John has four children, including three daughters, Jessica Gwen (10/17/85), Jordan Marie (6/1/87) and Juliana (3/7/91), and a son, Jack (8/11/89), and makes his home in Englewood, Colorado. In addition to his considerable time spent on the football field, John has poured a great deal of energy into The Elway Foundation -- an organization that contributes funds and resources to the prevention and treatment of child abuse. He also owned and operated seven automobile franchises in the Denver area until selling them in late 1997, and now is associated with 17 John Elway AutoNation dealerships in the Denver area.

A native of Port Angeles, Washington, Elway was the most highly recruited prep athlete in the nation in 1979 and was listed on Parade, Scholastic Coach, Football News and National Coaches Association All-America teams. He had an unparalleled football and baseball career at Granada Hills High School. John was 129 of 200 for 1,837 yards and 19 TDs as a senior, while leading the baseball team to the Los Angeles City championship with a .491 batting average and a 4-2 pitching record. He completed 60 percent of his high school passes for 5,711 yards and 49 touchdowns. The football field at Granada Hills High School was re-named in John's honor in a ceremony June 5, 1998. The Kansas City Royals selected him in the 18th round of the 1979 summer draft (June 5), although he already had signed a national letter of intent with Stanford. John's father, Jack, coached his son in the East-West Shrine contest in which John earned Offensive MVP laurels.

John concluded his college career with five major NCAA Division I-A records and nine major Pac-10 marks. Elway completed 62.1 percent of his career passes (774 of 1,243, both NCAA highs) for 9,349 yards and 77 touchdowns, while setting an NCAA record for the lowest percentage of passes intercepted in a career (3.13 percent). As a senior, John was a consensus All-American and finished second in Heisman Trophy balloting while setting virtually every Pac-10 and Stanford career record for total offense and passing.

A two-sport star, John played baseball for the New York Yankees' Oneonta (N.Y.) single-A farm club in 1982, hitting for a .318 average and knocking in a team-high 25 RBI in 42 games. John, who batted left-handed and threw right-handed, was the Yankees' first selection in the 1981 summer draft (June 8). John hit.349 with nine homers and 50 RBI in 49 games in his final college baseball season as a sophomore. Elway has a degree in economics from Stanford.