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Elway By the Numbers
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- 16 -
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Seasons in which Elway has worn the orange, blue and white of the Broncos, a club record. The greatest player in franchise history is also the team's career leader in regular-season games played, with 234. (Elway will be on top for quite a while; Steve Atwater, with 155, is next among active Broncos.)
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Most Regular-Season Games Played for Denver
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PLAYER
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POSITION
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GAMES
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John Elway
Tom Jackson
Paul Howard
Dennis Smith
Barney Chavous
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Quarterback
Linebacker
Guard
Safety
Defensive end
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234
191
187
184
182
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- 15 -
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AFC Offensive Player of the Week.
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Elway's Major Career Honors
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HONOR
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NO.
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AFC Offensive Player of the Week
Pro Bowl selection
Pro Bowl starter
AFC Offensive Player of the Month
NFL MVP
AFC Player of the Year
Super Bowl MVP
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15
9
6
2
1
1
1
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- 14 -
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Quarterbacks, including Elway, who have thrown a regular-season pass for the Broncos since 1983.
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Regular-Season Stats for Broncos QBs Since 1983
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PLAYER
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GAMES
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COMP.-ATT.
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YDS.
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TDS
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INT.
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RTG.
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STEVE DEBERG
JOHN ELWAY
GARY KUBIAK
SCOTT STANKAVAGE
KEN KARCHER
DEAN MAY
MONTE MCGUIRE
TOMMY MADDOX
SHAWN MOORE
HUGH MILLEN
BILL MUSGRAVE
JEFF LEWIS
BUBBY BRISTER
BRIAN GRIESE
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33
234
119
1
4
3
2
29
3
8
10
3
8
1
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314-546
4,123-7,250
173-298
4-18
62-114
0-5
2-3
67-122
17-34
107-171
39-64
10-19
84-140
1-3
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3,819
51,475
1,920
58
756
0
23
758
232
1,090
369
58
1,034
2
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22
300
14
0
6
0
0
6
0
3
0
0
10
0
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24
226
16
1
4
1
0
9
3
3
2
1
3
1
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74.3
79.8
70.6
17.4
78.0
0.0
89.6
59.4
35.4
79.3
63.9
36.7
97.7
2.8
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- 13 -
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Games in his 16-year career that Elway has missed due to injury or illness, a remarkable run of durability at football's most difficult position. (Elway has also missed eight other games for which he was healthy.)
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Reasons Why Elway has Missed an NFL Game
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INJURY OR OTHER CAUSE
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GAMES
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Shoulder
Hamstring
Knee
Ankle
Flu
Rib cage
Coach's decision
NFL strike
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5
3
2
1
1
1
5
3
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- 12 -
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Seasons in which Elway has passed for 3,000 or more yards, the second-highest such total in league history.
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Most 3,000-yard passing Seasons
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QUARTERBACK
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SEASONS
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DAN MARINO
JOHN ELWAY
WARREN MOON
JIM KELLY
JOE MONTANA
BOOMER ESIASON
JIM EVERETT
BRETT FAVRE
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13
12
9
8
8
7
7
7
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- 11 -
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Broncos running backs who have rushed for 100 yards in a regular-season or playoff game with Elway at quarterback, a total of 63 games. Nine of those have come in the postseason, including Terrell Davis's 102 yards against the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl XXXIII. On Dec. 27, 1997, against the Jacksonville Jaguars, both Davis and Derek Loville reached the century mark--a postseason first for the franchise.
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Elway's 100-yard Rushers
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RUNNING BACK
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BRONCOS CAREER
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100-YD. GAMES
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TERRELL DAVIS
BOBBY HUMPHREY
GASTON GREEN
SAMMY WINDER
ROD BERNSTINE
TONY DORSETT
LEONARD RUSSELL
AARON CRAVER
GREG LEWIS
DEREK LOVILLE
GLYN MILBURN
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1995-98
1989-91
1991-92
1982-90
1993-95
1988-89
1994
1995-96
1991-92
1997-98
1993-95
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35
8
5
5
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
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- 10 -
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Times that Elway was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated through 1998.
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- 9 -
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Quarterbacks that the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts have chosen in the NFL draft since 1983, the year they selected Elway with the No. 1 pick. Unable to sign Elway, the Colts traded his rights to the Broncos for promising quarterback Mark Herrmann; the draft rights to the No. 4 pick, tackle Chris Hinton; and Denver's first-round draft choice in the 1984 draft, which turned out to be guard Ron Solt. Since acquiring Elway, the Broncos are 161-93-1 (.633) in the regular season and have reached the playoffs 10 times and the Super Bowl five times. Since trading Elway, the Colts are 98-157 (.384) in the regular season, have reached the playoffs just three times and have won only two postseason games. They've also gone through eight head coaches in that span.
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Quarterbacks Drafted by the Colts Since 1983
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PLAYER
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GAMES
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COMP.-ATT.
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YDS.
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TDS
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INT.
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RTG.
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JIM BOB TAYLOR
JACK TRUDEAU
CHRIS CHANDLER
JEFF GEORGE
PEYTON MANNING
TOTALS
ELWAY'S TOTALS
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8
61
18
52
16
155
234
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1-2
812-1,536
168-313
874-1,532
326-575
2,181-3,958
4,123-7,250
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20
9,647
2,156
9,551
3,739
25,113
51,475
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0
41
10
41
26
118
300
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1
62
15
46
28
152
226
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45.8
64.4
66.2
72.0
71.2
68.4
79.8
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* Stats are from regular-season games with the Colts. The Colts drafted four QBs who never played for them: Wayne Johnson (1989), Steve Taylor (1989), Gene Benhart (1990) and Mike Cawley (1996).
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Times that Elway has engineered fourth-quarter game-winning or game-tying drives against the Kansas City Chiefs. Former Chiefs and Cleveland Browns coach Marty Schottenheimer has been on the wrong end of nine Elway comebacks.
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Elway's Most Frequent Comeback Victims
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TEAM
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GAMES
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Kansas City Chiefs
San Diego Chargers
Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders
Cleveland Browns
New England Patriots
Seattle Seahawks
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8
6
4
3
3
3
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NFL teams that have never beaten Elway in the regular season. The winningest quarterback in league history has played against all 31 NFL franchises (including the Cleveland Browns), and he has regular-season victories against 30. The lone team that Elway has not tamed in the regular season is the Miami Dolphins, against whom his Broncos are 0-2 (but 1-0 in the postseason, after a 38-3 win in a 1998 AFC divisional playoff game).
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Teams that Never Defeated Elway in the Regular Season
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TEAM
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W-L
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New England Patriots
Cincinnati Bengals
Atlanta Falcons
Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals
Jacksonville Jaguars
Baltimore Ravens
Carolina Panthers
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0-10
0-7
0-4
0-3
0-2
0-1
0-1
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- 6 -
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Receivers who have caught 20 or more touchdown passes from Elway over the years. In all, 40 players have hauled in at least one Elway TD pass.
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Players Who have Caught 20 TD Passes from Elway
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PLAYER
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REGULAR SEASON
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PLAYOFFS
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TOTAL
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SHANNON SHARPE
VANCE JOHNSON
ED MCCAFFREY
MARK JACKSON
ROD SMITH
ANTHONY MILLER
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42
35
23
21
19
21
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2
4
2
2
3
0
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44
39
25
23
22
21
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Times that Elway has been the starting quarterback in the Super Bowl, an NFL record.
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Professional sports teams that drafted Elway.
Kansas City Royals -- A lefthanded-hitting outfielder for Granada Hills High School in Los Angeles, Elway was taken in the 18th round of the June 1979 baseball draft. Earlier that day the Royals had drafted a righthanded pitcher by the name of Dan Marino, from Pittsburgh's Central Catholic High. Kansas City failed to sign either player; they opted for college.
New York Yankees -- In 1981, after his sophomore year at Stanford, Elway was again selected in the baseball draft, in the second round by the Yankees. This time Elway signed, and the following summer he played 42 games in the Class A New York-Penn League with Oneonta, hitting .318 with four home runs and 25 RBIs.
Oakland Invaders -- As a product of Stanford, Elway was taken in the first USFL draft, in 1983, by the Invaders, who held his territorial rights. He didn't sign.
Baltimore Colts -- The Colts selected Elway with the first pick of the famed 1983 draft, making him the first of six quarterbacks taken in the first round; Baltimore then traded his rights to the Broncos.
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- 3 -
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Times that Elway has caught a pass in a regular-season game. Two of those were from Steve Sewell. In his seven-year career, Sewell threw seven regular-season passes; his only two completions were to Elway.
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Elway's Career Receptions
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DATE
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OPPONENT
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PASSER, POSITION
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DISTANCE
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Sept. 7, 1986
Jan. 31, 1988
Sept. 1, 1991
Nov. 22, 1998
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Raiders
Redskins
Bengals
Raiders
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Steve Sewell, RB
Steve Sewell, RB
Steve Sewell, RB
Rod Smith, WR
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23 yards*
23 yards
24 yards
14 yards
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*Touchdown pass, Super Bowl XXII
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- 2 -
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Times that Elway and Dan Marino, the only two quarterbacks in NFL history to pass for 50,000 yards, have faced each other in the regular season. Marino won both games, but Elway came out on top in 1998 in their only postseason showdown.
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NFL Career Comparison of Elway and Marino
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ELWAY
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MARINO
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Seasons
Games
W-L as regular-season starter
W-L as postseason starter
Head-to-head regular-season wins
Head-to-head postseason wins
W-L in regular-season prime-time games
Attempts
Completions
Completion percentage
Yards passing
Touchdown passes
Interceptions
Passer rating
Times sacked
Yards rushing
Rushing touchdowns
Total offense
3,000-yard passing seasons
4,000-yard passing seasons
5,000-yard passing seasons
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16
234
148*-82-1
14-7
0
1[2]
24-19
7,250[1]
4,123[1]
56.9
51,475[1]
300
226
79.8
515*
3,407
32
54,882[1]
12[1]
1
0
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16
231
142[1]-87-0
7-9
2
0[2]
31-20
7,989*
4,763*
59.6
58,913*
408*
235
87.3
261
93
9
59,006*
13*
6*
1*
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*alltime leader - [1]second alltime - [2]1998 AFC divisional playoff game
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- 1 -
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Members of the vaunted quarterback class of 1983 who have won a Super Bowl. Dan Marino was the first to get to the NFL title game, after the 1984 season. Nine years later, Jim Kelly became the first QB to start four straight Super Bowls. But with two championship rings, Elway will likely be the only one to have taken home football's top prize.
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