By Dave Payne
April 24, 2008

With the upcoming draft marking the 25th anniversary of the 1983 draft and its remarkable QB class, we’ve decided to republish the following feature about John Elway, written by one-time PFW contributor Dave Payne. The feature was published in the May 1983 pre-draft issue of Pro Football Weekly, with Elway facing a potential dilemma as he awaited Draft Day as the consensus top-ranked prospect in the draft.

If all he did was play quarterback, John Elway would be at the mercy of coach Frank Kush and the hapless Baltimore Colts.

As of now, the Colts have the first pick in this year’s National Football league draft in the wake of a 0-8-1 season. And the No. 1 pick is going to be Elway.

Unfortunately for Kush, the Stanford All-American has another option. If he is drafted by a team he doesn’t prefer, like the Colts, the versatile Elway can pursue a career in professional baseball.

Owner George Steinbrenner of the New York Yankees made Elway his first pick in last summer’s major-league baseball draft. A promising outfielder, Elway signed a contract estimated at $125,000 to play six weeks last summer for the Yankee organization’s Class A team in Oneonta, N.Y., where he batted .318 and had a team-leading 24 RBI. All the contract did was tie Elway to the Yankees in baseball; he is still free to play pro football.

There was — and actually still is — another option for the gifted passer. He was drafted by the Oakland Invaders and reportedly was offered $4 million over five seasons by the United States Football League club. But he turned it down, explaining that he wants to graduate this spring from Stanford with a degree in economics and, at the same time, wait for the NFL draft. Besides, for an athlete like Elway who has always had his heart set on a career in either the NFL or the major leagues, it would have been against his competitive nature to suddenly opt for something called the USFL.

As for the NFL, playing for the Colts is about as appealing to Elway as following in the footsteps of Archie Manning. It may be light-years before the Colts become a contender, and it would take more than an Elway to make them an instant challenger in the AFC East.

Kush has already made a trip west to confer with John’s father, Jack Elway, the head football coach at San Jose State University. What came out of the meeting is top secret, but Jack no doubt told Frank what he has told others, that John wants to play for an NFL team with a good track record and, more importantly, a solid offensive line. Sorry, Frank.

The Colts will end up trading the rights to Elway to the highest bidder. Several teams are interested, including Atlanta, which has offered QB Steve Bartkowski and other goodies for the pick. But, before a deal is completed, the team having a shot at Elway will want to reach an agreement with the quarterback to avoid a bidding war with the Yankees.

Elway, who was a baseball starter his first three springs at Stanford, says he “doesn’t really have a favorite” between football and baseball. At Granada Hills High School in southern California and at Stanford, he enjoyed playing football in the fall and baseball in the spring, and he never gave it much thought beyond that.

“Now I’m beyond the point of playing both,” he says, “so I have to sit down and make a choice between the two. I honestly can’t say at this time which sport I’m going to choose. I’m going to make a selection based on what I believe I’ll be happiest doing over the next 10 years.”

Two of his choices at the moment are coach Kush or Yankee manager Billy Martin. Oh, my.

John Elway

Jack Elway naturally wants what is best for John. While the father coaches football, he also enjoys baseball.

“My hobby is baseball; it’s my release out of football season,” Jack says. “It’s a good sport. I think the toughest thing there is in sports is hitting a baseball.”

Taking that into account, Jack began teaching John, a natural right-hander, to bat left-handed when John was only 3 years old. “A hitter will see far more right-handed curves,” Jack explained, “so he is better off looking at them from the left side.” John does all his batting as a left-hander now, but he could probably be converted into a switch-hitter without much difficulty.

Jack, who will be offering advice to John when it comes time to make the big decision, admits his son’s best sport is football.

“There’s no question that football is where he has had his best success,” Jack said. “He has amazed me with what he has accomplished in the sport.”

“If he does play football, I would like to see him be with a solid organization, one that is a winner and will be in need of a quarterback in two or three years. I don’t think it’s good for a young quarterback to play right away. John has excelled in every aspect of the game, but, mentally, it’s a difficult transition from college to pro football. I would like to see a situation where John would gradually move in and progress while learning.

“But, that might not be John’s thinking. He likes to play and maybe would prefer being the starter when the season opens. If that would happen, I’m sure I’d smoke a lot of cigarettes that day.”

Playing with a winning football team is going to be important to John Elway, his father says.

“One of the things John had his heart set on and didn’t get a chance to do in college was play in a bowl game,” Jack said. “The ultimate for him would have been to play in the Rose Bowl, and the next thing any bowl game. His main motivation his senior year was to win enough games to get into a bowl.”

John Elway, who last season completed 262-of-405 passes for 3,242 yards and 24 touchdowns, could have assured himself of three or four bowl appearances by accepting a football scholarship to perennial Pac-10 Conference powerhouse Southern Cal, but, explained Jack, “he wanted to throw the football, and he knew that’s what he would be able to do at Stanford.”

But the unexpected happened at Stanford, something Jack Elway believes handicapped his son and the school's football program the last four years.

“I thought Stanford was great for John because he would receive an outstanding education and be part of a football program that had coaching continuity,” Jack noted. “What happened was that Bill Walsh recruits John, then goes to the 49ers; Rod Dowhower takes over as coach for a season, then is gone in six months; and then Paul Wiggin comes in. Three coaches can hurt. It really disrupts your recruiting program. Keeping your coaching staff intact is extremely important because it allows you to develop a personality.

“But,” he added, “those are the types of things that are beyond your control. You make a choice and think you’re set; then, suddenly, you don’t have what you thought you did.”

The Elway family is relieved John’s college career is over for one particular reason: Jack and John will no longer be competing against each other.

San Jose State, located about 20 miles south of Stanford, upset the Cardinal the last two seasons, victories Jack admits were difficult for him.

“I had a real ambivalent feeling,” Jack said. “It was a great thing for San Jose to win — for the coaches, players, everyone. But I was never really able to feel the joy of a big win for a community.”

It was doubly difficult for Jan Elway. “Since Jack was in charge of San Jose State’s offense and John was quarterbacking Stanford,” she explained, “I pulled for both offenses to do well. What I really didn’t like was the week of the San Jose State-Stanford game, when I was asked so many questions and with the publicity and all.”

Jack added, “The important thing is that the relationship between John and I wasn’t jeopardized.”

One of the most difficult games in Jack Elway’s coaching career was the 1981 San Jose State-Stanford game, won 28-7 by the Spartans. John, who injured a foot the week before against Purdue, could not escape a relentless pass rush by the Spartans and was sacked on several occasions. Jack was fuming in the fourth quarter when Wiggin still had John at quarterback when San Jose had a three-touchdown lead. John escaped without further injury to his foot, and the incident blew over.

Jack left Fullerton State to become the head coach at San Jose State the same time John entered Stanford.

There was talk John might follow his father to San Jose, but Jack says it’s just as well he didn’t. “At Stanford, John could be himself,” the father said, “and there wouldn’t be any unnecessary pressures on either of us.”

Jack got the opportunity to coach John for the first time in January’s East-West Shrine Classic at Stanford Stadium. Jack, John and the West lost 26-25 on East QB Tony Eason’s six-yard TD pass with 19 seconds left in the game. John was voted the game’s MVP on the strength of 21 completions in 34 attempts for 202 yards and a touchdown. He was unable to finish the game, however, having suffered a bruise to his right elbow in the fourth quarter.

“It was fun playing for Dad,” John Elway said. “It wasn’t fun playing against him all those seasons at Stanford. I really enjoyed coming over to the sidelines and seeing his face there.”

He would enjoy continuing his playing career for a coach like Joe Gibbs at Washington, or Don Shula at Miami.

“That would be a dream,” he said. “That would be ideal. I’d love to play for the Washington Redskins right now, just like anyone would. I’d like to play for the Miami Dolphins or somebody who’s always going to be in contention and has a really good football team. That’s why I play the game. I love to win, like anyone else.”

Editor’s note: As it turned out, the Colts, then owned by Bob Irsay and one year prior to their relocation to Indianapolis, were unable to trade the first overall pick before Draft Day, so they drafted Elway anyway. When he finally convinced the Colts that he would never play for them, they traded him six days after the draft to Denver in exchange for OG-OT Chris Hinton, QB Mark Herrmann and a first-round choice in 1984 (OG Ron Solt) — a deal that was considered a steal for the Broncos even then. After guiding Denver to two Super Bowl wins, Elway is now a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

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From PFW archives: Looking back at the 1983 draft and its top QB prospects