Broncos Exec VP/Football Operations JOHN ELWAY said experiencing the playoffs as an exec instead of a player "takes some getting used to," according to Mike Klis of the DENVER POST. Elway said, "I enjoy watching the regular-season games, but I was absolutely miserable last week watching this game. It took me four hours to get the pit out of my stomach when it was over." He added, "But I'm also proud of being a part of it. Being able to help put the team together, put the coaches together and the personnel side, for everything to come together. There is more of a quiet pride than it is being a quarterback when everybody is patting you on the back." Klis notes the Broncos since hiring Elway "have won three AFC West titles and advanced to the playoffs' second round -- the NFL's Elite Eight -- all three years." However, this season is "the first time that Elway the executive has reached the Final Four." He said that when he took his current position, he "did not anticipate so many crises coming across his large desk." Elway: "But when you have problems, being a good leader is taking care of those and making sure everyone feels comfortable that when the house is on fire that we go ahead and take care of our business and realize there's a solution to this and we'll get through this. I've tried to be that rock on the front side, saying we'll get it covered, we'll get it handled" (DENVER POST, 1/17).
DO YOU SEA WHAT I SEA? SPORTS ON EARTH's Dan Pompei writes Seahawks GM JOHN SCHNEIDER "did not build his team by the book." Schneider instead built the team "by feel" and "without a pattern." He has "swung for the fences," and put together a roster "that is the envy of the NFL." Pompei: "That's why, in my opinion, there is no one more deserving of executive of the year." Schneider "might have more misses than most -- just because of the volume of transactions he has made," but he has "given himself an inordinate number of chances, and subsequently has built a roster with extraordinary depth." Some of Schneider's "genius is made possible" by coach PETE CARROLL, "who finds ways to use what he is given." But it is Schneider "providing those needs" (SPORTSONEARTH.com, 1/17).
