Joe Montana became the third to start four Super Bowls, but all were passed by John Elway and Tom Brady.

Elway would eventually be replaced by Gary Kubiak, who took a sack to end the game, and the Giants were victorious in a 39-20 rout of the Broncos.

Coming into Super Bowl XXII, the Broncos were favored to win (- 3 as noted on the NFL Today show by Jimmy " the Greek " Snyder ) because most experts thought both teams were equal in terms of talent with Elway presumed to be the superior quarterback to Williams.

By the end of the game, Elway was sacked five times and threw three interceptions, and Washington scored another touchdown on a 68-yard fourth quarter drive featuring a 25-yard run by Clark on a reverse and three runs by Smith for 43 yards, the last a 4-yard touchdown to bring the game to its final score of 42 – 10.

However, Elway destroyed any chance of a Browns comeback by leading the Broncos 80 yards and scoring with a 39-yard touchdown pass to Sammy Winder on the first drive of the fourth quarter.

Then Elway was intercepted again on the Broncos ' ensuing drive, this time by Brooks, who returned the ball 38 yards to the Denver 37-yard line.

Then after the ensuing kickoff, Elway was sacked for a 6-yard loss by defensive end Danny Stubbs.

But neither Elway nor the Bills offense had much success in the 10-7 Bills victory over a game totally dominated by defense.

The AFC Championship Game appeared to be the best defensive effort by Buffalo all season, as they held the Broncos to only a touchdown, while also limiting Elway to just 11 of 21 completions for 121 yards and no touchdowns, with 1 interception.

Mike Shanahan was hurt and angered by Reeves ' pregame assertion that Shanahan and Elway had conspired to have him fired during his stint at Denver.

Weller, a Washington graduate, was the guest yell-king during the Huskies ' homecoming football game against the Stanford University Cardinal ( led by junior quarterback John Elway ).

Elway recorded the most victories by a starting quarterback at the time of his retirement.

Elway was drafted # 1 overall in the 1983 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Colts before being traded to the Denver Broncos.

After two more Super Bowl losses, the Broncos entered a period of decline ; however, that would end during the 1997 season, as Elway and Denver won their first Super Bowl title by defeating the Green Bay Packers 31 – 24 in Super Bowl XXXII.

) Also an accomplished baseball player, Elway was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 18 < sup > th </ sup > round of the 1979 Major League Baseball Draft.

Elway also excelled as a baseball player playing right field and pitcher, finishing his senior year hitting. 361 with nine home runs and 50 RBIs in 49 games and a 5 – 4 record with a 4. 51 ERA. He was drafted by the New York Yankees in the second round of the 1981 MLB draft ( 52nd overall, six spots ahead of future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn ).

In the 1983 NFL Draft, Elway was selected as the first overall pick by the Baltimore Colts.

Elway was named the greatest athlete wearing the # 7 by Sports Illustrated.

Elway ended his career with a record 148 victories, since surpassed by Brett Favre for most wins by a starting quarterback.

* In 1979, Elway was drafted out of high school by the Kansas City Royals to play baseball in MLB.

* In the 1981 MLB Draft, Elway was selected by the New York Yankees in the second round.

* In the 1983 NFL Draft, Elway was selected as the first overall pick by the Baltimore Colts, and on May 2, was traded to the Denver Broncos.

On Denver's first drive of the second quarter, Elway dropped back to pass from his own 18-yard line on third down.

With Denver deep in its own end of the field, Bronco tight end Clarence Kay caught a pass from Elway for a gain of 25 yards.

The Browns had jumped to a 20-13 lead and the Broncos had muffed the ensuing kickoff when Elway took over, first-and-10 on their own 2-yard line, with 5: 32 to play in the game.

With 2: 00 left, and facing third down and 5 on their own 15-yard line on their ensuing drive, John Elway connected on an 18-yard completion to Shannon Sharpe to get the first down and allow Denver to run out the clock.

Trailing 24-23 with 2: 07 left in the game, quarterback John Elway led the Broncos from their own 2-yard line to the winning 28-yard field goal by David Treadwell with 16 seconds left.

Then after an offsides penalty on the 49ers, cornerback Don Griffin sacked Elway, forcing a fumble.

The penalties moved the ball to the Giants ' six-yard line, and three plays later Elway scored on a 4-yard touchdown run to give the Broncos a 10 – 7 lead.

On third down, Elway pitched the ball to Winder, who tried to score on a run to the outside, but linebacker Carl Banks tackled him for a 4-yard loss.

This proved crucial, as on the next play Giants defensive tackle George Martin sacked Elway in the end zone, recording a safety and cutting the Denver lead to 10-9.

Denver finally scored a touchdown when Elway found Johnson on a 47-yard bomb later on, which was the 100th recorded Super Bowl touchdown.

After forcing Washington to go 3 and out, the Broncos ' scored on their first play from scrimmage, when quarterback John Elway threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to wide open receiver Ricky Nattiel, giving Denver a quick 7 – 0 lead after just 1: 57 had elapsed in the game.

Then he caught a 23-yard pass from halfback Steve Sewell, becoming the first quarterback ever to catch a pass in the Super Bowl ( Elway had scored a touchdown on that play during opening day the previous year against the Raiders ).

But this time they failed to score because Washington safety Alvin Walton sacked Elway for an 18-yard loss on third down, pushing the Broncos out of field goal range.

After Elway threw an incomplete pass on third down, however, Karlis missed a 43-yard field goal attempt.

Four plays after the ensuing kickoff, Washington defensive back Barry Wilburn intercepted a pass from Elway on the Redskin 21 yard-line, and once again the Redskins stormed down the field to score.

He was also Denver's second leading rusher with 32 yards on 3 carries ; this would be the only Super Bowl in which Elway did not score a rushing touchdown.

Then after Pittsburgh scored 2 field goals to take a 23 – 17 fourth quarter lead, Elway led the Broncos on a 71-yard drive to score on the Melvin Bratton's 1-yard game winning touchdown run.

Elway then capped off the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run on third down, cutting their deficit to 41 – 10.

Buffalo then played against Denver Broncos, who were coming off a 26 – 24 win over the Houston Oilers in which quarterback John Elway led them on an 87-yard drive to set up kicker David Treadwell's game-winning field goal with only 16 seconds left.

Elway retired on May 2 before the following season.