
and, uh, see what was going on.
[voice breaking] So she ended up passing away…
[breathing shakily]
…in the… in the M… [sighs]
[voice breaking] …in the MRI tube.
So…
Um…
[inhales deeply]
Obviously, another… big jolt.
I always say,
I was the first one to see her and… the last one to see her.
It was my twin, so…
[inaudible]
[inhales deeply]
I didn't know this was gonna be this tough today.
Okay.
-[breathing deeply] -[music fades]
I think
for any athlete, and I can only imagine an athlete at his level,
that's your identity.
And so to lose that, right? That's a loss.
And then to lose your other half in Jana
and to lose your best friend in my poppi,
it was unfathomable how much pain there was there.
[somber music playing]
I just felt… I felt for my dad
but also was a kid trying to make sense of it myself.
It was hard to even understand what was happening
and what emotions we were feeling.
My parents' marriage was crumbling,
and that was very evident in our household.
[Jessica] One of the things that breaks my heart for my mom a little
is that she was a phenomenal athlete.
And I think that she lost her own identity in him,
in supporting him.
[Elway] I always thought I'd be married forever.
And unfortunately, it got to the point
where it was probably even better for our kids
um, you know, for us to have… you know, be apart.
[music turns uneasy]
[man] Now, probably once in our lifetimes, certainly in mine,
there is a player that becomes so important to us
and so much our hero
that his number and his name are synonymous.
There will never be another number seven on the Denver Broncos.
[crowd chanting] Elway! Elway! Elway!
[chanting fades]
[Elway] I think that was probably the toughest time of my life.
I really worried about him as, you know… as a friend.
He was not himself.
[Elway] You're used to being around a lot of people all the time,
and all of a sudden, that circle shrinks a lot.
It gets lonely.
I was thinking, "How am I gonna get through this?"
[hopeful music playing]
I always wanted to be able to prove that I could do something well
other than play quarterback.
I was very fortunate that football came back in my life.
Mr. Bowlen gave me an opportunity to come back to the Broncos as a GM.
I was able to kind of get me back on track
and hopefully get back to enjoying life a little bit more.
When I got the GM job,
I was definitely thinking how proud Dad would be.
He had a really good eye for talent, and so I was really thinking about,
"Can I be as a good evaluator of talent as he was?"
[younger Elway] And with that said,
I'll introduce the next quarterback of the Denver Broncos,
Peyton Manning.
[applause]
[commentator 1] First and goal, handoff, C.J. Anderson, left guard into Kuechly.
Second effort to the goal line. Touchdown, Denver!
[commentator 2] The Denver Broncos are World Champions!
They have just won Super Bowl 50!
[Elway] As a GM, it's different winning a World Championship,
but it feels just as satisfying as winning as a player.
This one's for Pat!
[crowd cheering]
-[somber music playing] -[cheering fades]
[Elway] When I said, "This one's for Pat,"
I was also thinking, "This is for Dad too."
[Schefter] He did something that nobody else ever has done.
Of the thousands of players in NFL history,
only one has won a Super Bowl
as a player and as a GM.
John was bigger than just a sports figure here in Colorado.
No one even knew where the heck Denver was until John got here.
[Schefter] He literally helped a city transform itself.
John Elway is one of the single greatest athletes
who ever lived.
[music fades]
[birdsong]
[peaceful instrumental music playing]
[Elway] When I finally stepped down with the Broncos as a GM,
it was the right time.
For me to kinda fade away,
I think it was the perfect way for me to leave football
and ride off in the sunset.
It's time to kinda relax a little bit.
And so, at 65 years old now, I can smell the roses.
[music fades]
[girl] ♪ We have a lot of energy ♪
♪ We do, we do, we have a lot of energy ♪
There's nobody having more fun in the world right now.
[girl] It smells like dead fish.
[boy] Ew! Yeah, it does, but I like it!
[Elway] Should we start cooking?
[indistinct chatter]
These far ones, eh?
He loves coming to Coeur d'Alene because it's almost like his hideaway
and his, you know, place to finally relax and not let the outside noise in.
How old are you, Palmer?
Palmer, how old are you?
-Say "one." -One.
-[boy] Say "one." -Did he say "one"?
[babbles] No!
-[chuckles] -[indistinct chatter]
[boy] We beat you, Poppi.
-Huh? -We beat you.
-In the boat? -Yeah.
[Elway] Uh-huh. Do you like to win?
I like to beat you.
You like to beat me?
[Jordan] Stress level-wise, ability to be present,
I would say is different.
'Cause even though before,
you were able to travel and be here and stuff, your brain was somewhere else.
You were thinking about what you had to get back to,
but now you can be here, be truly present with the grandkids.
I knew that, like, you were gonna be less stressed,
and you were gonna be happier and finally get your "retirement"
and do what you wanted to do.
Oh!
-[Juliana] You're settling into that. -Oh yeah.
[Jack Jr.] Now I'm willing to talk to him about anything,
which, before, I would never have done.
It's really fun to become friends, you know, with your dad.
I do remember, third grade, after you won the first one,
the whole class was like…
-[Juliana] No way. -[Jessica] I would be so embarrassed.
I was embarrassed.
-[chuckles] -I was like, "Thanks."
[Elway] How's that new glove?
[Janet] I mean, definitely John…
There's a greatness about him.
How is that?
-[boy] Good. -Is that good?
So to see him getting down with the kids and loving the grandkids like he does,
is just really lovely to see that he's…
Doesn't matter what, he's just, uh…
he's just Poppi.
[music fades]
[sighs]
[girl] Twenty!
[children chatter indistinctly]
[Elway] I'm really excited now that, you know what,
there's no expectations that I have to live up to anymore,
other than being a great parent and a great grandparent.
I can enjoy life
and not have that hole in my stomach that football is not there.
[gentle acoustic ballad playing]
[Elway] It was worth all the hard work, that I went through,
and now I'm gonna enjoy it.
♪ Thank you ♪
♪ For a life that I'd call happy ♪
♪ Overlooking All that we've been through ♪
[indistinct chatter]
♪ When it comes to loving, I've been… ♪
You like that apple, don't you?
Is that a good apple?
[chuckles]
♪ Everything I am, I owe to you ♪
[Elway] Are you gonna play football?
♪ Thank you For the little girls you gave me ♪
♪ Thank you for them bouncing baby boys ♪
♪ Thank you for the sadness That you saved me from ♪
♪ The madness, baby ♪
♪ All I'm crying now are tears of joy ♪
♪ Thank you For that burning sun that's rising ♪
♪ Golden in the air that smells so sweet ♪
♪ Thank you for that empty far horizon ♪
♪ That opens to a new eternity ♪
♪ You know I'm grateful for the freedom ♪
♪ And the chances… ♪
[music fades]