Clayton: The end of the Elway era was woefully under reported

Lost in all of the news coming from Indianapolis during the Combine, where the Broncos search for a new quarterback got most of the attention, was a big story that got little attention. John Elway’s five-year contract ran out on Monday.

I don’t think this story got enough attention from the local media. Sure, he had a long stretch of not finding a quarterback. Sure, he got criticized for the Broncos missing the playoffs and some of his coaching hires.

But Elway deserves credit for getting the Broncos to the Super Bowl twice and winning it once. His ability to recruit Peyton Manning was critical. By getting Manning at quarterback, the Broncos were equipped to beat anyone in the league and they did.

Manning may have been an elite QB toward the end of a Hall of Fame career, but he was good enough to squeeze out wins and do well in the playoffs. He was able to win a Super Bowl game. That was huge for the Broncos.

Elway is no longer an employee of the Broncos, but he can be a consultant. He’s also going to be involved with an ownership group to see if he can buy the team.

He has been a major factor for this franchise. As a player, Elway turned the Broncos into one of the better franchises in the league. Look at all his successes since he was drafted in 1983. To get Manning and have two great runs at the Super Bowl was huge.

We’ll see how the ownership situation goes. But John Elway should have been more than just a transaction early this week.