With the draft now right around the corner, I thought it might be fun to revisit some of the greatest draft moments in Denver Broncos history.
Where else would one start besides the acquisition of John Elway. I know, I know, he was acquired by trade, but that’s just the end of the story, not the beginning.
The beginning came in San Diego on Sunday, November 28, 1982, while John was still a senior at Stanford. We were staying at the Town and Country Hotel in San Diego for a game against the Chargers, and Broncos owner Edgar Kaiser and general manager Hein Poulus called me into Mr. Kaiser’s suite. I didn’t know the topic, but left very excited.
He wanted to know the public relations value of acquiring John Elway. I said that it would be huge, but that we could never get Elway (boy, was I naïve) because he would be the first pick in the draft, which Baltimore would surely have. Mr. Kaiser informed me that anything can be done, anything could be purchased, any trade could be made, if you were committed to making it happen. Naturally, we all quickly agreed that Elway’s value was beyond enormous in every way possible.
Fast forward to the days before the draft, when every team in the NFL (seemingly) was making a pitch to either Colts’ general manager Ernie Accorsi or to head coach Frank Kush, or to both. But they Colts did not budge in their desire not to trade Elway.
But nobody was calling Bob Irsay, owner of the Colts. It turned out that he was going to call that shot-perhaps that is not the way it should have been, perhaps his GM or coach, or combination of the two, should have had total control of making the best deal for the Colts, but the reality is that as time went by, Bob Irsay was taking a greater and greater interest in making that decision.
Draft day came, and the Colts took Elway, to some degree of laughter and derision, for John had been very clear in his unwillingness to play there. Of course, he had been drafted by and signed with the Yankees, and he certainly was perceived to have a future in baseball (not like in football, but still he was regarded as a fine big league prospect).
Edgar Kaiser made his first call to Bob Irsay, and the first very, very general conversations were had-like a mating date in one of those animal kingdom nature films.
I was in the room when Mr. Kaiser announced to his coaches that he was working on a trade for Elway. Then he left the room and many of the coaches chuckled at him for what they knew about football and what he didn’t. I was a young PR guy then, but I did not feel it was right to chuckle at the owner, in front of or behind his back.
It turned out that they know more about football, but he knew more about business.
A couple of hours later I had cause to mention to Mr. Kaiser that Elway’s name had been mentioned by a staff member in the food room among the press (amazingly, no press member followed up, probably thinking it ridiculous), and the owner then took me into his confidence.
I’ll never forget it. He said, “Jim, we are moving on John Elway. We are halfway there, and we have halfway to go. I’ll let you know when we are there.” He left, and I did not chuckle. I knew serious when it stared me in the eyes.
So the draft continued, and ended, and when I discarded all the prepared biographies of all the players we did NOT take, I hung onto one. That Elway bio was going to take somebody a long time to write and type (no laptops in 1983, folks), and so I took the five page, single spaced legal page bio and placed it in my desk drawer.
Speculation continued like crazy for a week in the press about who would trade for Elway, and everybody in the NFL kept calling Accorsi and Kush.
But only one man kept calling Bob Irsay.
The deal was made one week later and Edgar Kaiser called Dan Reeves on the golf course, and in that phone call the owner told the coach that the deal was not a maybe, but was absolutely completed pending two factors, the approval of Dan Reeves, which came about as quickly as Dan could open his mouth to respond, and the actual signing of John Elway.
The deal was, Elway and his agent Marvin Demoff would fly into Denver that night by private plane and Bronco officials would meet them on the plane. If they could agree on a contract, the trade would be completed. If they could not agree on a contract, the officials would leave the plane, the plane would take off, and there would be no trade.
I was informed late morning that it was done, and of the confidence the team had in reaching a deal. I reached into my desk drawer, pulled out my already complete press release (the GM asked me how long it would take me to put one together, and I informed him that after my initial conversation with the owner, I saved everything from a week earlier, and could be ready in seconds-not a bad moment for me, by the way, personally or professionally).
I sat at my desk and waited when the workday ended.
The call came about 8:30 that the deal was done, and we called the press and told them there would be a 10:30 pm press conference at Broncos headquarters.
It was arguably one of the most significant press conferences in the history of not just the Denver Broncos, but for the entire state of Colorado.
And John Elway was a Bronco.
Tags: Bob Irsay, Broncos History, Dan Reeves, Edgar Kaiser, Ernie Accorsi, Frank Kush, Hein Poulus, John Elway
TRB, way back I saw your pic on the broncosarebest.blogspot.com, you are just like Marshall, but with bigger hair, right?
@ 1nOnlyTRB,
My father taught me a valuable lesson as a child. He taught me that me that we unfortunately have to make decisions with our heads instead of our hearts. There’s no denying that Brandon Marshall’s a talent, but given his track record, would be willing to pay him close to $50 million with more than half of it being guaranteed? Marshall is one infraction away from being in serious hot water with the NFL. If Marshall proves me wrong, I will be the first to admit it. I just don’t think a guy with his past coupled with the fact that he is now so close to home coupled with the distractions and drama that is South Beach is a good mix. Sometimes tough decisions must be made, and in the long-term, I think the one the Broncos’ organization made regarding Marshall will be the right one. This is not to say, that in the short-term, there won’t be definite drawbacks to losing Marshall, for which there will be. Should be a fascinating storyline to watch unfold.
TRB, I hear ya bro..
I’m afraid that Marsh would have been traded by Shanny, McD or any other coach that would have been here because Marshall wanted out and declined a fair offer to stay.. He refused to come back to Denver for many reasons that were not McD.
You shouldn’t be mad at the coach bud. We made a 9.5 mil a year offer that he walked away from. There will be another Bronco Beast for you to enjoy…
OK. I can respect that then.
I guessed we would get a 5th for scheff. so not really surprised. He really hasn’t made an impact lately… im just glad we didn’t trade him for the team washing machine or something.
okay bay now I was born during woodstock year so I can’t share that memory but I do reacall Sha-naa-naa the Eighties network program… haha, I think it was the same guys though…
Reading the back and forth on here is comical.
Especially because most of it is rehashing old crap that we have gone over already. Who will be the next guy to evoke all this again after the Sheffler dust settles. Better yet, what player does McDaniels need to get on the team for everyone to get on board and row instead of just being an anchor? Brian Dawkins, Jamal Williams, Jarvis Green, Brady Quinn? Whatever. Go McDaniels go Broncos!!! Let’s get Champ and Dawkins a ring this year!
florio, nice one!
But we could probably use an extra wash machine; we have a bunch of leftover pro-bowl jerseys to wash.
You don’t need a washing machine when you don’t have any Dirty Laundry….
ILMSDB!!!
Broncos receive: 5th round draft pick (137th overall) from Eagles
Eagles receive: Ernie Sims LB from Lions
Lions receive: Tony Scheffler, 7th round draft pick (220th overall) from Broncos
Right on OC!!!!
Perfect example of a blogger who doesn’t read ANYTHING when he posts, LMAO…
Baylin,
Isnt ignorance bliss.
tscheff88, I wasn’t making fun of you, it was just too good to pass up since we are like on the third page of this blog discussing just that.
http://www.nfl.com/draft/story?id=09000d5d81797125&template=with-video-with-comments&confirm=true
damn everyone here seems to hate mcdaniels… he was a rookie head coach last year.. he wnt 8-8 what did you expect?? like i have been saying no worse no better than shanahan give the guy a chance before you runhim out. the cutler trade well he threw what 30 ints last year huh most qbs dont throw that many tds seriuosly… yeah we had a train wreck after the by but we had injuries our d couldnt stop the run and we got predictable. now i am not gonna say i agree with everything he does but he had a year of being 8-8 we ended 2 years ago 8-8 and the year before either 8-8 or 9-7 but either way still no playoffs.
before you run this guy out of town give him a chance!! He does have some rings does he not??
No Bill Bellichek has rings
so I guess when the Broncos won their Super Bowls, the only coach who earned his ring was Shanny
Kubiak, Dennison, Taylor and the other coaches must of just road on Shanny’s coattails.
@ NastyNate
Amen. I concur.
lol Baylin,
wish I was a beast like Marshall but im 6’1, 170 so he got a about 60 pounds on me lol. He would run me over…if he can catch me lol. But im working on the size thing lol. And the big hair you saw was fake hair. I went to a school whose colors were…YUP you guessed it Blue and Orange. So That was a blue out of control wig on my head that I wore to the games lol. But yup, love the WR position.
OC
I hear ya. I’ll just try my best to go with the flow lol
I tried to read as much of the blog as I could today but I just don’t understand the trade. Detroit drafted Brandon Pettigrew last season in the 1st round so they didn’t need a receiving tight end. I can’t believe all we were able to swing for Scheff was a 5th and STILL giving up a 7th.
I agree with whoever said we would have been better off trading for Ernie Sims straight up. Doom was able to figure out his role in the 3-4 in 1 offseason, I don’t see why Sims couldn’t as well. Especially in an uncapped year in which we just unloaded an expensive player (BMARSH) I felt we could have afforded to take in Sims and then focus our draft on the Oline and not another linebacker.
Something I keep thinking about is if Joe Haden is available for us at 11… does anyone think picking him up is still in the cards? Goodman and Bailey are aging and having Fonzie and Haden being groomed behind those two seems ideal. The number 11 spot is too high for Pouncey and McClain in my opinion and drafting soley on need instead of value seems to not turn out well for most teams.
So this trade doesnt make any sense to me……I understand that Scheffler was gonna be traded and I am not really upset about him not being a Bronco anymore, BUT, what I don’t get is why in the world did we give up Scheffler AND a 7th round pick for just a 5th round pick???????? We might as well have traded him for a 6 pack of Coors!!!! It just blows my mind.
Derrick
I think Broncosforlife88′s point is that, the team has rings. And that Belicheck was the head coach, so belicheck has rings (at that position) . We are tlaking about McD in his now position of Head Coach, not QB coach or offensive coordinator . If he was a offensive coordinator for us, then we could say…yes he has rings (at that position)….Thats my logic at least. A head is only as good as his supporting cast but the ehad still runs the show…McD hasnt won a ring while runnign the show. Thats like saying the back up QB to the Saints has superbowl rings…he didnt run the show lol
TRB….I too am still upset about the Marshall trade, He is also my favorite player. I had really hoped he would be a lifer in the orange and blue.
Henne drops back, looks left, pump fakes, looks right, has Marshall down field, he puts it up, Marshall leaps…OHHH what a catch, he breaks a tackle, spins left, AND HES OFF TO THE RACES, THE 40, THE 30, THE 20 THE 10, 5 , AND TOUCHDOWN BRANDON MARSHALL!!!!!! Man what a play, did you see that???? Dolphins touchdown Henne to Marshall…….
Meanwhile
Orton drops back, has Gaffney open, puts it up, and Gaffney catches it but is short of the 1st down and the Broncos are sending in their punting unit AGAIN!!!!! (cuz we have no play maker on Offense anymore)…..
I really, really, really, hope it doesnt turn out like this, but I just have a really bad feeling about it…….Hope I’m wrong.
MarshMelo, How about this scenario…
In the 2010 playoffs, Quinn drops back to pass and sees that Gaffney is covered.. Quinn looks right and sees Royal streaking down the sideline, Quinn lays the 50 yard lazer bullet bomb right onto #19 in full stride and Royal scores to win the game….. Yea!!!
Meanwhile, back in Miami,
The Dolphins await the NFL comissioners decision on how long he will suspend Marshall for going to a gang fight and slipping on a wienersnitzel bag and accidentally punching his wife in the mouth on a day when he was supposed to show up for rehab after he tweaked his hammy dropkicking footballs during scrimmage because he was mad about not getting to practice in his pajamas… kddn
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OC- Hilarious!
Except for the fact that Royal is a bust in Mcds sysetem so far…..
OC that is awesome. LMAO.
The only thing missing was Marc Mariani. It may seem like I’m beating a dead horse, but check the kid out, he’s pretty good. Our Montana boys don’t usually get much love come draft time, but when they do, watch out. Dan Carpenter and Lex Hilliard both play for the Dolphins. Carpenter made the Pro Bowl as a K. Hilliard hasn’t gotten to play much, but when Ricky Williams was hurt Lex broke some pretty impressive runs. He’s kinda like Peyton Hillis. Kroy Biermann came out of Montana the same year, and he’s a starting DE for the Falcons. We’ve had a couple of successful OL in the NFL. And the TE who just retired from the Lions was from Montana, too. There is a OG named Levi Horn in this year’s draft from Montana who’s ranked as one of the higher kids at his position. And a OLB Dane Fletcher from Montana State who’s predicted to go in the upper rounds.
MarshMelo15. you are correct. That needs to be addressed and I believe it will. McD’s former team has made pretty good use of smaller/quick recievers and from what McD has said, getting Royal more touches is a top priority.
Coach McD has just about wiped the slate clean with the 2006 draft class.
Jay Cutler 1st rd (Bears)
Tony Scheffler 2nd rd (Lions)
Brandon Marshall 4th rd (Dolphins)
Elvis Dumervil 4th rd
Dominik Hixon 4th rd (Giants)
Chris Kuper 5th rd
Greg Eslinger – out of NFL
Sounds like Scheffler is glad to be back in Michigan. At least he traded all three (Cutler, B-Marsh, Scheff), to their childhood favorite teams… lol
Who is snapping the ball to Quinn and Orton in those scenarios???
BTW, OC, in McD’s system, nobody streaks down the sidelines…unless you were talking 6-9 yards down from the line of scrimmage!
In Shannahans 14 year tenure in Denver, he had a four game losing streak once. McD, twice in his first year. Plus we have still yet to win a mutha(bleeping) home division game…
I do agree with you Bay about upchurch and his size,but I still think he is a good special teams player and be a decent back up.as for tony I hope he has a great career else ware.
We’re 7-9 8-8 8-8 with shanny and McD over tha last three years…
We need to change something don’t ya think?…. Or is it’s totally okay to be 8-8 as long as we don’t lose 4 in a row…. huh? what? fuzzy logic….
Shanahan is a Skin now and he is available to root for if one would chose to do so..? Burgandy and Gold…mmmmm, sounds good..
I’ll stay Orange and Blue with my little firey McBuddy… The McDeterminator…
If I were in a rumble I would want Josh with me because I know he isn’t afraid to bark loud and fight even harder…. What can I say, I like the guy.. I have never seen a coach for the Broncos that wanted to win more than Josh.. He is a winner and Mr. B is a righteous owner that will give him every chance to do so for the next few years, might as well get used to it.
You’re right baylinor, we pretty much dumped Scheffler to move up two rounds and in addition give up that 7th rd pick. Obviously the staff has their homework done will be targeting a few players who should be available with the 137th pick.
Many of you wanna keep talking about what Shanny did, what Bellicheck did. Someone even menytioned Dungy. But if all of you remember correctly, none of those coaches were effective in their first few years. All of them got fired but turned into pretty good coaches. Matter of fact, they all ended up winning Super Bowls. Im sure many Raider, Jets and TB fans, now, wish they still had those guys as their coach because of the success they eventually had even though Im sure those same fans were yelling for there dismissal when they had those guys. A new coach always brings about change and we may not all agree with all of the changes but until we see the results of those changes, I just think its premature to call him a failure
We traded one player and one slot in the 7th for a 5th rd pick.
I ain’t been reading the blog in a few,but seems like we just got screwed out of Sheff,everybody wanted a 3rd,so we got a 5th and still had to give up a 7th,for one of the best pass catching TE’s (when he gets playing time),seems dumb to me,trading a 3rd and a 7th for a 5th.Just one man’s opinion that don’t mean a Helluva lot.
One more hole to fill a passcatching TE….
sndvl…I heard that.
Since McD’s system doesnt utilize a pass catching TE, I guess that wont be high on high list of draft needs
Hey Blumdumb,
What two draft picks are we talking about? Or are you talking out of your neck?
The more I know the less I understand.
funny stories OC.,.ahah,
ok,I’m confused,, some of you said we gave up a third(in Scheff) along with a 7th for a 5th, roughly?,,i thought the 3rd was voided aftr Scheff signed the tender, which meant only he was on the trading block..imo..
we’ve some pretty good places in the draft this year, I wont count out the 5th we got, we got Marsh with a 4th.anything can happen.we might see more picks traded up or down….. we’re prettty set in most positions, better off than most teams…i especially like our young DB core…
I’m talking about the the draft pick we should have gotten for sheffler and the 7th round pick
maybe we can trade our 1st and 2 2nd round picks for a 3rd and a 4th
IMO Marshall didn’t want out of Denver…he wanted a bigger contract which he arguably deserved.
I just heard about the Scheffler Trade?? What the heck did we get for him. We gave away a 7th rnd and Scheff for a 5th rnd pick?? Is that correct? If so what the heck is that??
WHAAAAAAAAAAT??????????????????
You guys are making me dizzy, and I haven’t had a drink yet. You all need to cruise the internet highway for a while and get enlightened about what exactly the trade was before commenting. And if you don’t want to use the web, just read my posts, everything I said about the trade is exactly how it went down.
blum,
Oky here’s the idea. NO TEAM WAS WILLING TO GIVE A 3rd PICK FOR SCHEFFLER…. wooah.. Okay. now…
No team was willing to give a 4th for Scheffler…ahhh, now your starting to understand.
The tender is meant to allow teams to overcompensate for a players value if another team was to pursue them during the RFA period. Therfore, the team put higher value than the players are really worth to deter any team from easily snatching them up on the open market without the Broncos having much leverage in the compensation….. Then, once the RFA period is over and the player signs the tender, the Broncos can make any deal it want’s, wich I am certain that McX got as much value as they possibly could for Scheffler.. Don’t tell me that they took a 5th when some team was offering a 3rd!!! Haha, don’t insult our inteligence blumdumb…
In other words, Scheffler was never a guaranteed trade for a 3rd round pick.. not even close….