cover image Elway: A Relentless Life

Elway: A Relentless Life

Jason Cole. Hachette, $28 (368p) ISBN 978-0-316-45577-0

Sportswriter Cole (Giant, coauthored with Plaxico Burress) delivers an in-depth, entertaining biography of one of football’s greatest quarterbacks, John Elway. Cole painstakingly details Elway’s life, beginning with his Port Angeles, Wash., childhood and his move to Los Angeles when his father became head football coach of Cal State–Northridge. In high school, Elway excelled at both football and baseball, and competed against Darryl Strawberry in the 1979 Los Angeles baseball championship. But it was football that took Elway to Stanford in 1979. Cole details Elway’s college career, including his reaction to “The Play” at Stanford—one of Elway’s best drives that nevertheless resulted in a loss and, according to Elway, “ruined my last game as a college football player.” The Denver Broncos picked him at number one in the 1983 draft, and he went on to play his entire 16-year career there, taking the team to Superbowl victories in the 1997 and 1998 seasons. After his retirement in 1999, he became co-owner of the Colorado Rush arena football team and returned to the Broncos in 2011 to become general manager. Cole smoothly takes readers from on-field action to back-office decision-making as Elway drafted University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, with mixed results, before signing veteran Peyton Manning. Cole shows Elway’s nervousness during his job interview for the general manager position, as well as the Super Bowl triumph that came after Manning was signed. This is a must-read for Elway and Broncos fans. (Sept.)