Before John Elway reached legendary status, he was a known loser

TL;DR

Elway lost three Super Bowls in four years, earning a "choker" label before two late-career championships rewrote his legacy.

Key Points

• 1.Elway forced his way out of Baltimore after being drafted #1 overall in 1983, threatening to play baseball for the Yankees until the Colts traded his rights to Denver.
• 2.His rookie year was so bad that head coach Dan Reeves pulled him in favor of backup Steve DeBerg, admitting he'd rushed the young QB into action.
• 3.Elway's most iconic moment before winning a title was the "The Drive" — a 98-yard game-tying march against the Cleveland Browns in the 1986 AFC Championship — but Denver still lost the Super Bowl.
• 4.After three Super Bowl losses (1986, 1987, 1989 seasons), critics like Terry Bradshaw publicly called Elway a "pansy" and questioned why he was ever mentioned alongside Joe Montana.
• 5.Denver's crushing 55-10 loss to the 49ers in Super Bowl XXIV became the low point, with journalists declaring Elway would go down as one of football's greatest losers.
• 6.At age 37 in 1997, surrounded by his best supporting cast including star RB Terrell Davis, Elway finally won his first title, then returned the following year to win again and retire as Super Bowl MVP.