Does John Elway Deserve Two Plaques in the Football Hall of Fame?

Does a 2014 Super Bowl Victory Put Elway in the Conversation as One of the Best GMs?

 

On January 5, 2011, The Denver Broncos made a commitment to winning. They hired John Elway to be their Vice President of Football Operations. This is a fancy way to say, Top Dog in charge of everything related to the football field. The Broncos kept the GM Brian Xanders but he was the GM in name only, and subsequently left in May of 2012 to be the GM of the Detroit Lions John Elway, like his days on the field, wearing #7, is the play caller. He decides who to draft and who to cut. He decides everything that pertains to football. John Elway is the New Denver Broncos and the owner Pat Bowlen has his back.

Success strikes early and often

Since taking over the Denver Broncos, John Elway has gotten them to 3 consecutive playoff appearances and one Super Bowl appearance at Super Bowl XLVIII. He traded Tim Tebow after Tebow turned their 1-4 season into a playoff run. He orchestrated the signing of future Hall of Fame QB Peyton Manning. He acquired some excellent talent through the draft in the first three years like CB Kayvon Webster, QB Brock Osweiler, DT Sylvester Williams, OG Orlando Franklin, FS Rahim Moore, DE Derek Wolfe, RB Monte Ball, OLB Danny Trevathan, TE Julius "Orange Julius" Thomas, and Defensive Rookie of the Year OLB Von Miller. That's not even accounting for the 2014 NFL Draft class, where he got CB Bradley Roby and WR Cody Latimer, two future stars.

2014 NFL Season will start one of two conversations

The conversation will start that John Elway is one of the best GMs in NFL history if the Denver Broncos win the Super Bowl. If they make it and lose again, especially if it is a repeat disaster of a performance like 2013 Super Bowl XLVIII against the Seattle Seahawks, featuring an embarrassing blowout final score of 43-8, the conversation will quickly turn to how his executive career is mirroring his career as a player.

John Elway and the Denver Broncos go "ALL IN"

John Elway literally pushed all his chips into the middle of the table in the off-season free agency signings for an immediate run at a consecutive Super Bowl appearance. Obviously still stinging from the embarrassing lopsided defeat, Elway is throwing all he has into the 2014 NFL season since he knows, the day will come when Peyton Manning will soon retire. He managed to sign, CBs T.J. Ward, and Aqib Talib, and DE DeMarcus Ware . These moves will immediately give the Denver a huge upgrade in the secondary and add a pass rushing machine in DeMarcus Ware. The Denver Broncos lost WR Eric Decker to free agency but John Elway signed Pittsburgh Steelers free agent WR Emmanuel Sanders to replace Decker and re-signed WR Andre Caldwell so Peyton Manning has a quintet of excellent, sure-handed receivers.

Add another plaque

If The Denver Broncos win the 2014 Super Bowl it is because of John Elway. Sure the players got him there but he got the players. There should be a second plaque installed at The Football Hall of Fame in Canton Ohio for NFL legends like John Elway. He has been a legend of the NFL on and off the field.