By Mike Kahn
CBS SportsLine Executive Editor
Oct. 7, 1998

As a quarterback at Montana State some 30 years ago, Dennis Erickson remembers a little kid named John Elway scrambling around the football field in Big Sky country.

So

The Broncos have been OK so far with John Elway in street clothes and Bubby Brister on the field, but Elway is their ticket back to the Super Bowl. (AP)

as Erickson, now coach of the Seattle Seahawks, considers what Elway has accomplished over the years with the Denver Broncos, he has a little bit more perspective than most.

"Obviously, John Elway's been doing great things for years and years and years," Erickson said. "Little did I know when he was 8 or 9 years old and my dad and his dad were coaching at the University of Montana, that he would come back and haunt me as a coach. What can you say about the guy ... he makes plays (that win) and he always has."

ERICKSON IS PARTICULARLY LOADED WITH concern this week as the Seahawks play host to Elway and the 5-0 Broncos Sunday afternoon. Football is only the beginning of the mystique Elway has created not only in Denver but throughout the National Football League.

He has missed the last two games, first with a pulled hamstring and last week with a strained lower back from lifting weights. Don't expect him to miss this week's game, though. Elway didn't return from his first Super Bowl championship at the age of 38 to sit around in the Kingdome during the Broncos' game against their AFC West rivals. Not against the team his wife, Janet, a native of nearby Tacoma, grew up watching.

"I came back this year to play," Elway said. "It's no fun being hurt. It's frustrating being hurt. I came back to play football. I was playing as good as I've ever played the first three games. I was real excited about the way I was playing, then to get set back the way I have is disappointing. So to answer the question, yeah, I want to get back there and play ... that's why I came back."

There is a lot more to John Elway than top-five ranking in all major passing categories in NFL history. The four Super Bowl appearances and countless game-winning drives are all just part of the lore. He and his wife are an integral part of the fiber of Denver.

"They are really good people who care about what goes on with people," said Alex Marvez, the NFL writer for the Rocky Mountain News. "I'm serious, because I'm not like that with most athletes. They're involved in charities, and I'm not just talking about money. Janet is out there working with people all the time."

MARRIED FOR 15 YEARS WITH FOUR children, Elway had the scare of his life this summer when Janet had emergency surgery to remove a portion of her colon. He left training camp and was happy to return when it was apparent everything was fine. As she was quoted as saying recently, "We are normal people leading abnormal lives."

Despite millionaire status many times over not only from football, but from the explosion of his car dealerships that he sold for a fortune to Wayne Huizenga earlier this year, the Elways remain the same couple who met as freshmen athletes at Stanford. Janet came to the Bay Area on a swimming scholarship and John for football and baseball.

"When you stop and smell the roses sometimes like we do -- and reflect back on what it's all about -- we're a little bit in awe of it," Elway said. "We've been through a lot in 16 years (in the NFL). We really feel like the same people we were when we were dating in college. We're a little in awe when we look back and realize what's happen to us, and how things have worked out. We feel pretty lucky.

"The way we both are ... we're fortunate to date from the start of college, and so we dated for four years of college and got married after my rookie year. We just knew each other so well before we jumped into the NFL, all the different types of things that happened to us, (our experience together) allowed us both to stay on the ground."

Elway couldn't have been more ironic had it been intentional. As someone who gained fame and fortune through the air, he was able to cope with success because he and his wife are grounded. His teammates all know that and adore him for it. If Dan Marino were more of an everyman like Elway instead of basking within himself, he probably would have experienced similar team success with the Dolphins -- instead, he'll have to settle for a few more passing records and a few less Super Bowl appearances.

THE CORE OF ELWAY STILL IS HIS spectacular performances on the football field. He is leading the NFL with a 66.7 completion percentage in his two-plus games, worth 596 yards and four touchdowns.

The complications of his back and hamstring tend to make you think his elusive days are over. And Elway will be the first to admit a bigger reason than his skills for the success of the Broncos over the past two seasons has been the emergence of Terrell Davis as the best all-purpose running back in the game. Davis' 657 yards make him far and away the leading rusher in the NFL.

Nonetheless, the notion that the Broncos are going anywhere with Bubby Brister playing quarterback as opposed to John Elway is ludicrous, particularly when you consider the last two teams the Broncos have defeated have combined records of 0-10.

"John -- when you really look at him -- he's been doing the same things for years," Erickson said. "He doesn't make mistakes. He knows what he's doing and when he gets out of the pocket, he'll case a lot of problems for you. He'll make big plays scrambling out there. They (the receivers) know where to go and he knows where to find them. I see him playing as good as he did 5-6 years ago."

So don't close the book on Elway's career just yet. Although he most likely will retire after this season, it's not a lock. He told Terry Bradshaw if they defend their Super Bowl title, yes, he'd come back ("I just said yes so he'd get off it [the subject]," Elway chortled.)

"I just don't know," Elway conceded. "What happens from here on out (injury-wise) will probably determine more than what's happened the last couple of weeks. It's definitely a factor. Chances are, I'll probably retire. But I just don't want to shut the door. I just hate to walk away from the football team I'm on right now ... every game it has a chance to win, so that's going to be tough to walk away from."

Then maybe, just maybe, he won't. The only people happy if he does will be the coaches and players of every other football team in the NFL.

Mike Kahn is CBS SportsLine's executive editor.