John Elway hasn’t met Bo Nix yet, but he’d like to help the Denver Broncos rookie if needed.
The No. 12 overall choice from Oregon has guided the Broncos to a 6-5 record and is a strong contender for Offense Rookie of the Year after throwing for a career-high 307 yards and four touchdowns on Sunday.
“Bo’s got all the tools, and I think in today’s game, even if you can get by without movement, it’s a huge advantage to be able to move around and extend plays like Bo has… I believe the sky is the limit for him, and he will only improve as he becomes more comfortable,” Elway told the ESPN source.
Nix’s performance in Week 11 cemented his place in NFL history as the first rookie to complete more than 80% of his passes while throwing for four touchdowns and 300 or more yards.
Schefter, a former local beat writer for the Broncos during the Mike Shanahan era in the 1990s, spoke with Elway about the importance of Denver’s performance in the AFC playoff battle. Schefter also directly questioned Elway about his relationship with the rookie signal caller.
Elway confessed to Schefter that he had yet to meet Nix, despite attending an OTA session this past spring. Elway went on to extend an open welcome to aid Nix “in any way.”
“I went to OTAs and was out there once, and obviously, he was being pulled in a variety of places, so I didn’t get a chance to say hello to him, but I look forward to the next time. Another thing is that he’ll be getting a lot of advise going into his first year, and I’d like to help him in any way I can. But, obviously, he’s getting excellent instruction now, given the circumstances.
I look forward to meeting him, but like I said, it’s probably more my fault than anything else because once I retired again from football, it’s kind of been nice to get away from it and I haven’t had a chance to get over there and meet him.”
Elway already won two Super Bowls as a Broncos player and one as an executive, spanning his legendary career as a quarterback and general manager. He’s indelibly engraved into the record books of this team and league, with an impressive and lengthy resume of accomplishments.
For Nix, the records can wait because the 24-year-old is currently tasked with getting his team into the playoffs, which is a difficult feat given that Denver has lost seven straight seasons and hasn’t made the playoffs since that fateful year when Elway was able to hoist the Lombardi Trophy after Super Bowl 50 and exclaim, “This one’s for Pat!”
Despite having never met, Nix wore Elway’s famed No. 7 Orange Crush jersey when he entered the stadium for Week 5’s 34-18 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. Oddly enough, Nix will be aiming to lead the Broncos to their first victory at Allegiant Stadium against the Raiders this Sunday.
