Elway Won’t Quit, Quarterback Says

John Elway says he may need an artificial knee someday. The Denver Broncos quarterback also said reports of the end of his career are greatly exaggerated.

Elway dismissed those stories, including one on ESPN on Tuesday, that doctors had advised him he shouldn’t play this season and that his wife wanted him to retire.

“This is the first I’ve heard of this,” Elway said Wednesday. “I heard it driving in here.

“That’s the same thing (ESPN) said my second year in the league. It’s nothing new.”

Elway, who will start his 13th NFL season, has led the Broncos to three Super Bowl appearances.

He said he suspects the latest story about his left knee originated at a clinic in Vail, Colo., run by Dr. Richard Steadman, who performed arthroscopic surgery on Elway’s knee this winter.

After a subsequent knee operation on Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly, Steadman reportedly told Kelly that, “Your worst knee is better than John Elway’s best knee.”

In any case, Elway, 35, acknowledged that some day he might need an artificial knee. He injured the knee in high school, when he underwent the first of the five operations he has had on it. Three have been during his NFL career.

Elway said his doctor told him he’s a candidate for a knee replacement, but not until his career is finished.

He has two years left on his contract and has expressed a desire to play another year or two beyond that. Asked if he could still run as fast as he used to, Elway said, “It depends on who’s chasing me.”

Support, opposition for Raiders

Jacksonville Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver said he was likely to support the Raiders’ move back to Oakland and would prefer to have only one team in Los Angeles instead of two.

While the NFL has delayed a vote on the Raiders’ return to Oakland and the San Francisco 49ers say they won’t try to block the move, a small citizens group could pose the first organized opposition.

A group calling itself Taxpayers for a Vote on Raiders Deal said it is concerned about the 16-year agreement between Oakland officials and the Raiders and may call for a public referendum on the deal.

Efforts toward such a referendum helped derail the possibility of a return by the Raiders from Los Angeles to Oakland in 1990.

The Los Angeles Coliseum, which just lost the Raiders as a tenant, is close to reaching an agreement to have luxury boxes built.

Coliseum officials said Wednesday they are near a 10-year, $21 million agreement with concessionaire Service America Corp. that would provide the money to build 41 boxes.

Chiefs sign running back

Running back Leroy Thompson signed a two-year contract with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Thompson, an unrestricted free agent, played for the New England Patriots last year, catching 65 passes for 465 yards and five touchdowns and rushing for 312 yards and two touchdowns.

Henley seeks bail

Darryl Henley’s attorney asked a judge to release the former Rams cornerback on bail so he may resume his football career. U.S. District Judge Gary Taylor did not immediately rule on the request.

Henley, 28, has been in jail since his conviction on cocaine trafficking charges last March. He is seeking a new trial, claiming that racism and juror misconduct affected the outcome of the first.

Sanders to Dolphins

Wide receiver Ricky Sanders, the nine-year pro who played for Atlanta last season, signed a two-year deal with the Miami Dolphins.

Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

“I think we have an opportunity to make it to the Super Bowl and win the Super Bowl,” Sanders said. “That’s why I’m here.”