John Elway is a legendary quarterback who is famous for going out on top. His career as a whole has a surprising amount of ups and downs. Today I am going to break down his career in 5 chapters: The Start, The AFC Dynasty, The Relative Low, The Peak, The Legendary Finish.
The Start
John Elway was one of the most hyped and highly touted quarterback prospects to ever come out of college. The only problem being, he refused to play for the Baltimore Colts who were coming off a winless 0-8-1 season. Elway did have leverage, being a two sport star in college, football and baseball, the Yankees drafted him in the second round 52nd overall. Threatening to play for the Yankees if he was not traded, eventually the Colts conceded by trading him to the Broncos for the 4th overall pick and a future first.
In 1983, his rookie year, Elway struggled. He was benched multiple times for veteran Steve Deberg, and in the 10 games he started the team went 4-6. The Broncos were able to eek into the postseason with a 9-7 record, before getting crushed in round one 31-7 to the Seahawks. The next two seasons saw Elway break out into a potential franchise quarterback. After being bad his rookie year, the next two years he finished as the 10th and 8th best quarterback respectively.
| Year | Team | Games | Yearly Rank | Tier |
| 1983 | DEN | 11 | 28 | Bad/injured |
| 1984 | DEN | 15 | 10 | Good |
| 1985 | DEN | 16 | 8 | Great |
With Elway’s jump, the team also made a leap, finishing 13-3 as the number one seed in 1984 but were upset in the divisional round in a back and forth game to the Steelers 24-17. The next year, the Broncos had another very good season going 11-5 but due to unfortunate tie breakers missed the playoffs for the first time in Elway’s career. There have only been two times, since the 1970 merger, a team missed the playoffs 11 or more wins, the other being the 2008 Patriots.
The AFC Dynasty
John Elway’s next four years of play, included some up and down results in the regular season. After another season finishing as a top 10 quarterback in 1986, Elway had his best year to date. In 1987, Elway was voted MVP but while he did have a fantastic season, it was not on normal MVP levels. The next two years, Elway’s level of play slipped dramatically finishing with 17 TDs, 19 Ints, and 7 fumbles in 1988 followed up by 18 TDs, 18 Ints, and 9 fumbles in 1989. While turnovers were much more prevalent and accepted in the late ‘80s, those were still very high marks compared to the rest of the league, leading to a fall outside the top 10 for both of those seasons.
| Year | Team | Games | Yearly Rank | Tier |
| 1986 | DEN | 16 | 9 | Great |
| 1987 | DEN | 12 | 4 | Elite |
| 1988 | DEN | 15 | 13 | Good |
| 1989 | DEN | 15 | 12 | Good |
` While John Elway’s play in the regular season varied throughout this stretch, it was postseason ventures that are most noteworthy. In the 1986 AFC championship game, the Broncos were down by 7 on their own 2 yard line, before Elway engineered a 98 yard touchdown drive to tie the game with 37 seconds left. After beating the devastated Browns team in overtime, Elway advanced to his first Super Bowl. Riding high off “the drive” and their comeback win the Broncos took a 10-9 halftime lead over the Giants before collapsing in the second half and losing 20-39.
The next year, again Elway led the Broncos to the AFC championship game where they faced off against the Browns for the second time in a row. After a high scoring back and forth game, the Browns had a chance to tie the game late in the fourth. On second and 5 from the 8, Earnest Byner ran a trap draw for 6 yards, which would have gotten the Browns the first down on the two but fumbled as he tried to get in the endzone. Forever known as “the fumble”, the Broncos escaped with the win 38-33. Reaching the Super Bowl for the second year in a row, the Broncos started off hot, against the Redskins, leading 10-0 and the end of the first quarter. But quickly crumpled, losing the game in blowout fashion 42-10.
After back to back Super Bowl appearances, the Broncos regressed to 8-8 missing the playoffs, Elway and the Broncos rebounded to an 11-5 season. Where they would meet the Browns in the AFC championship game for the 3rd time in 4 years. This time, the Browns did not lose by some heartbreaking moment as the Broncos solidly handled them to a 37-21 win. Winning the AFC for the 3rd time in 4 years, the Broncos tried to get over the hump against the 49ers. But this was not to be, losing by a record margin 55-10.
The Relative Low
John Elway’s last two regular seasons were not great, but after winning the AFC 3 times in 4 years, his regular season woes were not emphasized. In 1990, Elway had a slightly better year but still disappointed especially after going just 5-11 and missing the playoffs. In 1991, Elway and the Broncos bounced back. Elway had his best season in 4 years, and the Broncos went 12-4 making another run in the playoffs before meeting the Bills in the AFC championship. A low scoring defensive slugfest ensued, with the Bills pulling out the victory 10-7, thanks to a pick six thrown off a tipped Elway pass and three missed field goals by the Broncos. The next year, John Elway had his worst year since his rookie season. Dealing with a shoulder injury, which cost him 4 games, Elway finished with just 10 TDs, 17 Ints, and 12 fumbles in 12 games.
| Year | Team | Games | Yearly Rank | Tier |
| 1990 | DEN | 16 | 10 | Good |
| 1991 | DEN | 16 | 8 | Great |
| 1992 | DEN | 12 | 21 | Adequate |
The Broncos went on to miss the playoffs in 1991. After missing the playoffs in two of three years, and disappointing finishes in the Super Bowls, as well as John Elway not playing up to his insanely high standards. The Broncos fired head coach Dan Reeves, who has been Elway’s coach his entire nine year career so far, and hired Wade Phillips.
The Peak
John Elway, with new head coach Wade Philips, and new offensive coordinator Jim Fassel, had the best year of his career. Over the next four years, Elway would consistently raise his game, establishing himself as consistently one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.
| Year | Team | Games | Yearly Rank | Tier |
| 1993 | DEN | 16 | 2 | All Pro |
| 1994 | DEN | 14 | 4 | Great |
| 1995 | DEN | 16 | 10 | Great |
| 1996 | DEN | 15 | 2 | All Pro |
With the team more focused on the offense, including super star tight end Shannon Sharpe, John Elway put together some of his best seasons. But the team as a whole did not excel, from 1993-95 the Broncos went 24-24 and only made the playoffs once in ‘93 with a 9-7 record. Before immediately getting blasted by the Raiders in the wild card round 42-24. But 1996 had a different feel to it, it was the second year of new head coach Mike Shanahan’s system and the Broncos were fantastic. John Elway had arguably his best season and went 13-2 before getting benched in the final game because they had already secured the number 1 seed. After a bye in the first round, the Broncos were favored to win by over 14 points against the 9-7 Jaguars but got stunned in a 30-27 upset loss.
The Legendary Finish
After that loss, there were many questions on if John Elway would ever win a Super Bowl. He had been in the NFL for 14 seasons, had been blown out of the Super Bowl three separate times, and was entering his age 37 season. It seemed like, if he was ever going to win, it needed to be right now. That year, in 1997, Elway had another very good season leading the Broncos to a 12-4 record but due to lucky circumstances was only 2nd in the division. Entering the playoffs as a wild card team, they would have to play all road games. After getting revenge and blowing out the Jaguars in the first round 42-17, the Broncos got hot winning their next two games over the Chiefs and Steelers to advance to the Super Bowl. Playing the defending champions Green Bay Packers, questions remained on if Elway could win it all. Throughout the game the Broncos leaned on their run game, something they didn’t have each of their previous Super Bowl trips with Elway. Superstar Terrell Davis ran in three touchdowns, but it was a run by John Elway which might be the most famous. Facing a tie game with 3rd and 6 deep in Packers territory, Elway scrambled and leaped for the first down and was blasted by multiple defenders which spun him in the air for the first down. Being deemed “the helicopter” play, set up the game winning touchdown.
The next year John Elway decided to come back for one more season. While Elway was still one of the better quarterbacks in the league, the Broncos used Terrell Davis to spearhead their offense. Davis dominated by running for over 2,000 yards, making him at the time, only the 4th player to ever do that. With the Broncos content having Davis control games, Elway was asked to do less, and while he was still very good his output was short of what he did the previous season.
| Year | Team | Games | Yearly Rank | Tier |
| 1997 | DEN | 16 | 2 | Elite |
| 1998 | DEN | 13 | 6 | Great |
Elway and Davis led the Broncos to a 14-2 record, first place in the AFC. After cruising through the AFC beating the Dolphins 38-3 and the Jets 23-10, they went back to the Super Bowl to play the Atlanta Falcons. The Broncos jumped out to a 17-6 halftime lead, and comfortably held on to win 34-19. Elway had his best Super Bowl game of his career throwing for 336 yards and a touchdown while running for another, he went on to win Super Bowl MVP in the last game he ever played.
Overview
John Elway is a NFL legend and an easy shoe in for the Hall of Fame. But the most memorable part is easily winning back to back Super Bowls before retiring. Throughout his career he had 2 All Pro, 2 Elite, 6 Great, and 4 Good seasons. While he was never the singular best quarterback, he was very often in the conversation. But what makes his career stand out is his playoff success. Elway went to the Super Bowl 5 times, which is an achievement that only Tom Brady has done besides him. He is definitely one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time and the best quarterback in Denver Broncos history.