USA Today: Elway still on a Rocky Mountain high

[Bronco Rob]

Some highlights:

In the 22 months since he was hired as executive vice president of football operations, Elway has taken the Broncos from the franchise's lowest point following their 4-12 season under Josh McDaniels and re-crafted the Broncos' roster to fit his vision . Of the 31 players who have started for the Broncos this season, 23 were drafted, signed or re-signed by Elway.

Elway pulled off the biggest coup of the offseason when he convinced superstar quarterback Peyton Manning to sign with the Broncos. He then traded away popular quarterback Tim Tebow to the Jets for a pair of late-round draft picks.

Eight months later, Dove Valley largely drama-free for the first time in years, and the Broncos, at 6-3, seem destined for the playoffs. A win Sunday against San Diego would give Denver a three-game lead in the AFC West before Thanksgiving.

Those two moves only reinforced that Elway's return to the Broncos was far more than a public relations move for a franchise that had seemingly lost its way. So why would Elway be more like Ozzie Newsome, with the Baltimore Ravens, or Jerry West with the Los Angeles Lakers, than Millen ?

Ernie Accorsi was the general manager of the Cleveland Browns for part of Newsome's Hall of Fame playing career, and hired him as a scout in 1991. Ellis asked Accorsi to talk to Elway after Elway accepted the Broncos' job, and Accorsi said it was apparent to him that Elway and Newsome had plenty in common .

Elway's first move was to hire a head coach to replace McDaniels. In Fox, Elway chose a man who appeared to be the opposite of the young and notoriously prickly McDaniels : Fox had nine years of head coaching experience, and a reputation of being a coach players loved to play for. They clicked immediately, and the partnership appears to be flourishing. Fox gives his input on personnel matters; Elway offers opinions on what he called "conceptual" football ideas, but they largely let each other run their areas of the organization without interference.

Manning is the headliner on Elway's crop of players, but plenty of other under-the-radar signings have made important contributions, from re-signing linebacker Wesley Woodyard in March (he now leads the team in tackling); signing free agent center Dan Koppen in mid-September (he now starts after J.D. Walton suffered a broken ankle); signing Brooking, 36, during training camp (he unseated starter Joe Mays in October); and claiming kick returner Trindon Holliday off waivers from Houston in October (he scored in each of the previous two games).

His first draft of 2011 appears to be a success, with No. 2 pick Von Miller emerging as one of the league's best defensive players, and three others from that class currently starting. He was criticized for moving out of the first round in 2012 to select defensive lineman Derek Wolfe and quarterback Brock Osweiler in the second round. Wolfe has started every game, but Osweiler (at least the Broncos are hoping) won't contribute for years.

For the rest - http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...tebow/1705685/

[milehighJC]

Good read... I had not thought about the failed management careers of other atheletes. Good to see all of this in one place.

Its great to to have a team that is truly fun to watch again.

[strafen]

That's why Elway is the man!
One of my all time favorite people in the world.
The best EVER!

[socalorado]

I've seen every quarterback ever produced of note--Sid Luckman, Sammy Baugh, Johnny Unitas--and nobody impressed me as much as John Elway, especially his ability to come from behind. He's the best two-minute quarterback I've ever seen. He's the all-time comeback king.”--Art Modell, Ravens owner quoted from NFL.com

[Bronco Rob]

Wonder how the executive of the year voting is shaping up.

[baja]

On the other hand;

[TonyR]

Elway said he believes moving on from Tebow to a more traditional quarterback was the right move.

“I believe that there are Tebow fans, and there are Broncos fans,” he said. “My responsibility is to the Broncos fans, and my responsibility is to (owner) Pat Bowlen and what he wants to do, and that’s win championships."

Thank you, John Elway. Thank you.

[IHaveALight]

" We want to build something that's going to be solid and be competitive year in and year out," Elway said. "If you look at the good teams and what they've done, they've stacked drafts, and that's really what the goal is: Stack drafts, add smart players through free agency and keep getting better."

Never thought about this before, but that's exactly the type of free agents Shanahan brought in for the Super Bowl years. I'm going to guess he didn't do that on purpose because of the type of guys he brought in later on. But clearly, Elway was paying attention to the personnel moves that helped turn that team into champions.

[Jetmeck]

Made me think of that Joe Wlash song MNF broke at the first game of the 99 season......Walsh changed the lerics ? to the song cause we got John back for another year......anybody else remeber this ?

[Bronco Rob]

Originally Posted by IHaveALight

Never thought about this before, but that's exactly the type of free agents Shanahan brought in for the Super Bowl years. I'm going to guess he didn't do that on purpose because of the type of guys he brought in later on. But clearly, Elway was paying attention to the personnel moves that helped turn that team into champions.

[lonestar]

Originally Posted by IHaveALight

Never thought about this before, but that's exactly the type of free agents Shanahan brought in for the Super Bowl years. I'm going to guess he didn't do that on purpose because of the type of guys he brought in later on. But clearly, Elway was paying attention to the personnel moves that helped turn that team into champions.

Actually I belove mikey brought in class players UFA at a time when most teams were not heavy in that market place, because it was yet so new.

Once others saw the success we had they jacked the prices up so bad we could not longer get that quality players needed to sustain the level of play.

We were cap heavy during those years after the superbowls. So because of all failed top picks during that time frame mikey was looking more and more for quick fixes. And the level of talent was just not in our price range so we took riskier players. Until it was to late.

[delany]

Originally Posted by Bronco Rob

Ernie Accorsi was the general manager of the Cleveland Browns for part of Newsome's Hall of Fame playing career, and hired him as a scout in 1991. Ellis asked Accorsi to talk to Elway after Elway accepted the Broncos' job, and Accorsi said it was apparent to him that Elway and Newsome had plenty in common .

So Joe Ellis asked Ernie to talk to John? Lol. Right.

Ernie drafted John and has been a friend for years....(Ernie also drafted Peyton's brother)

I wonder who was interviewed for this article? Step away Joe.

[Blueflame]

Originally Posted by Jetmeck

Made me think of that Joe Wlash song MNF broke at the first game of the 99 season......Walsh changed the lerics ? to the song cause we got John back for another year......anybody else remeber this ?

[baja]

What a life John is having, to bad Jack (RIP) didn't get to see this latest chapter.

[Pony Boy]

What good does it do to have a legal Rocky Mountain High without Twinkies and Ding Dongs ..........

[lonestar]

Originally Posted by Pony Boy

What good does it do to have a legal Rocky Mountain High without Twinkies and Ding Dongs ..........

I just heard. Sad day in America.

A frozen Twinkie is a gastronomical delight. Unfortunately have not had one in a decade or so since my middle son went to college. After he left junk food kind of disappeared from the cupboard.

Seemed to be the ony bribe we had on him. to get his homework finished. He was an ADD kid bright as hell but no attention span. Hold a Twinkie out there and somehow he could focus.