NFL Week 7: John Elway's not horsing around

Don't go there.



Hey, John, why the long face?

 

One story about Elway that I do have has to do with the Arizona State play by play guy way back in 1993.

Tom, I think that is what his name is, and I were in a long car ride together and I asked him what was the best play he has ever seen in person since he did Devils games for so long.

He thought for a moment and then said, almost awkwardly because if you don't grasp math very well the story falls a little flat, that he saw Elway make a throw that he doesn't think anyone else could have made.

This was obviously against ASU in the early 1980s, and Elway rolled right on a scramble. There was a receiver going deep on the left side of the field, but since the play went right, it seemed like the receiver was out of the play. The ASU safety who was covering the deep receiver just sort of stopped running when he felt that there was no way the ball could get to the receiver.

Tom said the receiver was a good 50 yards up the field and probably a good 50 yards across the field as well from Elway. So if you do the math on this throw, it's about 70 yards in the air just to where the defender is standing.

Well Elway stops, plants and lets it rip.

He threw the ball so far in the air that the defender could not even make a play on the ball. That's how far the ball went over his head. The Stanford receiver went in untouched.

He said he never saw anyone ever throw a ball that far in the air.

 

Re: Grossman versus Beck.

It's a ball security move as much as anything. The Skins are banged the hell up on the offensive line and Grossman is about as mobile as I am after 12 Bud heavys and a plate of chicken wings. Beck can elude the pass rush a little better and get the Redskins small chunks of yards. Rex is a better thrower, but he fumbles way too much and takes far too many chances. He was lucky he didn't have six passes picked in that game last week. Throws deep into double/triple coverage waaaaay too much. Beck's athleticism is the key component in this move.

 

Hell, Elway parlayed the Colorado love into car dealerships that brought him over $100 million. He retired 12 years ago and the love is still there. I'll bet Brett Favre would be envious of that...

During my limited dealings with him, he's a great guy, and I definitely did not want to like him after growing up as a Cal and Raiders fan and booing the shit out of him.

 

Grossman has already won more games this season than Beck ever will. Go with the guy who at least can win a game for you.

 

Grossman singlehandedly lost that game last week. Every time the Skins got any momentum, he killed it with a boneheaded fucking pick.

He's lucky he didn't singlehandedly lose that game to the bloody awful Rams. He sure as hell tried.

I'm not saying Beck is a savior. But he at least won't give games away.

 

I just remember covering a Broncos game late in Elway's career and he was running toward the sideline looking like he was trying to get out of bounds and then he stopped and threw the ball across his body to the opposite sideline where he hit Rod Smith with a pass that looked like it had been thrown from a QB on a 5-step drop.

Favre might have been able to do that in his prime, but not late in his career and those two are the only QBs of my lifetime that could have thrown a pass like that and make it look easy.

 

Watch old film of Bradshaw.

Didn't Vince Evans have some amazing arm strength as well?

 

He won those games on his own?

 

Die hard fans would go and buy a car, to say they bought a car at John Elway (insert brand name here), and the John Elway magnet on the back.

 

Jesus Christ. Does Pro Football database list won/loss records of linebackers and running backs?

Ok, the Redskins have won more games with Grossman over center already this season than they ever will with Beck over center.

 

"Over" center? And your inability to see nuance beyond a QBs W/L record and Super Bowl wins is ridiculous. DD laid out for you in a well-reasoned post why your thinking, re: Eli v. Rivers, is folly and yet you still continue to beat the same drum. It's too bad Rivers stayed at NC State all four years or you could throw that in there as well to make your arguments even crazier.