A Denver area legend retired yesterday. Joe Sakic, one of the three Hall of Fame players that was part of the Avalanche’s glory days of the mid 90s. Patrick Roy, Peter Forsberg and Sakic were the core of a team that dominated the NHL for about a dozen years. Of course, the Avs have only been in Colorado since 1995. The baseball team in town, the Rockies, have only been around since 1993, and I have a serious problem with basing a town’s history on Dante Bichette. The two teams that have been there for longer are the NBA franchise, the Nuggets, and the NFL squad, the Broncos. Before Carmelo Anthony came to town, the best player in Nuggets history might have been Robert Pack.
This means, of course, that we have to turn our attention to the Broncos. Their history centers around one player in particular, the starting quarterback for 15 years and winner of Denvers two non Cup championships, John Elway. Ever since his departure, every Bronco QB since has been held up to Elway’s standard, and frankly, have not measured up. That doesn’t mean there isn’t undue pressure.
Elway, of course, had an incredible career, third all time in yards and 5th in touchdown passes. More notably, he took the Broncos to 5 Super Bowls. Of course, he lost in his first threee attempts, but managed to win a pair in the mid to late 90s. In a city that has a history of developing superstars (Elway, Sakic, Anthony, for example), Elway’s surely shines the brightest.
Perhaps the greatest effect Elway left on the franchise is that every quarterback since has been held to his standard, and every QB previously has essentially been forgotten. Quick, everyone outside the city of Denver, name the first quarterback to take the Broncos to the Super Bowl.
I’m going to guess you had to look it up. Not many people remember Craig Morton. What people do remember is what failures, comparitively, all the quarterbacks since have been miserable failures. Brian Griese, Jake Plummer, Jay Cutler. It didn’t help that these QBs aren’t blessed with the highest mental fortitude, because the pressure they felt was incredible.
There aren’t many positions that receive the attention based on one person, but Denver and John Elway have certainly earned this acclaim.
Honorable Mention
Colorado Avalanche Captain: Joe Sakic will undoubtedly leave some big skates to feed.
Colorado Rockies First Baseman: The first player added to the Rockies was Andres Gallaraga. Since, the Rockies have only had one regular 1b, prennial all-star Todd Helton
Broncos Running Back: How much of this position is due to the scheme, and how much is due to the talent of the running backs?
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