Still Driving

When it comes to bringing the NFL back to Los Angeles, the quarterback who orchestrated “the Drive” is among the driven.

“I guess it’s a challenge when people say there’s no way the NFL would work here,” John Elway said. “And I say, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me ... ‘ “

That’s why Elway, who today will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, can’t help but envision pulling off another spectacular comeback -- one that would top the 47 fourth-quarter and overtime masterpieces that already adorn his resume. He’s serious about helping put an NFL franchise in the nation’s second-largest market, where the clock has been ticking for almost a decade.

Said Elway: “One exciting thing about L.A. is, out here it’s such a huge market that if you do the things the right way, and if there’s a team here that comes out and treats the people the way they need to be treated, I think you can have one of the top franchises in the country. So I’m intrigued with this market.”

A first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee, Elway has impeccable football credentials. He has more victories than any other quarterback, 148, and ranks second in attempts, completions and yards passing.

He’s the only quarterback to have started in five Super Bowls, and was selected most valuable player of Super Bowl XXXIII, his final game. He’s perhaps best remembered for his ability to perform in the clutch, as he did on the Drive in January 1987, when he led the Broncos on a score-tying, 98-yard march in the AFC championship game at Cleveland. Denver went on to win in overtime, and Elway ascended to superstar status.

He is part owner of the Arena Football League’s Colorado Crush -- along with Bronco owner Pat Bowlen and St. Louis developer Stan Kroenke -- and said his new role went some way toward quieting his football pangs.

“It’s come as close as anything, as far as replacing that emptiness I felt when I retired,” he said.

Elway, who was in L.A. last week promoting the acid-reflux medicine Prevacid, understands the heartburn of the Southern California quandary. In 1999, when competing L.A. groups were trying to land an expansion franchise -- the team eventually awarded to Houston’s Bob McNair for $700 million -- Elway had face-to-face meetings with L.A. impresarios Eli Broad, Marvin Davis and Michael Ovitz. Less than one year removed from his spectacular career with the Broncos, he wanted back in the game.

“I never really got aligned with any of them,” said Elway, who attended Granada Hills High and Stanford. “But there was definitely an interest on my part.”

Over the years, he said, that interest has intensified. He still has relatives in Southern California, spends a lot of time honing his golf game in Palm Springs, and is partner in a high-powered group that in March bought Crown Toyota in Ontario.

As a businessman, Elway has had both successes and setbacks. In 1998, he sold his seven car dealerships for $82.5 million. Two years later, he started an Internet sporting goods retailer, mvp.com, with Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan. The company went belly-up within a year.

“Any person that has as much money to invest as John is going to have things that go well and things that don’t,” said Michael Young, his close friend and former teammate. Young, the Broncos’ director of special projects, also looks after Bowlen’s investment in the Crush.

“[John] has a proven record in business, and it’s because he’s very frugal and hands-on. He’s as competitive in business as he is on the field.”

Elway said he planned to thoroughly reevaluate the L.A. situation, and weigh his options about getting involved, as the league inches closer to making a stadium decision in the market. In the meantime, his time is consumed with running the Crush.

“John’s made it very clear he’s very serious about L.A.,” Young said.

So why would Denver’s biggest sports hero not angle for a piece of the Broncos?

Well, Elway considered it in 1998, when Bowlen offered him a 20% stake in the team upon retiring and title of chief operations officer. That offer triggered a lawsuit by Edgar Kaiser, former owner of the team, who claimed Bowlen had violated a term of the sale by not offering him a chance to buy back a piece of the Broncos. Kaiser also claimed that Bowlen had lied to him about distributing ownership among the Bowlen family.

A federal grand jury in February issued a split decision, ruling that Kaiser should get the right of first refusal if Bowlen wanted to sell, but jurors rejected the assertion that, by distributing shares of the franchise to relatives, Bowlen violated a stipulation in the contract.

Regardless, Elway sees L.A. as a clean opportunity, a fresh start, provided the league moves forward with a stadium plan.

NFL owners hope to vote in May on the three competing sites -- the Coliseum, Rose Bowl and Carson -- with the idea of putting a team in place by the 2008 season.

Instead of being the sole owner of an NFL team, Elway could have a minority share and be the face of a franchise, much the way Carmen Policy had an ownership stake in the Cleveland Browns and served as the team’s president before selling his share in April.

“John’s more than a celebrity endorser,” said L.A. Avenger owner Casey Wasserman, who serves with Elway on the Arena Football League’s executive committee.

“This is about a Hall of Fame player who brings a world of football and business value to the venture.”

Wasserman, the grandson of the late movie mogul Lew Wasserman, has expressed serious interest in owning an NFL team and was part of a coalition of local businessmen who two years ago pushed to build a downtown football stadium near Staples Center. He and Elway have grown close in the last three years.

“We’ve spent a lot of time working together as partners -- except for the two times a year when we play each other,” Wasserman said.

“When Tim [Leiweke, president of Anschutz Entertainment Group] and I tried to do something with a downtown stadium, John and I played a little bit of the ‘what-if?’ game.”

As in, what if Elway and Wasserman pooled their resources? What if the No. 2 passer in NFL history was overseeing the nation’s No. 2 market? After years of watching his last-gasp heroics, people aren’t ready to count Captain Comeback out of this game.

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JOHN ELWAY

Quarterback, 6-3, 215

NFL career: 1983 to 1998, Denver Broncos.

Elway was selected by Baltimore Colts in first round (first player overall) of 1983 draft, then was traded to the Broncos for two veteran players and their 1984 first-round pick. Played 16 seasons, 234 games. Led his team to five victories in six AFC championship games and two Super Bowl triumphs. His record 47 fourth-quarter game-winning or game-tying drives are legendary. In the 1986 AFC title game, he engineered a 98-yard touchdown drive to tie the Cleveland Browns and send the game into overtime. Broncos won, 23-20. He is the only player in NFL history to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 200 yards in the same season seven consecutive times. Only the second quarterback in NFL history to record 40,000-plus yards passing and 3,000-plus yards rushing. Ranks second in three of the game’s most significant passing categories: yards, 51,475; passes, 7,250, and completions, 4,123.

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BARRY SANDERS

Running back, 5-8, 203

NFL career: 1989 to 1998, Detroit Lions.

Sanders was selected by Lions in first round (third overall) of 1989 draft. He played 10 seasons, 153 games. Rushed for 1,000-plus yards in each of 10 seasons, first ever to do so. In 1997, he became the third person to gain 2,000 yards in a season. Made his pro debut three days after signing with Lions. His 1,470 yards rushing during his rookie season were 10 yards short of the league’s best that year. Led rushers in 1990 with 1,304 yards, 1994 with 1,883, 1996 with 1,553, and 1997 with 2,053. In 1997, he gained 100-plus yards rushing in a record 14 consecutive regular-season games.

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CARL ELLER

Defensive End, 6-6, 247

NFL career: 1964 to 1978, Minnesota Vikings; 1979 Seattle Seahawks.

Drafted in first round by Minnesota Vikings of the NFL and Buffalo Bills of the AFL. Played 16 seasons, 225 games. Became a regular as a rookie and held his job for 15 seasons. During Eller’s tenure, the Vikings won 10 NFL/NFC Central Division crowns, the NFL title in 1969, NFC championships in 1973, ’74 and ‘76, and advanced to four Super Bowls. Eller was a major factor in the ferocious defensive unit known as “Purple People Eaters,” anchoring the line at left end. Extremely quick, he was excellent on rushing defense and a superb pass rusher. He had 44 sacks in 1975 to ’77 span. Recovered 23 opponents’ fumbles, third best in history at the time of his retirement. Selected to six Pro Bowls.

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BOB BROWN

Offensive Tackle, 6-4, 280

NFL career: 1964 to 1968, Philadelphia Eagles; 1969 and 1970, Los Angeles Rams; 1971 to 1973, Oakland Raiders.

Eagles’ first-round pick (second overall) in 1964 NFL draft and Denver Broncos’ first-round pick (first overall) of AFL draft. Played 10 seasons, 126 games. An aggressive blocker, he used size and strength to neutralize pass rushers. Possessed great quickness, strength and self-confidence. He was traded to the Rams in 1969, after four all-league seasons with Eagles. Chosen All-NFL seven of 10 seasons, and was second-team All-NFL twice. Was voted NFL/NFC offensive lineman of the year three times. Chosen to play in six Pro Bowls: three with Eagles, two with the Rams, and one with the Raiders.

Associated Press