John Elway

In NFL circles, Marvin Demoff is the power broker you never see and only occasionally hear about, often after the fact, like some sort of twister that levels the local trailer park.Oh, you mean he was the attorney who backed Bob Irsay into a dark corner in 1983 and forced the Baltimore Colts' infamous trade of No. 1 draft pick John Elway to the Denver Broncos?Yes, he is that attorney -- a man so esteemed in those NFL circles he sometimes is referred to as the "Monsignor"; a man so trustworthy it is said he is a confidant of Al Davis, the inscrutable owner of the Oakland Raiders; a man so powerful he is the contractual voice for Dan Marino and Jeff Hostetler, Rick Mirer and Jim Everett, Rod Woodson and Leslie O'Neal, to name a few of the league's elite.

Baltimore Sun reporters, columnists and editors analyze the Denver Broncos' reported acquisition of former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. Jeff Zrebiec (Ravens/NFL reporter): The Denver Broncos got Peyton Manning's first visit and they seemed to be the most logical landing spot for the quarterback all along. They have a young group of wide receivers, a strong defense and one of the better quarterbacks in NFL history as a top executive. Is there any doubt that the Broncos' visit to Baltimore will be a prime-time game?

Terrell Davis sees the Denver Broncos as a much smarter team this time around. He sees the Broncos savoring their postseason run with too much urgency to experience a letdown like the one Davis thought caused their shocking demise in last season's wild-card round."

TAMPA, FLA. - Two former Ravens are experiencing different levels of emotions leading up to today's announcement of the Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees. While Rod Woodson is considered a lock to make the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, Shannon Sharpe is not. No ex-Raven has made the Hall. After a career that included eight Pro Bowls and three Super Bowl titles, Sharpe hasn't been this worried about getting cut since he was a rookie seventh-round draft pick out of Savannah State.

His name is being removed from AutoNation's Denver-area car dealerships, but John Elway's image will remain fresh in the minds of Broncos fans as long as the franchise continues playing lemons at quarterback. Denver hasn't cemented an adequate replacement since Elway ended his Hall of Fame career after the 1998 season. The Broncos haven't gone to a Super Bowl since Elway guided the team to consecutive championships in his final two seasons before retiring in 1999. Not that the Broncos haven't aggressively tried addressing the matter.

John Elway and Ernie Accorsi are inextricably linked in NFL history because of what happened 21 years ago - the draft pick so stubbornly fought, the trade so capriciously made, the repercussions that lasted for so many years. Elway was the Stanford quarterback who wanted no part of the Baltimore Colts in 1983. Accorsi was the Colts' general manager who took him anyway with the first overall pick in the college draft. When Colts owner Bob Irsay surreptitiously traded Elway to the Denver Broncos a week after the draft, it set in motion a series of events that would ultimately haunt two cities - Baltimore and Cleveland.

Booed, embarrassed and besieged, Jim Kelly was well past denial, running smack up against resignation, when he faced a large media contingent Sunday in the bowels of Buffalo's Rich Stadium.What the Buffalo Bills quarterback said shocked reporters more than the intentional grounding penalty he drew on the goal line in the game's final minutes, or the interception he threw shortly after that.What Kelly said was, if he doesn't get the job done, he should be replaced by Todd Collins."I'm man enough to realize if you can't get it done, no matter what the position, it's time to move on to something else," he said.

MIAMI -- The national media finally are giving John Elway a break.No more beating up the Denver Broncos' quarterback over his tepid Super Bowl performances. No more questions about a Hall of Fame career that rings hollow for want of a Super Bowl ring.Heck, yesterday no one even bothered to quiz Elway about The Feud, so easily has he dismissed his stormy relationship with former Broncos coach Dan Reeves.This is the difference a year makes. It is the difference a Super Bowl championship makes.

Two nights in August will reverberate long and loud through the NFL's 78th season. Two nights when three playoff contenders quivered and nearly fell. Two nights when three quarterbacks faced potentially devastating injuries and came away with a best-case scenario each time.On two separate nights six days apart, John Elway ruptured a biceps tendon in his throwing arm, Kerry Collins shattered his jaw in a helmet-to-helmet collision, and Mark Brunell suffered damage to three knee ligaments when a defensive player rolled into his right leg.It wasn't just the Denver Broncos, Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars, respectively, who held their collective breath that week.

BasketballL 76ers: Signed F-C Adrian Caldwell to second 10-day contract.Raptors: Signed F Reggie Slater to 10-day contract.CollegesTexas A&M: Freshman G Steve Houston has been ruled academically ineligible.FootballNFL: Announced QBs Mark Brunell of Jaguars and Gus Frerotte of Redskins will be Pro Bowl replacements for Broncos' John Elway (shoulder) and Cowboys' Troy Aikman (elbow).HockeyCanadiens: Recalled F Eric Houde from AHL Fredericton.Coyotes: Placed D Brad McCrimmon on IR.Pub Date: 1/26/97

Tomorrow's draft will mark the 25th anniversary of what, in my opinion, was the greatest NFL draft of all time - except in a few places, notably in Baltimore. Many football fans recall the 1983 first round as the The Great Quarterback Draft - the one that produced John Elway, Dan Marino and Jim Kelly, Hall of Famers all. Three other quarterbacks were selected in that first round - Ken O'Brien, Todd Blackledge and Tony Eason - and even among that lesser group, O'Brien was a Pro Bowl selection and Eason took a team to the Super Bowl.

In some cases, they were simply bad players. In others, they were bad people. And some of them just had bad, bad luck. But whatever the reason, here is a team-by-team rundown of each NFL franchise's all-time worst first-round draft pick. Arizona: Steve Little, K, 1978 (No. 15). A rare first-rounder as a punter and kicker, Little hit just 40 percent of his field-goal tries. Shortly after he was cut by the then-St. Louis Cardinals, he was in a car accident that left him paralyzed. He died in 1999.

In the coming-of-age story of Eli Manning, the New York Giants quarterback who has led his team to the Super Bowl, there is a great measure of vindication for a football guy with strong ties to Baltimore and someone a lot of us in the sportswriting business have always rooted for. Ernie Accorsi, the former general manager of the Giants, who spent more than a decade with the Baltimore Colts, was the man who engineered the draft-day trade in 2004 that...

NEW YORK -- Is Boomer Esiason, ex-quarterback and veteran NFL commentator, a fan of any football team? That's what his radio partner, Craig Carton, wants to know as they debate the psychology of New York Jets supporters. Sure, Esiason says. He loves one team truly and purely: his alma mater, the University of Maryland. More than 20 years after he last started a game for a team based in Maryland, Esiason maintains strong ties to the state. Though he grew up in New York, he was a Baltimore Colts fan weaned on the feats of Bert Jones.

His name is being removed from AutoNation's Denver-area car dealerships, but John Elway's image will remain fresh in the minds of Broncos fans as long as the franchise continues playing lemons at quarterback. Denver hasn't cemented an adequate replacement since Elway ended his Hall of Fame career after the 1998 season. The Broncos haven't gone to a Super Bowl since Elway guided the team to consecutive championships in his final two seasons before retiring in 1999. Not that the Broncos haven't aggressively tried addressing the matter.

When the Ravens signed Gary Stills as an unrestricted free agent in March, the eighth-year linebacker talked with coach Brian Billick, defensive coordinator Rex Ryan and special teams coordinator Frank Gansz Jr. But there was one person Stills eagerly sought out: fellow linebacker Terrell Suggs. Falcons@Ravens Sunday, 1 p.m., Ch. 45, 1090 AM, 97.9 FM Line: Ravens by 4 1/2 Prime numbers Jerseys pictured on PG 1D (from left to right): John Elway (7), Dan Marino (13), Joe Montana (16), Johnny Unitas (19)

SAN DIEGO -- He is the last golden boy. That's why all of the sentiment is with John Elway. That's why America roots for him in Super Bowl XXXII tonight.There aren't many like him left in sports, or even the real world, for that matter. This is an age when even the president leads a tabloid existence. An age in which athletes spit, make their own laws and generally act like punks.Elway is different.Elway is a throwback to a simpler time.Elway is the football version of Cal Ripken.America loves him because he always plays hard.

DENVER -- Instead of getting better, as hoped, John Elway's shoulder is getting worse -- as feared. So bad, in fact, that the Denver Broncos quarterback said yesterday that he may not play tomorrow against the New England Patriots.Elway was scheduled to undergo a Magnetic Resonance Imaging examination today, and if the test shows any damage, he may be held out of the game at Mile High Stadium. And, even if he plays, sitting out an entire week is still a possibility if the pain does not subside.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- On a historic campus where the most recognizable symbol is known as Touchdown Jesus, in a storied college football program where facts are often obscured by myths, Jeff Samardzija and Tom Zbikowski became best friends, roommates and, eventually, two of Notre Dame's biggest stars. They were, and are, decidedly different. Samardzija grew up in nearby Valparaiso, but his long locks and laid-back persona make him seem more suitable for California's Venice Beach. Zbikowski came from the suburbs outside Chicago, but his demeanor is strictly blue-collar.

For many people, being chased by relentless pursuers with no hope of escape is a recurring nightmare. For Houston Texans quarterback David Carr, it's a recurring reality. Carr, sacked 50 times already this season, has been chased around on football Sundays for much of his four-year career. As the 1-10 Texans prepare to face the Ravens on Sunday, the No. 1 pick in the 2002 draft by the expansion Houston franchise already holds the single-season record for sacks taken, 76 in his rookie year.