Mark Knudson

We’ve all known that kid who’ll spend hours building something with blocks until it becomes an eye-catching structure. Then he’ll suddenly knock it all down right in front of us, and calmly start over.

I don’t know John Elway well, but I’m beginning to think John may have been that kid.

There’s no question Elway likes to build. Among the great architects in NFL history, only Elway and Ozzie Newsome of the Cleveland/Baltimore franchise has demonstrated hall-of-fame ability on the field and in the front office.

Elway’s playing career ended just as the NFL was ushering in the salary cap era. Little did we know that the former Stanford economics major would take such an intense interest in building (and now rebuilding) a football organization, salary-capped roster and all, from the ground up.

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When Elway took the gig as the Broncos' vice president, no one knew what kind of executive he’d be. The vast majority of great players turn out to be lousy front-office types. But Elway was and remains different. He’s a roll-up-your-sleeves guy. Upon arrival, he swiftly put an end to TebowMania because he knew it wasn’t going to sustain. Instead, he ushered in the Peyton Manning era with the greatest free-agent signing in NFL history. Later, he fired a coach who had won four division titles in a row and an AFC Championship. Nothing was good enough until the structure truly became super — eye-catching and worthy of praise.

Then, a short time later, he knocked it down.

Or at least that how it appears to most of us, the typical fan of Elway’s Broncos. Because right now, those orange and blue building blocks are scattered all over the table, and a good number of new ones have been introduced. The reconstruction has begun.





When he signed him, Elway knew, as we all did, that Manning wasn’t going to be Denver’s quarterback for the long term. Once the team reached the top of the mountain, Manning smartly decided to step away while on top. Elway must have also known that his friend and hand-selected head coach, Gary Kubiak, was also not in it for the long haul, given his health concerns. All that mattered was that they had built that magnificent structure together and reaped the praise.

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Elway’s rebuild had begun. He moved up in the draft to select a quarterback he believes can be that long-term answer. He let a full season play out while using some duct tape on the offense, but once that season ended, he helped Kubiak ride off into the sunset as a conquering hero. Then he allowed the best defensive coordinator in the organization’s proud history to leave for another job.



Allowing Wade Phillips to leave town was the biggest signal of all that Elway wants to build another new championship-caliber structure from the ground up. He hired a head coach with zero head coaching experience. He replaced the veteran defensive coordinator with a guy who’d been a defensive backs coach. Elway brought in an offensive coordinator with a history of being able to change on the fly, telling Broncos fans that next season’s offense will bear little, if any, resemblance to last season’s underperforming unit.



Make no mistake, the Denver Broncos are in rebuild mode.



Perhaps for Elway, it’s just as much about the process as it is the end result. He’s won Super Bowls as a player and as an executive. It’s time for a new challenge. After all, once the building blocks have created that coveted structure, what fun are they? He’s already rolled up his sleeves again.

For more from Mark Knudson, go to www.MarkKnudsonsInsidePitch.com.

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