SPORTS UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, September 28, 1994
3B
Mixed Media by Jack Ohman
Elway's failure as 'Superman' this season stumps Broncos
The Associated Press
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Denver Broncos used to win these games, remember?
John Elway would move his team downfield with the clock ticking away, and one chance at the end zone would usually be enough.
Not this year.
For the third time in four games, the Broncos had a chance to win a game in the final minutes, but Elway couldn't deliver. On Monday night, the ball slipped out of his hand — again — and the Buffalo Bills held on for a 27-20 victory.
"A quarterback's not Superman," Denver running back Glyn Milburn said. "He's not going to see everybody open every time. He's got people flying around. It's a tough thing."
Elway may not be Superman, but they used to share a phone booth.
By the Broncos' count, he has engineered the game-saving, fourth quarter drives in his career. But, the only one in the last two years was a three-play, 11-yard drive with more than 10 minutes left against Kansas City last year.
And the three times he has been called upon to repeat the heroics this
season, he hasn't.
—Against the Jets, Denver had a chance to take the lead late in the game but had to settle for a field goal. The Broncos lost in overtime 25-22.
—Against the Chargers, Elway led the two-minute offense to the San Diego 3. He rolled out and went to throw, but the ball slipped out of his hands and was picked out of the air by Junior Seau. Final score: San Diego 37, Denver 34.
—Against the Raiders ... well, you can't blame this one on Elway. Denver lost 48-16 — its worst home loss since 1968.
And now, against Buffalo, the ball slipped out of Elway's hands on a fourth-and-2 with 21 seconds and sailed high over Cedric Tillman's hands and through the end zone.
"The ball slipped on his hands. It's happened twice now," tight end Shannon Sharpe said. "We have to find a way to win close games. We're making too many mistakes, putting ourselves in bad situations."
Bills quarterback Jim Kelly said he was having the same problem on the rainy night.
"It slipped out of my hands probably seven times," he said. "It's one of those things where you really have to concentrate on the grip and the follow-through."
The Broncos, considered Super Bowl contenders when the season started, matched the worst start in their history. They also started 0-4 in 1964, when Jack Faulkner was fired as coach.
Bills linebacker Cornelius Bennett, who had six tackles, two sacks and forced Elway to throw high on the Broncos' final play, consoled the quarterback after the game.
"I just told him, 'You guys are too good to be 0.4. Stick with it,' he said.
"He goes out and burs his butt every time he plays the game."
Thurman Thomas ran for two touchdowns in the last two minutes of the first half and Carwell Gardner added another after Thomas hurt his knee.
The Bills took advantage of two turnovers that bridged the halftime break to score 21 points in 3 minutes, 36 seconds.
Thomas gained 103 yards in 17 carries before leaving with an injured right knee early in the third quarter.
He went in from 16 yards out with 1:54 left in the half and from the 27just 1:36 later after Bruce Smith forced an Elway fumble that Bennett recovered.
Sanders admits he is a father; changes tune
"We did get a momentum swing with the fumble," Bennett said. "But with John Elway at quarterback, you can never say you've got them licited."
PONTIAC, Mich. — Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders says he is the father of a 5-month-old son, B.J., who lives with his mother in Dallas.
The Associated Press
Sanders told the Detroit Free Press in Saturday's editions that the baby was born April 10. His son attended Detroit's football game against Dallas on Sept. 20 with Sanders' parents.
"Ifeel great about it, it'spretty nice," Sanders said of having a son, whose full name is Barry James.
"My position on that has evolved," he said. "I've just changed."
"Ultimately, virginity is something that's up to the individual," he said in an interview done during the summer.
Arizona: Simms too expensive The Associated Press
Sanders, who told reporters in 1991 he opposed to premarital sex, said he didn't know whether he would marry B.J.'s mother, whom he refused to identify. He said he known the woman for about seven years, since dating her at Oklahoma State University.
TEMPE, Ariz. — Phil Simms turned out to be too expensive for the Arizona Cardinals.
"He wants more money than we've got," Coach Buddy Ryan said Monday about his attempts to land Simms, the former New York Giants quarterback now working for ESPN as a studio analyst. "All he's got to do is check the (NFL) Players Association to see how much money we've got."
But in a recent interview with the Free Press, Sanders said he no longer spoke on that question.
Simms was offered a $1 million deal, but he reportedly wanted a two-year deal worth $2 million a season. One way for the Cardinals to free up that much money would be to release quarterback Steve Beuerlein, who makes about $2 million.
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