BOCA RATON, Fla. — Broncos president Joe Ellis walked through the Boca Raton Resort Club with repeated interruptions. An NFL owner congratulated him on the Broncos' season. A general manager followed suit. They appreciated the Broncos' Super Bowl 50 victory, even if it preyed on credulity.
A year ago at the owners meetings, executives groused about Denver, wondering aloud the sanity of mutually parting ways with coach John Fox, who had won four consecutive AFC West titles. It signaled, to critics, what was wrong with the cutthroat NFL.
Yet Ellis learned long ago that John Elway's instincts are almost always right.