On Friday, John Elway and Peyton Manning became the first and only Broncos to be represented on the NFL’s 100 All-Time team, where they joined Joe Montana, Brett Favre and Tom Brady at quarterback.
Of Elway, Bill Belichick said, “John’s a dynamic player. He had a tremendous arm. I don’t know if anybody had a stronger, more accurate arm down the field than John Elway did. [He] could throw on the run, could obviously throw in the pocket.
“It was very athletic. He could scramble, could make plays and extend plays on his own. A very smart player that seemed like he played his best football at the most critical times in the game,” Belichick said.
Former NFL wide receiver and the current Sunday Night Football color commentator, Cris Collinsworth, heaped praise on Elway as well.
“[Elway] beat us over the years with his legs,” Collinsworth said. “He wasn’t the fastest guy, but he had something in his ability to see it, escape it, get outside on the edge, and make throws from anywhere to anywhere. There were so many times that he would scramble to one sideline and hit somebody across the field on the other sideline. It was just phenomenal talent and such a competitor.”
After Elway was named to the team, Manning joined him as the final player of the NFL 100 team.
“Peyton was such a spectacular player,” guest host Tom Brady said. “We had so many great games against him. He’d be on the other sideline and you just knew the margin for error was razor-thin.
“He was a relentless competitor and I think he had incredible expectations. One thing I really admire, I felt as the 199th pick I had a year where I could just learn and play with no expectation. He was the first pick overall, he was probably the top-rated recruit in high school and then ends up having the most prolific career of anybody that’s ever played so I think that speaks a lot about him and the expectation and then meeting expectation as well. I think only he himself could really meet that expectation. He was that kind of athlete and competitor.”
While it’s disappointing that Broncos greats Steve Atwater, Champ Bailey and Shannon Sharpe just missed the final cut, at least they are represented by two players at the sport’s most important position