Elway was born to John and Janet Elway on June 28, 1960, in Port Angeles, Wash. John learned his football skills from Jack Elway—a college football coach—at an early age. Jack Elway's tutelage, combined with John's raw natural ability, helped John to excel at all levels of competition. During his high school career at Granada Hills High School in California, Elway completed 60 percent of his passes for more than 5,700 yards and 49 touchdowns. While Elway excelled in football, he was an equally skilled baseball player. As a senior, John led his high school baseball team to the Los Angeles City championship while posting a .491 batting average. His outstanding ability made him the most highly recruited high school athlete in America in 1979, and he was voted the 1979 southern California high school athlete of the year. The Kansas City Royals selected Elway in the 1979 amateur baseball draft, but Elway opted to attend Stanford University.

Elway's already sizable reputation skyrocketed during his career at Stanford. During his four seasons there, Elway completed more than 62 percent of his passes for 9,349 yards and 77 touchdowns. As a senior, Elway was voted a first-team All American, and he finished second to Herschel Walker in the 1982 Heisman Trophy balloting. By the time he graduated from Stanford with a degree in economics in 1982, Elway owned nearly every Pacific Ten Conference record, as well as several National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I-A passing records.

Following his junior year at Stanford, professional baseball beckoned once again, as the New York Yankees drafted Elway in the first round of the 1981 amateur draft. Elway's future, however, remained on the football field. The Baltimore Colts selected Elway with the first pick in the 1983 amateur draft. In a much-criticized move, Elway demanded that the hapless Colts trade him to a contending franchise. Less than one week after the draft, Elway was traded to the Denver Broncos.

The Baltimore Colts' misfortune turned out to be a blessing for the Broncos. Elway had a breakthrough year in 1985 when he led the NFL in total offense by passing for 3,891 yards and using his dangerous running ability to scramble for an additional 253 yards. In 1987, Elway was named the NFL most valuable player (MVP) by the Associated Press after he threw for 3,198 yards and 19 touchdowns. In 1993, Elway enjoyed one of the finest seasons of his career, when he threw for 4,030 yards and 25 touchdowns en route to winning the American Football Conference MVP award. By the end of the 1997 season, Elway ranked second on the NFL's all-time passing list with 48,669 yards, while ranking fourth on the all-time passing touchdown list with 278.

Despite his impressive statistics, Elway was perhaps best known for simply winning football games, establishing an NFL record in 1997 by winning his 127th game as a quarterback. Even more impressive than the number of wins he accumulated was the way in which Elway repeatedly pulled off spectacular and improbable comeback wins. On 41 occasions during his career, Elway led the Broncos back from fourth quarter deficits to either win or tie the football game.

While Elway emerged as the master of the last-minute victory, the ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl eluded him for the first 15 years of his professional career. He led the Broncos to the 1987, 1988, and 1990 Super Bowls, only to see his Broncos teams get shredded by the New York Giants, the Washington Redskins, and the San Francisco 49ers, respectively. True to form, Elway rallied in the waning part of his career to lead the Broncos back to the Super Bowl in 1998. Backed by a strong running game from teammate Terrell Davis and superb play from both the Broncos defense and offensive line, Elway and the Broncos defeated the heavily favored Green Bay Packers by the score of 31–24. Three months after leading the team to a second consecutive Super Bowl victory to cap the 1998–99 season, Elway announced his retirement from football.

Even with all of his accomplishments on the football field, Elway emphasized that his greatest joy in life came from his wife Janet, whom he married in 1984, and his four children. In addition to his outstanding work on the football field, Elway dedicated much of his free time directing the Elway Foundation, an organization dedicated to assisting abused and neglected children. His commitment to excellence on the football field, as well as his commitment to community service off of the field, made it nearly certain that Elway would be inducted into the professional football Hall of Fame following the conclusion of his unparalleled career.