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The Denver Broncos would not have three Lombardi Trophies if it wasn’t for Hall of Fame quarterback and former general manager John Elway. Now, after 28 years, his official affiliation with the team appears to be over.
Elway’s contract to act as a Broncos consultant was set to expire at the start of the new league year in March, and he and new Broncos CEO Greg Penner came to an agreement about Elway “amicably departing” from the franchise, according to Mike Klis of 9 News.
“I’ve enjoyed the relationship with the Broncos for a long, long time,” Elway told Klis on April 4. “I told Greg I’d be happy to be a resource for him and help in any way that I can. I just wanted the flexibility. They’re in great hands. I still plan on being around to watch and be a resource for Greg or George [Paton, general manager] if I can.”
Elway spent last season as an outside consultant for the Broncos after serving as president of football operations in 2021 and general manager/executive vice president of football operations from 2011 to 2020.
“I’ll still be around as a resource,” Elway, 62, said. “I’ve been with the Denver Broncos for so long that it was nice to have some sort of connection, which is what I wanted. I didn’t want an obligation. I’m getting a little older, I want to be able to do some things I haven’t done. I’m ready to have a flexible schedule. If there’s something I can help them with, I’d do that.”
John Elway Was Allowed a Smooth Exit
In 2016, Elway became the first person to ever win a Super Bowl as a player and general manager. But since winning the Super Bowl in 2016, the Broncos have failed to make the playoffs, and the beginning of the end of Elway’s career with the Broncos took shape in December 2020 as Denver was wrapping up a 5-11 season.
Elway “had something of a tap on the shoulder,” according to an April 4 column by Denver Sports’ Andrew Mason. On January 4, 2021, Elway stepped down as general manager and handed over the keys to George Paton, whom he hired.
Two more bad seasons and a new ownership group later and Elway and the Broncos have moved on from each other.
“In the end, Elway got the dignified, smooth glide toward the exit. And it’s all on his terms,” Mason wrote. “Now, with new management in control, Elway walks away not in disgrace, but as a franchise legend who made the Broncos better in three separate decades.”
John Elway’s Front Office Career
After retiring from playing football after winning the Super Bowl in 1999, he returned to the team as general manager in 2011 after it had missed the playoffs in eight of the previous 12 seasons.
With his first-ever draft pick (the second-overall pick), Elway selected pass rusher Von Miller, who would become Denver’s all-time sack leader. The following year, he made one of the biggest splashes in free agency history by signing future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning. In four years with the Broncos, Manning led Denver to four straight playoff appearances including two Super Bowl appearances.
In 2013, Elway put together the greatest single-season offense ever, but fell to the Seattle Seahawks in the 2014 Super Bowl.
That offseason, he signed stars DeMarcus Ware, Aqib Talib, T.J. Ward and Emmanuel Sanders, but the Broncos lost to the Indianapolis Colts in the divisional round of the playoffs. He fired coach John Fox and hired his former teammate and offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak, who led the Broncos and one of the greatest defenses in history to a Super Bowl win over the Carolina Panthers.
After Manning retired, leaving the Broncos without a franchise quarterback, the Broncos began to fall apart. A revolving door of quarterbacks and coaches has led to a 44-70 record and no playoff appearances from 2016 to 2022.
After stepping down in 2021, Elway cleaned out his office at Broncos headquarters but remained connected to the team as a resource for Paton.
“That doesn’t mean Broncos Country can’t marinate in past glories that Elway made possible,” Mason wrote. “The frustrations of recent years will fade. Eventually, the swings and misses at head coach and quarterback will be forgotten.”
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