John Elway to own the Broncos?

[Superman]

Peyton could have said Jim Irsay was a bad GM, son of a bad owner, so I'm not going to take a chance on the Colts. To his credit, he went to his assigned team in the draft, like many other players over the years. Why even have a draft, let the players go where they want. If you do, it will be like Major League Baseball where bloated payroll teams like the Yankees or Red Sox scarfed up players because they were ring chasing.

 

Irsay wasn't the GM, the well respected Bill Polian was. And "son of a bad owner" is a lot different than "bad owner," as we've all come to see. Manning had his father's advice to consider (as did Eli), and they liked the opportunity to play for the Colts. So the hypothetical isn't really relevant.

 

Also, a player choosing not to sign with the team that drafted him isn't just 'let the players go where they want.' Let's not act like leverage isn't a thing. Elway had leverage; Eli Manning had leverage. Most players don't have enough leverage to force their way out of a situation they don't want to be in. Anyone else who tried this would likely have to sit out a year and go back into the draft, reducing his draft stock (and money) and postponing his eventual free agency. It's extremely punitive if you don't have the leverage necessary. Elway could have played baseball, and said he would.

 

And the salary cap/floor and a limited draft prevents teams from having bloated payrolls. There's no correlation there.

[amfootball]

AM, maybe you are not bitter, but there were many Red Sox fans that were. You can't speak for your whole fan base. I've talked to Red Sox fans that were bitter they didn't win that WS. Do you think Cubs fans aren't bitter at Steve Bartman? They hounded that poor guy to death. Buckner was shunned by Red Sox fans until they finally won after all those years

I am not sure how we got all the way over here. But my original point was not that fan bases are not bitter or hold resentments but that you had said you were over the whole Baltimore/Indy thing on the other thread. You had said you had moved on and here you are saying but the facts still stand. Does not seem as if you were being 100 percent honest on the other thread. And that is fine if you still feel that way but I just don't understand it. It has been decades ...

[The Old Crow]

I am not sure how we got all the way over here. But my original point was not that fan bases are not bitter or hold resentments but that you had said you were over the whole Baltimore/Indy thing on the other thread. You had said you had moved on and here you are saying but the facts still stand. Does not seem as if you were being 100 percent honest on the other thread. And that is fine if you still feel that way but I just don't understand it. It has been decades ...

I think my comment was more tongue in cheek , but I can't say I wouldn't enjoy poetic justice occurring to Elway, so he could see the other side of the coin he created.

[The Old Crow]

Irsay wasn't the GM, the well respected Bill Polian was. And "son of a bad owner" is a lot different than "bad owner," as we've all come to see. Manning had his father's advice to consider (as did Eli), and they liked the opportunity to play for the Colts. So the hypothetical isn't really relevant.

Also, a player choosing not to sign with the team that drafted him isn't just 'let the players go where they want.' Let's not act like leverage isn't a thing. Elway had leverage; Eli Manning had leverage. Most players don't have enough leverage to force their way out of a situation they don't want to be in. Anyone else who tried this would likely have to sit out a year and go back into the draft, reducing his draft stock (and money) and postponing his eventual free agency. It's extremely punitive if you don't have the leverage necessary. Elway could have played baseball, and said he would.

And the salary cap/floor and a limited draft prevents teams from having bloated payrolls. There's no correlation there.

But he had been a GM, and now was owner. The Colts had very little success from 84-97, and Polian was more known as a 4 time SB loser. Peyton could have certainly walked as the ownership perspective of the Colts then, isn't what it is now. And by the way , the Colts had a very respected GM in Ernie Accorsi, who Elway and his father dragged through the mud, and treated disrespectfully.

Elway had leverage, but Irsay should have called his bluff and play at single A Columbus for four years.

[Superman]

But he had been a GM, and now was owner. The Colts had very little success from 84-97, and Polian was more known as a 4 time SB loser. Peyton could have certainly walked as the ownership perspective of the Colts then, isn't what it is now. And by the way , the Colts had a very respected GM in Ernie Accorsi, who Elway and his father dragged through the mud, and treated disrespectfully.

Elway had leverage, but Irsay should have called his bluff and play at single A Columbus for four years.

 

Meh. The 1998 Colts were obviously more inviting than the 1983 Colts, for several reasons. No need to rehash old history, but knowing that the Manning family was fine with Jim Irsay's Colts, but didn't like the 2004 Chargers, it shows that they didn't feel there were any issues with Jim Irsay or Bill Polian. (LOL @ 4 time SB loser. GMs don't lose Super Bowls.)

 

Accorsi wanted Elway. Elway's issue was Bob Irsay, not Accorsi. 

 

It would have done the Colts no good to try to call Elway's bluff. He could have played baseball for one year, and re-entered the draft in 1984 (a draft with zero first round QBs). Chris Hinton and Ron Solt played well for the Colts.

[The Old Crow]

Meh. The 1998 Colts were obviously more inviting than the 1983 Colts, for several reasons. No need to rehash old history, but knowing that the Manning family was fine with Jim Irsay's Colts, but didn't like the 2004 Chargers, it shows that they didn't feel there were any issues with Jim Irsay or Bill Polian. (LOL @ 4 time SB loser. GMs don't lose Super Bowls.)

Accorsi wanted Elway. Elway's issue was Bob Irsay, not Accorsi.

It would have done the Colts no good to try to call Elway's bluff. He could have played baseball for one year, and re-entered the draft in 1984 (a draft with zero first round QBs). Chris Hinton and Ron Solt played well for the Colts.

The Elways may have disliked Irsay, but it was the elder Elway's issues with then Colts coach Frank Kush, that was a huge factor. I think this dated back to coaching frictions they had in the PAC 10. So if you don't like a coach, GM, owner, city, then you shouldn't follow league rules and go where you are drafted ? I personally find it very unprofessional. Also, you have to go back and look at tapes of how arrogant Elway and his father were at the time. They even forgot GM Accorsi's name.

[amfootball]

I think my comment was more tongue in cheek , but I can't say I wouldn't enjoy poetic justice occurring to Elway, so he could see the other side of the coin he created.

So by that logic you are hoping that the Denver fan base gets treated the same as Baltimore and has decades of unresolved bitterness?

 

BTW, if there was any poetic justice for Elway, it was getting blown out (again) in a Super Bowl as a GM.

[The Old Crow]

So by that logic you are hoping that the Denver fan base gets treated the same as Baltimore and has decades of unresolved bitterness?

BTW, if there was any poetic justice for Elway, it was getting blown out (again) in a Super Bowl as a GM.

No, just Elway. Nothing like a taste of one's own medicine to give a new understanding to things. I have nothing against the good fans of Denver.

[Superman]

The Elways may have disliked Irsay, but it was the elder Elway's issues with then Colts coach Frank Kush, that was a huge factor. I think this dated back to coaching frictions they had in the PAC 10. So if you don't like a coach, GM, owner, city, then you shouldn't follow league rules and go where you are drafted ? I personally find it very unprofessional. Also, you have to go back and look at tapes of how arrogant Elway and his father were at the time. They even forgot GM Accorsi's name.

 

Call it unprofessional. That doesn't make it "wrong."

 

League rules don't state that you have to play for the team that drafts you. They state that if you don't sign with the team that drafted you and you aren't traded or waived, you can't play in the NFL that season. You have to sit out the season and re-enter the next year's draft, or you can go do something else (like play baseball, or go get a normal job). 

 

I'm not trying to tell you that you should like what Elway did, or that it's wrong of you to dislike him and think little of him, etc. That's your business. But he was within his rights to refuse to play for the Colts. Same with Eli and the Chargers.

[The Old Crow]

Call it unprofessional. That doesn't make it "wrong."

 

League rules don't state that you have to play for the team that drafts you. They state that if you don't sign with the team that drafted you and you aren't traded or waived, you can't play in the NFL that season. You have to sit out the season and re-enter the next year's draft, or you can go do something else (like play baseball, or go get a normal job). 

 

I'm not trying to tell you that you should like what Elway did, or that it's wrong of you to dislike him and think little of him, etc. That's your business. But he was within his rights to refuse to play for the Colts. Same with Eli and the Chargers.

Fair enough , but I would just like to see some player and his father put him through the wringer as GM, like they did to Ernie Accorsi.

[Superman]

Fair enough , but I would just like to see some player and his father put him through the wringer as GM, like they did to Ernie Accorsi.

 

Don't hold your breath. The Broncos are unlikely to be picking in the top half of the draft any time soon, and I don't/can't remember any drafted player holding out for a trade if he wasn't the #1 pick, although there probably are some.

 

Interesting that you reserve your acrimony for Elway and E. Manning, but haven't even mentioned Bo Jackson. 

[The Old Crow]

Don't hold your breath. The Broncos are unlikely to be picking in the top half of the draft any time soon, and I don't/can't remember any drafted player holding out for a trade if he wasn't the #1 pick, although there probably are some.

 

Interesting that you reserve your acrimony for Elway and E. Manning, but haven't even mentioned Bo Jackson.

He wasn't as snotty about it like Elway and Eli. Eli looked like he was going to drop the Charger jersey on the ground !

[oldunclemark]

I would guess that most anything that happened a quarter of a century ago is now forgotten by all parties involved//

Time tends to do that..

I was just wondering If 'celebrity' ownership is good for a franhchise

[Shane Bond]

This was before that, and when Yankee fans hounded you guys with 1918. I've never seen a more bitter fan base than Red Sox fans towards the Yankees.

Sure those events smoothed over some bitterness like the Flacco pass , or the Ravens Super Bowl. There isn't much bitterness when you're winning a lot. That is why Yankee fans aren't bitter much.

And when Eli and the Newyork Giants beat that arrogant 18-0 ( now we know how they got those wins ), one of the best days in NY sports history.

[The Old Crow]

And when Eli and the Newyork Giants beat that arrogant 18-0 ( now we know how they got those wins ), one of the best days in NY sports history.

I do like Eli for that, just not the draft antics.

[The Old Crow]

I would guess that most anything that happened a quarter of a century ago is now forgotten by all parties involved//

Time tends to do that..

I was just wondering If 'celebrity' ownership is good for a franhchise

They have the 30 for 30 special on this now. The Elways were arrogant, and all I'm saying is that I would love to see John on the butt end of what he did to the Colts. Probably won't happen, but it's nice to dream.

[oldunclemark]

They have the 30 for 30 special on this now. The Elways were arrogant, and all I'm saying is that I would love to see John on the butt end of what he did to the Colts. Probably won't happen, but it's nice to dream.

Everyone in the NFL is arrogant...at times

I'm just saying that 30 years is long enough to forget about it if you want to.

Maybe half of Colts fans everywhere weren't born when John Elway was a rookie.

Its like still blaming Donna Summer and KC and the Sunshine Band for disco...

Kind of a dead issue at this point.