Elway Expected to Call It a Career on Monday

John Elway, who capped one of the greatest careers in NFL history by leading the Denver Broncos to their second consecutive Super Bowl championship in January, is set to announce his retirement from professional football, the Denver Post is reporting in today’s editions.

The newspaper, citing an unnamed college friend of the former Granada Hills High and Stanford star, said Elway, the master of the fourth-quarter comeback, will make the official announcement at a news conference Monday.

Elway, 38, reportedly wanted to announce his decision this week but before a news conference could be scheduled, tragedy struck at suburban Columbine High, where 15 people died in shootings.

Out of respect to the victims, the Post reported, Elway delayed an announcement.

But as was the case in the days leading to the retirements this year of two other sports legends, Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky, word leaked before Elway could make his official announcement.

The Broncos told the Post they would have no comment before Elway makes his decision public.

Elway has been the Broncos’ quarterback since 1983, when they acquired him in a trade with the Baltimore Colts for offensive tackle Chris Hinton, quarterback Mark Herrmann and a 1984 first-round draft choice.

The winningest member of the fabled quarterback class of 1983 that also included Dan Marino of the Miami Dolphins and former Buffalo Bill Jim Kelly, Elway amassed career totals that include 248 regular-season games, among them a league-record 148 victories.

He passed for 51,475 yards in 16 seasons, second to Marino on the NFL’s all-time list, and 300 touchdowns, No. 3 all-time.

He was ready to retire after the Broncos’ 31-24 victory over the Green Bay Packers in last year’s Super Bowl, but was talked out of it by his family.

After announcing last June that he would return for one more season, the strong-armed quarterback endured hamstring, back and rib injuries that caused him to uncharacteristically miss all or part of six games.

But he led the Broncos to their second consecutive Super Bowl triumph, a 34-19 victory over the Atlanta Falcons in which Elway was voted the game’s most valuable player after completing 18 of 29 passes for 336 yards and one touchdown.

It was an especially sweet victory for Elway as it came against Falcon Coach Dan Reeves, the former Bronco coach with whom Elway had feuded during their 10 seasons together in Denver.

His coaches, teammates and fans urged him to try for a three-peat next season, and the Post reported that Elway was intrigued by the idea, but not enough to return.

He said the possibility of an unprecedented three-peat had thrown a “kink” in his thinking.

The quarterback’s plans seemed apparent after the usually low-key Elway took a victory lap around Mile High Stadium after the Broncos’ victory over the New York Jets in the AFC championship game.

It was his way of saying goodbye to his ardent supporters, who made him a Denver icon.

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* J.A. ADANDE ON ELWAY, PAGE 7