The Nfl

Favre: "You've got to do what you want to do. But you're fun to watch. You've still got it in you."

"Troy and I both told him to play," Favre says. "We've all won Super Bowls. We know what it's like the year after to go through it again, trying to repeat. It's a bitch. I don't know what John's going to do. But I honestly think he's scared that if he quits, he might want to come back in a year. He's worried about leaving now and saying later, 'Damn, I had another year in me.' "

Money is not the issue. Since entering the league in 1983, Elway has made more than $100 million from football and outside business interests. He's due to make $6.25 million if he plays this season, but how many more trust funds for unborn grandchildren does one man need?

No, this is about what Elway wants to do with the rest of his life. Playing football is his only passion. At most, he is mildly curious about a career in broadcasting. He's made a fortune outside of football. He and a partner sold their string of Colorado car dealerships for about $82.5 million in stock last year.

What leads us to believe he will play? A few things: 1) He's a team guy, and he knows his retirement would be a double whammy for the Broncos; Pro Bowl left tackle Gary Zimmerman has told the team that if Elway retires, he will do the same. 2) Although Denver owner Pat Bowlen is not pressuring him to play, Elway could help sustain the momentum for Bowlen's stadium initiative, which could appear on a November ballot. 3) He's working out four days a week at the Broncos' complex.

Janet and tire couple's four kids want him to play, but they've also told John, Do what you want.

Easier said than done.

Ovitz's Mission
Let's Make a Deal in L.A.

NFL owners love the vision of former Hollywood superagent Michael Ovitz, who badly wants to own a team in Los Angeles. Last month Ovitz wowed league officials and influential owners with his stadium plan. Modeled after Carolina's Ericsson Stadium, the facility would be designed with features befitting a Southern California mission, all the way down to the bells that would sit atop the structure and toll each time the home team scored. The proposed stadium site, in the southern industrial suburb of Carson, sits hard by the 10-lane San Diego Freeway. One small problem: The structure would be built on or next to a hazardous waste dump.

Nevertheless, the NFL would rather have its 32nd franchise—Ovitz is pushing for an expansion team to begin play in 2002—at this site and in the hands of Ovitz's deep-pocketed investment group than in downtown L.A. and in the hands of civic leaders, which is one of several other alternatives.