ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Before his whirlybird spin in the air forever etched him in NFL lore, two-time Super Bowl champion John Elway called his mother on the team flight from Pittsburgh after winning the AFC championship on Jan. 11, 1998.
"I said, 'Mom, guess what? We get to go back to the Super Bowl!" Elway recounted. "She said, 'Do we really have to go back?"
After so many Super Bowl letdowns — three losses by an average of 32 points — she wasn't sure watching her son face the two-touchdown favorite Green Bay Packers was such a good idea.