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Super Bowl Insider: On field or front office, John Elway has winning touch

Ryan O'Halloran
Jeff Chiu Associated Press Broncos general manager and executive vice president of football operations John Elway watches practice on Thursday in Stanford, Calif.

SAN FRANCISCO | John Elway isn't here at Super Bowl Week pitching pizzas, showing off his broadcasting chops or traipsing up and down Radio Row in his yellow Pro Football Hall of Fame blazer.

No, Elway is 45 miles away at the Denver Broncos' team hotel, where the team he constructed is preparing for Sunday's game against Carolina.

Elway runs the Broncos' personnel department under the title of executive vice president of football operations and general manager. And his current position makes him an outlier among his 28 peers who are Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks: Successful NFL executive.

Since Elway re-joined the Broncos in 2011, Denver has 58 regular season wins (second-most), five AFC West titles and two conference championships.

Only two players on the 53-man roster - receiver Demaryius Thomas and punter Britton Colquitt - preceded Elway's return.

Under his watch, the Broncos have scored big in the draft (Von Miller, Malik Jackson, Danny Trevathan and Derek Wolfe), found under-the-radar players who are now starters (Brandon Marshall, C.J. Anderson and Chris Harris) and struck gold in veteran free agency (Peyton Manning, DeMarcus Ware, Aqib Talib and Emmanuel Sanders).

"Sure, I'm proud of it," old No. 7 said. "I'm proud that we're able to compete and have had good teams since I've been back. I think a lot of it can go to my dad [Jack]. I've been around football my whole life. Understanding him as a coach and getting to spend that time and learning about the game, not only from a player side of it, but also from a coach's side of it - that's helped me tremendously."

What also helped Elway tremendously was leaning on his personnel staff (Matt Russell and Tom Heckert), his playing experience to evaluate talent and how they fit into the Broncos' culture and being around his father. Jack Elway, who passed away in 2001, was a long-time college head coach at San Jose State and Stanford before joining the Broncos as a scout for the final six years of his son's playing career.

"Where [playing has] helped me is knowing what I liked in a teammate; I'm drawn to those types of players that I would want on my football team," Elway said. "And what I like in coaches, based on the different coaches I had and their qualities, that's also helped me."

Elway retired after repeating as Super Bowl champion (1998 season) and next appeared in pro football five years later as co-owner of the Arena Football League's Colorado Crush, which allowed him to build a roster without the white, hot spotlight of the NFL on top of him.

Elway returned to the Broncos in 2011, the team in chaos after a 4-12 season and the failed Josh McDaniels Era. Elway hired John Fox and when Manning became available in March 2012, signed him to replace Tim Tebow.

Elway went against the grain as a player, showing uncommon athleticism and arm strength. And he's really gone the other way in terms of his post-playing career.

Quarterbacking a Super Bowl champion means a player can write his ticket to the broadcasting booth. A rundown of those 29 players:

Active players (eight): Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Joe Flacco, Peyton and Eli Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger and Russell Wilson.

Current or former broadcasters (12): Troy Aikman, Terry Bradshaw, Len Dawson, Trent Dilfer, Bob Griese, Joe Namath, Jim Plunkett, Phil Simms, Ken Stabler, Joe Theismann, Kurt Warner, Johnny Unitas and Steve Young. (Stabler and Unitas are deceased).

Not involved in football (six): Brett Favre, Jeff Hostetler, Jim McMahon, Joe Montana, Mark Rypien and Roger Staubach.

NFL executive or coach (three): Elway, Bart Starr and Doug Williams.

Starr was the Green Bay Packers' general manager-coach from 1975-83 (52-76-2 record) and Williams has bounced around the league as a personnel evaluator.

Elway has gone all-in on running a football team. That meant two weeks ago, he was in Carson, Calif., watching NFLPA All-Star Game practices. Last week, it means he was in Mobile, Ala., observing the Senior Bowl workouts. In two weeks, he'll be in Indianapolis for the Scouting Combine.

Nothing scratches the will-to-win itch like playing, but Elway is doing the next-best thing.

"There is nobody more competitive in anything he does, whether it's playing, running a football team or playing some gin with you in the back room," Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said. "He's an extremely competitive man and that hasn't changed."

Ryan O'Halloran: (904) 359-4401