Mile High Morning: The best moments from John Elway's trip down memory lane with Peyton Manning

[Miles]

Revisiting The Drive and The Helicopter


Perhaps the coolest part of the whole episode is when Manning and Elway break down a signature moment in NFL history as they watch tape of "The Drive" from the 1986 AFC Championship Game against Cleveland.


But one of the best sound bites comes later, when Elway talks about one of the final lasting memories he made in his career, an acrobatic play known as "The Helicopter."


"I turned it up and I figured, OK, I know they think I'm going down. I said, All right, I'm going to put this 6-inch vertical on 'em and go right over the top."


Manning and Marvin Harrison recreated The Drive during pregame warmups


It wasn't just you and your sibling in your backyard; even Manning pretended to be Elway dropping back to throw the game-tying touchdown in Cleveland.


"In 1999, we played in Cleveland for the first time," Manning said. "I wanted to reenact The Drive, so me and Marvin Harrison went out there before the game and went and found the exact yard line, took the backpedal drop, threw this sidearm slant in there."


Elway once sold his pool table because Bubby Brister beat him on it


As an example of Elway's competitive nature, Manning tells him that he heard a rumor that Elway couldn't bear to keep his pool table after losing to former teammate Bubby Brister.


"He did beat me, and that was the first time I had lost on my pool table," Elway explained. "I didn't want to lie. I wanted to be able to say I hadn't lost on my pool table, so I did get rid of that one and get a new one — and never played Bubby again, though."


Manning could have worn No. 7 in Denver if he wanted to


When Manning came to Denver in 2012, he received permission from Ring of Fame quarterback Frank Tripucka to wear No. 18, which was retired. But what if he had wanted to wear No. 7, he wondered aloud to Elway.


"You would have had No. 7," Elway. "Heck yeah. We'd have shared that No. 7."