The strikingly similar smile on the face of John Elway’s daughter Jessica beamed as she professed her admiration and love for a guy that is recognized as one of the greatest football players to ever grace the game. Filling the role that would likely have fallen to the late Jack Elway, John’s father, Jessica relived many of her father’s greatest moments and shared what it was like growing up with John Elway as her father.
“As you might suspect, growing up with the last name Elway made for some pretty interesting questions“, she told the thousands who gathered in Canton. “The most common one we get is, what’s the coolest part of having John Elway as a dad?. That’s easy, we’d always say. We we’re too young to remember the first three Super Bowls.”
Of course, as everyone knows, Elway came out on the losing end of each of his first three trips to the championship game. But in the end, he made that trip five times, coming out on top the final two years of his illustrious career. He was the king of the comeback, leading the Denver Broncos on 47 fourth-quarter winning or tying drives. He passed for 300 touchdowns and over 50,000 yards during his 16 years in the league.
With one of the league’s greatest QBs being honored, it’s only fitting that one of the greatest backs of the same generation should be enshrined along with him. And not only is the legendary Barry Sanders among the best backs of his generation. He is among the best of all time and a good argument can be made for him as the greatest pure runner the game has ever seen.
Sanders, who may have been the most elusive back in NFL history, racked up 15,269 yards over ten years with the Detroit Lions before walking away from the game while still in his prime after the 1998 season. Had Sanders not retired prematurely, he would likely hold the all-time rushing record today.
Also enshrined on Sunday were Minnesota Vikings defensive end Carl Eller and offensive tackle Bob Brown, who played for the Eagles, Rams and Raiders.
