When John Elway's recruitment cost Denver Broncos nearly $1 million in NFL fines in 1998

John Elway's name would definitely make the list of quarterbacks with generational talent. While there was no doubt regarding his abilities, his quest for trophies took longer than expected. Before his championships in 1997 and 1998, the quarterback had already reached three Super Bowls, losing in all three appearances.

He did eventually win two, but even those wins come with an asterisk. A couple of scandals buried in a pre-social media era might have precipitated the wins.

According to the Washington Post via Pro Football Talk, the franchise was punished as a result of two separate infractions, costing almost $2 million and two third-round draft picks. Those infractions may have given the team an unfair advantage. The first infraction cost the team almost $1 million and a third-round pick due to $29 million in deferred payments to Elway and running back Terrell Davis.

The financial gymnastics, one would assume, paved the way for additional player(s) to either stay or be added to the roster. The second punishment was also for about $1 million and another third-round pick for more cap violations that occured between 1996 and 1998.

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No. 7 at Denver Broncos v Indianapolis Colts

The implications of the punishments cast a strong counter argument for fans of teams that lost to Denver in the playoffs or perhaps during the regular season. Specifically, the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons' fans might have words to say about having a Lombardi Trophy potentially stolen from them.

Of course, that assumes that the Packers and Falcons were good enough to beat the second-best team in the AFC. Either way, the scandals paint a picture of the Broncos as a franchise that was already 0-3 in Super Bowls with Elway and desperate to get over the hump before their late-30s quarterback retired.

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No. 7 at Denver Broncos v Seattle Seahawks

All of this said, the championships in 1997 and 1998 were not the quarterback's final Lombardi Trophies. He got one more in 2015, thanks to Peyton Manning and the No Fly Zone built by Elway as the team's general manager. Unlike with Tom Brady or No. 7's final few Super Bowl appearances, no controversy followed the 2015 victory over Cam Newton.

Players rarely rejoin the league in such a way as No. 7 did, but one could not help but wonder if the cap scandals gave him the sense of urgency that was undoubtedly felt by the team in the early- and mid-2010s.