This was an excellent book even though I did know about his playing days in College and the pros. Having watched both. I did not know much about his high school days or the time he spent as an executive in the front office of the Broncos. Overall a good book for me, not a whole of new information about him the player.

The author's writing style in very unique. I truly cannot decide if I loved it or hated it. But it kept me reading the book. Elway is a fascinating player to read about, especially since Cole had a connection to him.

Well told run through of the legendary quaterback's life. Loved the chapter on Tim Tebow which gave fresh insight into his improbably NFL career.

I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Before I moved to Kansas City, the Raiders were the AFC team I always rooted for. After moving to KC in 1988, I quickly became a Chiefs fan after Carl Peterson became general manager and built a team that contended for the playoffs every year. As a fan of those two teams, John Elway was a constant thorn in my side since no lead against the Denver Broncos was safe because the threat of an Elway-led comeback.

Elway tracks the Hall of Fame quarterback’s life, beginning with his childhood then continuing on through his high school career and his college years at Stanford University. The remainder of the book covers Elway’s active playing career with the Broncos and his post-playing career as an executive in the Arena Football League and again with the Broncos. Although his statistics didn’t always reflect it, Elway had exceptional physical and mental skills and a work ethic that was second-to-none.

I gave Elway four stars on Goodreads. The author seemed overly-lavish with his praise for his subject, and I might just still be harboring some resentment for the things Elway regularly did to my favorite teams. I appreciated the in-depth chapters about Elway’s baseball career, starting in high school and continuing on through his days as a minor league player in the Yankees farm system. I also learned some interesting things from the chapters about Elway’s college recruitment and the problem of having Tim Tebow as the Broncos quarterback.

Excellent book on John Elway. It is an easy read and the stories and the facts are presented very well. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Very well written and researched.

Let me say upfront I have never been a fan of the Bronco's or John Elway. Especially when Mr. Elway came out of Stanford in 1983 and told Baltimore that he would not play for them that he would go play baseball with the Yankees and I am a lifelong Yankees fan. Now put all this aside if you grew up around the time Elway was drafted you probably know most of the story. From the time that he was coming up through high school and eventually going on to Stanford University with father who was a football guru in his own right but who was wise enough to not dabble to much in his sons career as he moved along. Even knowing all the back story even a hardcore Elway fan should be able to pick up some tidbits of information you did not know. I was amazed to learn how close he was to playing someplace else other then Denver. Since 1967 when the NFL and AFL started a joint draft there have been up to writing of this book 712 quarterbacks drafted. Now this does not include all the free agents.
Of the 712 quarterback only 25 have one a superbowl and only 11 have been inducted to the hall of fame. That means only 2.5 to 3.5 percent have reached a level of greatness those are crazy numbers.

As i pointed out earlier this covers Elway's career all the way upto his current position with the Bronco's and will touch a little bit on his family life. This is a good read even for a non-Elway fan. Thank you Netgalley and Hatchette books for an ARC in return for a fair and honest review.

What a fascinating look into the life and times of Elway. As a Broncos fan, I loved reading this book and feeling connected to someone that runs our organization!

From Goodreads: “The definitive biography of John Elway, Hall of Fame Quarterback, two-time Super Bowl Champion, now President of Football Operations and General Manager of the Denver Broncos.”

What on earth is a Wisconsin gal doing reading a biography about the quarterback that was responsible for the Green Bay Packers’ only Super Bowl loss? I like football, and I can appreciate a really good athlete. I’ve always been magnanimous to other teams and players. I attribute it to the fact that I was born on Super Bowl Sunday, 1973. That was the Super Bowl of the undefeated Miami Dolphins. I used to have a Green Bay Packers license plate that said SPRBL 7, which probably confused the heck out of other drivers!

As of 2017’s NFL off-season, Elway held at least 33 Broncos franchise records, including:

Completions: career (4,123), playoffs (355), rookie season (123)
Passing Yards: career (51,475-Brett Favre has 71,838 )
Passing Touchdowns: career (300), playoffs (27) (Brett Favre has 508, just sayin’)
Sacks (516) Favre has him beat there, too, with 525

On to the book. Jason Cole had unprecedented access to everyone EXCEPT John Elway when writing Elway: A Relentless Life . His family provided interviews, his friends, his teammates, his business partners. And maybe that’s why I had problems with the book.

The first several chapters are all about Jack Elway, John’s football coach father. There’s backstory, then there’s backstory. The reader gets a really good feel for who John Elway’s dad was. Then there’s even a short chapter on Elway’s mom, Jan. That chapter felt like it was thrown in there to try and even out the overwhelming praise Cole had for Jack Elway and the way he raised his kids, even though football consumed him so much he wasn’t around much when his kids were growing up.

Then, when John Elway starts playing football, we get a whole chapter on the man who was his high school football coach before actually getting to how Elway performed. Several chapters make up the draft and the deal that traded Elway from the Colts to the Broncos. It involves lots of people with lots of backstory, but I didn’t feel I got a glimpse of who Elway was in all of this, besides the #1 player in the draft.

Almost the whole book is like this. You’re 40% into it before Elway even gets traded to the Broncos. Then there’s chapter after chapter on coaches and other important people in Elway’s life of a Bronco. It takes until you’re 70% into the book before you get to Elway’s defining Super Bowls. As painful as it was for a Green Bay Packers fan to read the chapter on Super Bowl XXXII, I thought it was well done, as was the succeeding chapter on Super Bowl XXXIII.

One of the things I like to know about when I read about someone in the public eye is how they are as a human being off the field, with their families. After Elway retires from the Broncos, there’s a short chapter on the dissolution of his marriage to Janet, and a brief biographical sketch of each of his four kids. Then there’s another brief chapter on meeting and marrying his current wife.

I thought the section on the Arena Football League was pretty good, as you got a feel for Elway’s actions and the work he put in to making a success into his team. The same can be said about his work as an executive with the Broncos and the moves he made to create another successful team. But at times, like earlier in the book, Elway is overshadowed by the other people: Tim Tebow, Peyton Manning, etc.

Elway: A Relentless Life is for diehard Broncos fans, if you want to know everything about the people that surrounded Elway during his climb to the top as a player and as an executive. As for getting to know the man himself, this book is sadly lacking.

For more reviews, check out www.bargain-sleuth.com

As a child, Sunday afternoons were reserved for football. I grew up in Pittsburgh, so being a Steelers fan was non-negotiable. We bled (and still do black and gold). I married a Colorado and Denver native, who coincidentally, could pass as John Elway's brother, hence I do cheer for the Broncos and enjoy attending games at Mile High Stadium.

I enjoyed reading about John's childhood and college years, and how he landed in Denver. Jason Cole crafted a great story of John Elway's life, not just the highlight reel as we see in some biographies. I enjoyed reading about John Elway's role as a GM and leading the team in a different way off the field.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.