VonDoom
02-01-2016, 10:55 AM
From today's MMQB, about Elway learning the ropes from his father. Lots of good stuff in here, including a Shanahan story:
“My first introduction to this life,” Elway said in Denver the other day, “came in 2001, when I sat in with my Dad, who was the Broncos’ pro personnel director, for a month of pre-draft meetings. Mike Shahanan let me sit in on the meetings. I had sold my car dealers to AutoNation, and I was looking to figure out what I might want to do. That month was a great bonding time for me and my dad, hours and hours of meetings, and a great learning experience for me. I remember this lesson from him: Teams are 80 percent players, and 20 percent coaches. He taught me how important athleticism was, and how important competitive drive was. In that draft, I’ll never forget—he loved Drew Brees. He had that competitive fire. And now look at him. That really was a great month for me.”
Recalled Shanahan: “Jack Elway was always excellent in those meetings. He really had a sense for players. And so for John, who was always around that life, and very close to his Dad, it was a perfect scenario if you want to grow up to be a GM.”
The meetings ended, and Jack Elway went home to Palm Springs, where he planned to retire after that 2001 draft. Then, on April 15, a week before the draft, Jack Elway died of a heart attack at his home. “I don’t know if it was meant to be,” John Elway said, “but I am so grateful I got to spend that time with my dad before he passed.”
Shanahan wanted to illustrate Elway’s feelings about winning. So he said he was going to tell a story he has never told before. In 1993, after Shanahan’s first year on the San Francisco coaching staff, Bowlen offered him the Denver head-coaching job. But they were $150,000 per year in salary and a company car apart from Shanahan’s bottom line, and Shanahan was holding firm. Elway found out. Elway said he’d pay him the $150,000 a year, and he’d provide the car Shanahan wanted. “You’re coming,” Elway said. Shanahan felt he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t have the quarterback paying part of his compensation. So Shanahan stayed in San Francisco. Wade Phillips coached the team for two years, then Bowlen got Shanahan to come, finally, in 1995.
“John didn’t talk to me for a year,” Shanahan said.
http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/02/01/nfl-super-bowl-50-john-elway-broncos-gm-father-jack-elway
“My first introduction to this life,” Elway said in Denver the other day, “came in 2001, when I sat in with my Dad, who was the Broncos’ pro personnel director, for a month of pre-draft meetings. Mike Shahanan let me sit in on the meetings. I had sold my car dealers to AutoNation, and I was looking to figure out what I might want to do. That month was a great bonding time for me and my dad, hours and hours of meetings, and a great learning experience for me. I remember this lesson from him: Teams are 80 percent players, and 20 percent coaches. He taught me how important athleticism was, and how important competitive drive was. In that draft, I’ll never forget—he loved Drew Brees. He had that competitive fire. And now look at him. That really was a great month for me.”
Recalled Shanahan: “Jack Elway was always excellent in those meetings. He really had a sense for players. And so for John, who was always around that life, and very close to his Dad, it was a perfect scenario if you want to grow up to be a GM.”
The meetings ended, and Jack Elway went home to Palm Springs, where he planned to retire after that 2001 draft. Then, on April 15, a week before the draft, Jack Elway died of a heart attack at his home. “I don’t know if it was meant to be,” John Elway said, “but I am so grateful I got to spend that time with my dad before he passed.”
Shanahan wanted to illustrate Elway’s feelings about winning. So he said he was going to tell a story he has never told before. In 1993, after Shanahan’s first year on the San Francisco coaching staff, Bowlen offered him the Denver head-coaching job. But they were $150,000 per year in salary and a company car apart from Shanahan’s bottom line, and Shanahan was holding firm. Elway found out. Elway said he’d pay him the $150,000 a year, and he’d provide the car Shanahan wanted. “You’re coming,” Elway said. Shanahan felt he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t have the quarterback paying part of his compensation. So Shanahan stayed in San Francisco. Wade Phillips coached the team for two years, then Bowlen got Shanahan to come, finally, in 1995.
“John didn’t talk to me for a year,” Shanahan said.
http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/02/01/nfl-super-bowl-50-john-elway-broncos-gm-father-jack-elway