With John Elway stepping down as general manager of the Denver Broncos, I thought we could go down memory lane and look back on No. 7’s seven best moments as the head executive for the Orange and Blue.
7. 2013 Record Breaking Season
In a revenge game against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1, Peyton Manning would tie the NFL record with seven passing touchdowns in one game. From there on, the Denver offense never slowed down.
Manning would go on and break the single season touchdown record for the second time in his career with 55 touchdowns. Manning would also throw for an NFL record 5,477 passing yards.
Denver’s offense would finish the season averaging 37.9 points per game, which still ranks as the best mark in NFL history. 2013’s Broncos would also become the first team in NFL history to have five different players score at least 10 touchdowns in a single season — Demaryius Thomas, Julius Thomas, Eric Decker, Wes Welker, and Knowshon Moreno each scored 10 touchdowns.
The 2013 Denver offense still ranks as the greatest single offensive season by a team and a quarterback in NFL history.
6. 2014 Free Agency Frenzy
After the Broncos were blown out by the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 48, Elway knew he needed to amplify his defense after ranking 22nd in scoring that year. Elway would go on to have one of the best free agent offseasons in NFL history.
Elway knew he had to build up his team’s secondary given today’s pass heavy offensive attacks in the NFL. So, ‘The Duke’ started the offseason by signing top safety T.J. Ward from Cleveland, and followed that up by landing another All-Pro cornerback in Aqib Talib to play opposite Chris Harris Jr.
Elway also knew he needed another pass rusher to help opposite of Von Miller after losing Elvis Dumervil in a fax machine “scandal.” Denver was ready to sign pass rusher Jared Allen, but then the Cowboys released DeMarcus Ware. The Broncos put Allen’s contract on hold and then gave that exact same deal to Ware.
The Broncos didn’t stop there. Denver needed to give Peyton Manning one more weapon after losing Eric Decker. Elway would go out and sign the speedy Emmanuel Sanders, essentially stealing him from the Kansas City Chiefs.
These free agent signings would turn the whole franchise around and help the Broncos get to, and win, another Super Bowl. The defense would rank as one of the best in NFL history and Sanders would become an all-time Broncos great on the offensive side of the ball. He even became the go-to target for Manning during the 2015 playoffs.
5. Hiring Gary Kubiak
After losing to the Indianapolis Colts in the Divisional Round of the playoffs in the 2014 season, the Broncos “parted ways” with head coach John Fox. There were reports before the playoff game that Fox would be the next head coach of the Chicago Bears if Denver lost, and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio was already checked out to become the head coach of the Raiders.
With the Super Bowl window closing during the Peyton Manning era, Elway knew he needed someone who could come in and win right now. That person was his former teammate and offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak.
Elway had won two Super Bowls with Kubiak in the late 90’s and knew he was the right man for this job. According to sources, Elway wanted to fire Fox after the Super Bowl 48 loss to Seattle and hire Kubiak then, but that couldn’t happen.
Due to Kubiak’s well-documented health concerns in Houston, his wife didn’t want him to continue being a head coach after he was fired by the Texans. Kubiak would take smaller role and become the offensive coordinator of the Ravens and lead them to the playoffs. Elway then had to convince Kubiak’s wife to allow him to become a head coach again. Kubiak would ultimately say that Denver was the only head coaching job he would consider taking. Kubiak added that when he got off the plane in Denver, it felt like he was back home.
The newly hired head coach would lead the Broncos to their third Super Bowl victory in franchise history.
4. Tim Tebow’s Playoff Game Against Pittsburgh
The 8-8 Denver Broncos hosted the 12-4 Steelers in a Wild Card playoff game (Denver hosted the game because they won their division) following the 2011 regular season. Practically nobody gave Tim Tebow and the Broncos a chance to win the game.
Pittsburgh had the No. 1 ranked defense and hadn’t allowed a 300-yard passer all season…until they met Tim Tebow. With Pittsburgh closing as 7.5 point favorites on the road (the point spread got as high as -9 in Pittsburgh’s favor), the Broncos would take control of the game from the start.
Denver would own a 20-6 lead heading into the half before the Steelers began their comeback. Pittsburgh would comeback to tie the game at 23 and were driving to win the game before Robert Ayers sacked Ben Roethlisberger, knocking the Steelers out of field goal range to end regulation. This lead to one of the most exciting finishes in NFL history.
This was going to be the first time that the new overtime rules were being implemented. If the team with the ball to start overtime scored a touchdown, the game would be over, a field goal would give the opposing team an opportunity to tie or win the game. If both teams didn’t score on their first drives, it would turn into sudden death overtime.
On the first play in overtime, the Broncos called the perfect play.
With Pittsburgh expecting the run on first down, they called cover zero with no safeties deep and allowed their safeties to come down to the line to stack the box. Tebow would fake the run to Willis McGahee and hit Demaryius Thomas in stride across the middle and it would turn into a foot race to the endzone. Thomas would give cornerback Ike Taylor a stiff-arm at midfield and outrun the Steelers defense to the endzone.
Players didn’t really know that that the game was over as they ran all over the field in excitement. Mile High Stadium was bouncing in excitement and everyone there, including myself, say that they’ve never heard that stadium so loud. The stadium was bouncing as Tebow finished the game with an iconic performance, totaling 316 passing yards.
3. Drafting Von Miller
April 28, 2011 was the day that newly hired executive John Elway would be making his first ever draft selection. There were lots of speculation on what the Broncos would be doing with the number two pick. Should Denver draft the elite pass rusher or should they draft defensive tackle Marcell Dareus? There was even speculation that they should target Patrick Peterson at the cornerback position. Instead, Elway went with a guy that he wouldn’t want to play against if he were still playing the quarterback position.
Drafting Miller was a pick that nobody could argue against. Miller would total up 11.5 sacks in his rookie season while forcing three fumbles. Miller would be voted as the defensive rookie of the year. In his second season, Miller would add a career high 18.5 sacks to his resume with six more forced fumbles.
In 2013, Miller would be suspended six games for violating NFL league policy. When Miller cameback from suspension he then suffered a torn ACL that would end his season. Denver’s offense would lead the Broncos to the Super Bowl, but Miller had to watch from the sideline.
Once the Elway signed DeMarcus Ware in free agency, Miller was excited because he was going to be playing with his childhood hero. Miller would turn into a force with Ware on the other side. The two would terrorize opposing quarterbacks for three seasons.
In the 2015 season, the Broncos earned the No. 1 seed in the AFC Playoffs, and had to face quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger and Tom Brady.
In the AFC Championship Game, Miller would put the defense on his back by intercepting a pass, sacking Brady 2.5 times, and hitting him four more times. It would go down as one of the best defensive performances in NFL history.
This led to Miller’s historic performance in Super Bowl 50. Miller would force two sack-fumbles against league MVP and 2011 first overall pick Cam Newton. Both of those strip sacks lead to 15 points for the Broncos as they went on to win their third Lombardi Trophy. Miller would win Super Bowl MVP making him just the 10th defensive player ever to win Super Bowl MVP honors.
Safe to say it was a great pick for Elway’s first ever draft selection.
2. Signing Peyton Manning
Broncos President Joe Ellis walked into Elway’s office during the magical Tebow season in 2011 as the two discussed that they are going to need a better option at the quarterback position. Ellis brought up the idea of the Colts possibly moving on from Peyton Manning. As free agency approached with the Indianapolis Colts owning the first overall pick and waiting for Andrew Luck, Indianaplois opted to release Manning allowing him to become a free agent.
Manning would have plenty of options to choose from, but he was going to take his time and make the right decision. The first visit for Manning was with Denver as he met with the team’s brass while touring the Dove Valley facility. Elway would then take Manning to dinner at the local country club where they were joined by future hall of fame safety John Lynch, head coach John Fox, and Manning’s good friend Brandon Stokely. Manning and Elway would spend most of the night talking and discussing what the process would be for Manning.
After making visits with other teams, Manning would call Elway and coach Fox and tell them that he was going to play for the Denver Broncos.
From that moment on, the Broncos were among the NFL’s elite teams, earning the No. 1 seed in the AFC Playoffs three of the four years that Manning was playing quarterback for Denver. Manning won Comeback Player of the Year in 2012 after recovering from his four neck surgeries, and won his fifth league MVP award in 2013 while having the single greatest season by a quarterback in NFL history.
With Manning signing in Denver, it made it easier for Elway to sign free agents in the offseason. Players around the league wanted to come to Denver and win a world championship. And that’s exactly what they did.
In 2015, Manning was struggling in Kubiak’s offense, but at times figured it out. Against the Colts Manning suffered a foot injury that would sideline him until week 17. In the final game of the regular season, Brock Osweiler started the game, but the team was turning the ball over on nearly every possession, Kubiak went back to Manning in the middle of the third quarter. From there on, Manning drove the Broncos down the field for a touchdown and clinched the No. 1 seed once again. Denver would roll with No. 18 in the playoffs, and he would eventually lead them to Santa Clara where the gold confetti would fall on their heads.
Manning wasn’t the same Manning in 2015 in terms of putting up the insane stat lines that we all had become accustomed to, but he did what he did best. Manning put his offense in the best position to succeed on every play.
If Elway hadn’t gone out and found a way to sign the greatest free agent in NFL history, there would be no third Lombardi Trophy and Elway’s legacy as a General Manager never would have happened.
That leads us to Elway’s best moment as the lead guy for the Broncos.
1. ‘This One’s for Pat’
John Elway has always talked about winning world championships and how much it meant to him. After Elway and the Broncos won Super Bowl 32, Pat Bowlen was given the Lombardi Trophy and he raised it up and said, “This one’s for John.” Every Broncos fan gets the chills every time they think about that moment.
Fast forward 18 years, and the Broncos were back competing in another Super Bowl with another Hall of Fame quarterback. Denver had the league’s No. 1 ranked defense and Carolina had the No. 1 ranked offense along with the league MVP in Cam Newton.
The Broncos’ defense would take over from the start with a defensive touchdown forced by Von Miller and recovered in the endzone by Malik Jackson. Newton would struggle all game with the Denver defense making his life miserable. Manning didn’t have the best game, but in the end he won a big-time chess match with Carolina middle linebacker Luke Kuechly.
After making several clutch plays in the fourth quarter, Denver would hold off Carolina and win their third Lombardi Trophy in team history.
With the gold confetti falling down, standing on the trophy podium, Elway was given the Lombardi Trophy and returned the favor back to Bowlen, who was struggling in his battle with Alzheimer’s, saying, “This one’s for Pat!”
For everything to come full circle, winning another world championship has to be the top moment for Elway, and to return the quote back to Pat Bowlen means a lot to him.
This moment is arguably the best moment in Broncos history, and undoubtedly the best moment in John Elway’s front office career.
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