WHY I REMEMBER "ELWAY THE YANKEE" AS CLEAR AS DAY

Full disclosure…I am not a true football fan, meaning, I don’t sit on the couch on Sunday’s during the winter and watch the Giants and Jets kick ass. That being said, I read the Sports pages and am very much in tune with the New York players and New York teams and the season. It's not fair to call me a football fan though. I know football fans, and they put in long hours to support their teams, I admire them, but I am not one. I am however truly a baseball and New York Yankee fan and proud of it, which is why my next statement may be a bit confusing…but follow me.

I followed the Denver Broncos throughout John Elway’s career and when he retired in 1999, so did I. I didn’t follow the team as hard as I did the player himself. You see, growing up, I was (and still am) a true baseball nerd and I remember the moment when John Elway was a member of the Oneonta Yankees in 1982. I remember I even purchased a John Elway figurine in Oneonta on the way to Cooperstown with my family a year or 2 after and I still own in today. I loved that this guy John Elway from Stanford was drafted in 1981 by the Yankees and I remember a lot of hype surrounding Elway back then. Once he gave up baseball for football, my fascination expanded to Elway on the Denver Broncos. I was thrilled when he won his championships and I always felt this weird connection to the guy because I followed him all the way through his career. Yes…I’m a dork, but I accept that.

I was listening to Dan Patrick today who said there was speculation out there that part of Peyton Manning’s decision to sign with the Denver Broncos was because John Elway was his idol and he didn’t want to say “no” to his idol. Dan was quick to point out that, “Shouldn’t Archie Manning have been Peyton’s idol too?” and I’m sure he was, but if Peyton’s decision to go to the Broncos was because his “idol” wanted him, I get it. Meeting an idol in your lifetime as a civilian is 9 times out of 10 positive. There is always that superstar you think would be amazing to meet, then you meet him and your view of that player’s ego-maniac ass changes. I’m sure the “idol” thing came into play for Peyton and I hope he has tremendous success in Denver. I find Peyton to be one of the greatest in football and I may even find myself pulling for the guy once in a while, but to me, it all goes back to John Elway. He was a true leader on the field, he has been off the field and that’s something any person should look up too. Who knows… maybe Elway learned the Yankee way, way way back with the Oneonta Yankees and brought that throughout his career, teaching, leading by example, and perhaps even passing the torch to Peyton, who knows? I know this though, for the past 4 days I’ve been going through my collectibles pulling out my Elway/Yankees memorabilia… great memories from my childhood I guess… you gotta love it.

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