Elway Will Return To Defend Title

May 31, 1998 / 6:11 PM EDT / CBS/AP

The lure of repeating as Super Bowl champion proved irresistible to John Elway.

"The bottom line is I wasn't ready to quit competing," the Denver Broncos quarterback said Monday in announcing he will return for his 16th NFL season. "I could not imagine sitting around and not doing anything while still being relatively young."

The decision by Elway, who turns 38 later this month, was welcomed by teammates and coaches, as well as by owner Pat Bowlen, whose campaign to build a new stadium figures to benefit from Elway's continued play.

At a press conference, Elway said he made his decision early last week after conferring with his wife, Janet, and father, Jack. He informed Bowlen and coach Mike Shanahan on Thursday night during festivities for his annual golf tournament.

"I realized I could not sit on the sideline and not compete," Elway said. "I think that was what finally got me over the hump.

"I've got a lot of years to live in retirement, and the last thing I want to do is pass up the opportunity to play one more year of football. That's all I've ever done, and that's going to be over soon enough.

"I just wanted to take one last year and really enjoy it. We've got a great football team, and it will be fun to be defending world champions. Everybody will be gunning for us, but I think we're good enough to handle that."

Conversations with former athletes also convinced Elway to return.

"I asked Johnny Bench about it because he walked out on top of his game," Elway said of the baseball star. "He had no regrets. He said he has never looked back. I thought if I walked away, I would have some doubts.

"And talking to (former Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim) Kelly, who has talked about coming back, you could tell he wasn't real happy in retirement."

Ever since Denver's 31-24 Super Bowl win over Green Bay on Jan. 25, Elway had agonized over whether to retire or return, and he vacillated daily. He initially told the Broncos he would make a decision before the April 18-19 draft, then before their mini-camp in May and, finally, in June.

"Why it was so hard and why it took me so long is because I really didn't know," he said. "I needed time. Last year was such a great year, I wanted to enjoy that and then start looking ahead.

"I tried to put myself in a retirement mode, and some of that was nice. But it just didn't feel right. My heart didn't tell me it was time to quit. I think when it's time to quit, you'll know."

He insisted the Broncos never pressured him into making his decision, although his wife and four children all urged him to keep playing.

He announced the decision on his daughter Jordan's 11th birthday. "Happy birthday, Jordan," he said, "I'm coming back for you."

The qurterback said he was "99.9 percent sure" he would play only one more season, then amended that to 100 percent when a reporter asked if that meant he was leaving the door open slightly for 1999.

In response to a question, Elway said Bowlen's effort to get taxpayer approval in November for a new stadium "doesn't have a lot of impact on me."

"I think Mr. Bowlen and the Broncos deserve a new stadium," he said. "I've said that all along. But that's not why I came back. I came back to play football, to win football games and defend our championship."

Elway, who underwent shoulder surgery in February, has several personal milestones within reach.

He needs 1,311 passing yards to join Dan Marino as the only NFL quarterbacks to reach 50,000. He also is 22 touchdowns from 300 and 87 completions from 4,000.

He has guided his team to more victories (138) than any other quarterback in NFL history. Famous for improbable late-game comebacks, he has rallied his team to 45 game-saving drives more than any quarterback.

"John Elway obviously is the most important player this franchise has ever had and probably will ever have," Bowlen said. "I've got to keep pinching myself because I've been waiting and hoping for this announcement for a long time."