He signs autographs in much the same way he tossed touchdown passes in the National Football League. With flair, and with regularity. Facing a rush far less menacing than those of opposing defenses during his 16 years with the Denver
He signs autographs in much the same way he tossed touchdown passes in the National Football League.
With flair, and with regularity.
Facing a rush far less menacing than those of opposing defenses during his 16 years with the Denver Broncos, John Elway patiently signed around 200 autographs yesterday for the sixth-grade class at Kapa’a Middle School.
After all, they had been an attentive audience, asking him questions about his life, his family, his career, his “mansion” and his injuries, and then listening intently to his message about showing maturity when it comes to making decisions about drug use and other major choices.
“You have to be the bigger one,” the more mature one, and say “no” when someone asks you to do drugs, Elway said.
He elaborated. When someone asks you, say, “‘No, that’s not right. Because drugs aren’t right. They go nowhere,'” said the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 1987 and Super Bowl XXXIII’s MVP in 1999 who’s here for Thursday’s NFL Quarterback Challenge at Vidinha Stadium.
“Say no to drugs, yes to school,” Elway urged before standing and signing hundreds of notebooks, hats, wallets, footballs, and just about anything else the students, faculty and staff asked him to sign.
Before taking questions from students the same age as his son, he walked into the school courtyard to loud applause and asked how many in the crowd watched the Super Bowl two Sundays ago on TV. Most of the hands went up.
He asked how many people thought the New England Patriots would win. Most of the hands stayed up.
Elway then asked how many in the audience like to do homework. The few who kept their hands raised quickly retracted them amid laughs from classmates.
Homework is important for a number of reasons, including the fact that it helps make you smarter and helps you learn to do things that you don’t necessarily want to do, said Elway.
“Your education is the most important thing,” said the former All-American quarterback whose Stanford University teams didn’t qualify for a single bowl game during his career there. His teams weren’t very good, he admitted, but he stuck around long enough to graduate and was the first player selected in the 1983 NFL draft. He was also drafted to play professional baseball, but opted for football.
“I found out that I really liked football. I was pretty good in football,” he said, making the ultimate understatement for a man destined to be enshrined in the pro football Hall of Fame as soon as he is eligible for nomination in a few years.
Elway, 41, looks in great shape, not too much different from his listed 6 foot 3 inches and 215 pounds during his playing days that ended in retirement after he led the Broncos to a 34-19 win over Atlanta in Super Bowl XXXIII.
It was his first Super Bowl ring, though, that was his career highlight, as Denver defeated the favored Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXII in 1998. That came when he was 38 years old and had been in the NFL for 15 years, he told the crowd.
Here are a few other answers to questions the students tossed at the quarterback:
Q: Are those your Super Bowl rings?
A: No, those are his wedding ring and his father’s wedding ring. Jack Elway, a football coach, died in April last year. John Elway honors his father’s memory by wearing his ring. He keeps his two Super Bowl rings in a safe at his Denver home.
He played in the Super Bowl five times, losing the first three times he was there. Rings are awarded to the winning teams. Elway said he never wears them because they are cumbersome and prevent him from putting his hands in his pockets.
Q: Do you think you were the best quarterback ever to play in the NFL?
A: When he retired, he knew he did the best he could, and was the best quarterback he could be. And that’s what the youngsters should strive for, to be the best they can be, to complete their homework and other assignments to the best of their abilities, he said.
Q: How far can you throw a football?
A: During his playing days, 80 yards. He is not sure how far he could toss the pigskin now.
Q: Do you own car dealerships?
A: No, he sold his six Denver-area dealerships.
Q: Do you live in a mansion?
A: “I live in a house.”
Q: Who was your favorite receiver to throw to?
A: “My favorite receiver was the one that was open,” he said. Elway amassed 300 career touchdown passes, and in six seasons he threw 20 or more TDs.
Q: Are you an only child?
A: Elway has an older sister and a twin sister. He has three daughters, 16, 14 and 10, and a 12-year-old son. He has lived in the Denver area for 20 years. On this trip to Kaua’i, Elway is traveling with his wife Janet. They will leave the island Thursday night. The children are back in Denver in school.
Q: What was the worst injury you had?
A: During his 16 years in the NFL, he had surgery 12 times, but other than a bad left knee, Elway survived the brutalities of the NFL amazingly unscathed. He suffered broken ribs and several shoulder injuries that required surgery, he added.
Q: Did you break anyone else’s bones?
A: No.
Q: What was your most embarrassing moment?
A: Throwing interceptions was always embarrassing, with people joking that he was color blind and didn’t know which team he was supposed to be completing passes for. He threw 226 in his career, though he told the crowd the number was around 215.
Q: Who was your toughest opponent?
A: “The toughest opponent was the one we were playing,” said Elway, explaining that every team in the league was so good that all the opposition was extremely worthy.
He also turned the tables on the students, asking them another question: “Do you know how lucky you are to live here?” When the children complained about the cold winter weather, he laughed.
“Compared to Colorado, it’s warm,” said Elway, in shorts and heading for Prince Golf Course for a round after addressing the students.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
