but really, my favorite moment for him was when Mobley knocked down that final pass. The weight of the football world was lifted off John’s shoulders at that very instant, and the joy on his face as he leapt and celebrated with his teammates is for me the greatest moment in Broncos history. All those years of being called a loser and the guy who couldn’t win the big one…it was all moved into the distant past with just one batted pass.

It is Elway that was the greatest Bronco to wear #7
It is Elway that will be forever known as the “Greatest Bronco” ever.
It is Elway that may be the best ever to play quarterback in Professional Football.

The last statement will be argued by many, but in my opinion, Elway was “IS” the best ever Quarterback to play in the modern era of football. By modern I mean since the 1970 Merger of the Leagues.
“Am I biased?” Perhaps, but let me say this: Over the course of Elways career, I may have only missed watching seven or eight games that he played; Therefore, I have seen Elway play more games than any QB in my lifetime. Sure I have seen plenty of games by other greats such as Montana, Marino, and the likes of players such as Tarkington and other greats. The fact is that I never saw anyone with more talent and “will to win” than I saw with Elway. I never saw another QB that could simply make things happen better or more often than John Elway.

To me, it doesn’t matter if I didn’t see every great play that Montana made, or every last minute game winning drive that Marino or Farve made. I’m sure that they have many great moments in their careers that I may have missed, but I do know this: Nobody of the afforementioned, ever showed up at the stadium each and every game of their career with the mindset that he was there “not just to play a football game” but he simply showed up to beat you. Other great QB’s may have played many games that way, but I think they took a lot of games off and treated it more as their job. I don’t believe Elway ever thought of playing for the Broncos as “his job”. He loved to play and loved to win as much or more than playing the game itself; I can’t say that any other QB in modern times ever gave me that impression more than Elway. This is why without hesitation that I will say with conviction that “John Elway was the greatest Quarterback to ever play in modern times.”

I believe that there have been others that had the same drive that Elway did. I was fortunate enough to see one particular man play with the same burning desire to win as Elway did. That man is Johnny Unitas.
Unitas is another player that I would say had the same attitude: He showed up for each and every game to beat you. Thats all Johnny U was about and I compare him and John Elway as the greatest competitors I have ever seen play Quarterback in Pro Football. Honorable mention also goes out to Norm Van Brocklin, another QB from the same mold.

For those reading this, some will disagree, but this is my opinion and I stand by it. Let us hear your favorites too. Who is greater than Unitas and Elway, and why?

You can say Elway is the best ever. It’s all subjective. Miami guys will pick Marino, Pitt guys will pick Bradshaw, Dallas guys will pick Aikman or Staubach, stats be damned.

And in Denver, it’s Elway. The best there ever was. The best there ever will be.

So say we all.

How could I not? That was when I recall becoming a full on Broncomaniac. I was a Bronco fan before that as a young lad, but that Drive sealed the deal. :)

Just reading the word “Helicopter” gives me goose-bumps. That play was when I knew we were going to win that Superbowl…you could see it in his eyes…then you could see it in all the players…how they walked and looked and carried themselves from that point on. Yeah it was a big play in that they got a first down, but it was HUGE in how much it lifted everyone’s spirits.

For the monumental importance of the play, the moment of the game, his sheer will to win with the NFL championship at stake…

But, I’ll still maintain my favorite Elway play was that 50-yd TD bomb to Sharpe at Seattle, where he first ducks under a blitzing LB. That’s where Dave Logan (I think) is screaming “Elway is submerged, jumps up, and fires a strike to Shannon Sharpe”. Does anyone know if that clip is online anywhere? I can seriously watch that play a million times and still not get tired of it. I believe it’s on the “Champion Forever” VHS or possibly the “Denver Broncos History” DVD. Can’t remember exactly…

BTW, the Greatest Comebacks video is now on youtube split up into a few different videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVOiKDGAeqM&feature=related

The whole season on the line. Bitter cold weather. Ninety eight plus yards. No time left. In their house. Down their throats.

SWEET!

but a big hats off to Craig Morton.

You were the first, Craig, to take us right up to the banks of the Jordan. Promised Land. You may not have been able to get us across that last river and into the Promised Land. But we did get a good, close look at paradise. And you made us believe we could one day be there. And for that, I will forever be grateful.

Thank you.

Can the #7 ever be talked about again, concerning the Denver Broncos, without the name John Elway coming next?

No, because Bowlen did the right thing and retired the number.

BTW, I voted Heli because that was the moment when all doubt about whether or not they’d win their first Super Bowl was removed from my mind. There was absolutely NO WAY they were going to lose after that.

because that play just showed you how badly Elway wanted to win this game. That is one play I would show anyone who wants to know about Elway. Don’t get me wrong, “the drive” is what made a name for Elway and showed everybody the kind of QB he is. However, that first down dive in SB XXXII was a culmination of everything that happed up to that point. Elway wanted to win the SB really badly and was going to do whatever his aging body was capable of doing to win that game.