Sports: Elway's father, 69, dies

Elway's father, 69, dies

Compiled from Times wires

DENVER -- Jack Elway, father of John Elway and an innovative college coach in the '70s and '80s, died of an apparent heart attack at his home in Palm Springs, Calif. He was 69.

Jack Elway died Sunday morning, Broncos spokesman Jim Saccomano said. John Elway, the retired Denver quarterback, flew to Palm Springs to help with funeral arrangements.

Jack Elway retired last year as the director of pro scouting for the Broncos.

"A lot of people don't understand how close he (John Elway) and Jack were, even the people around him," Broncos owner Pat Bowlen said.

Coach Mike Shanahan said Jack Elway was crucial in building the Broncos' two Super Bowl championship teams: "Jack was happy to stay in the background and let others get more public attention, but his position with us was truly invaluable."

For the past two weeks, the elder Elway lent his expertise in the team's pre-draft meetings, working side by side with his son.

John Elway, who retired after winning a second Super Bowl in 1998 and who has designs on owning or running an NFL team, was offering football insight and learning about draft preparations.

Colorado State coach Sonny Lubick, an assistant under Elway at Stanford, called him a "classy, loving person. He was as fine a coach as there was and, more important, as fine a man as there was."

A native of Hoquiam, Wash., Elway played quarterback at Washington State, where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees. During the '60s, he was a high school coach in Washington and Montana. At the college level, he was head coach at Cal State-Northridge (1976-78), San Jose State (1979-83) and Stanford (1984-88). In 34 seasons as a head coach and an assistant in high school, junior college and college, he posted a .650 winning percentage.

Known for his creative, multidimensional offenses, Elway was inducted into the Cal State-Northridge Hall of Fame in 1997. He was inducted into San Jose State's Ring of Honor in 1998, joining a group that included Dick Vermeil and Bill Walsh.

Besides his son, Elway is survived by his wife, Jan; daughters Lee Ann and Jana; and eight grandchildren.

AIKMAN, MOOSE MOVE TO BOOTH: Troy Aikman and former Cowboys teammate Daryl "Moose" Johnston will be reunited in the fall on Fox as game analysts. They will work alongside play-by-play announcer Dick Stockton. "If we can go out there and do a game as if we're in our living room, I think it gives us the opportunity to have something that's pretty exciting," Aikman said. Aikman said the chance to begin his second career helped persuade him to retire as a quarterback after 12 seasons.

BRONCOS: Punter Mike Horan will sign a contract today so he can announce his retirement, the team said. Horan, 42, played 16 seasons including 1987-92 with Denver where he was on three AFC title teams.

CHIEFS: Rams receiver and kick-returner Tony Horne signed an offer sheet, according to CBS SportsLine.com and ESPN.com. The deal is for two years but financial details were not available. The Rams have until Friday to match the offer because Horne is a restricted free agent.

DOLPHINS: The team virtually doubled its salary-cap room, restructuring the contract of receiver O.J. McDuffie, according to CBS SportsLine.com. That gained the team more than $1-million against the cap.

FALCONS: The team re-signed former Florida cornerback Elijah Williams and signed linebacker Artie Ulmer.

JAGUARS: Receiver Jimmy Smith will miss minicamp next week as he recovers from abdominal surgery. ... Unrestricted free-agent center Jeff Smith was re-signed to a one-year contract.

PATRIOTS: Free-agent defensive tackle Brandon Mitchell and long-snapper Lonie Paxton were re-signed. Financial terms were not disclosed.

RAIDERS: Owner Al Davis testified that the NFL owned the rights to Baltimore, St. Louis and Houston when teams there left for other cities, but insisted that his team paid the league for the rights to Los Angeles. "It turned out that way, yes," Davis said when NFL attorney Allen Ruby asked him whether the rights to those three cities had belonged to the league. But the Raiders had to buy the rights to Los Angeles, Davis said in his fifth day of testimony. Davis referred to a settlement between the Raiders and the league in the team's antitrust case against the NFL in the '80s. The team initially was awarded $64-million but later settled for $18-million. Davis considers the other $46-million payment for the territorial rights to Los Angeles. In his $1-billion lawsuit against the league, Davis claims he still owns those rights, despite the fact the team moved from Los Angeles to Oakland in 1995.

TITANS: Defensive tackle Josh Evans signed a one-year contract, three days after finishing a yearlong suspension for violating the league's substance-abuse policy. Financial terms were not disclosed but the team restructured the contract of defensive lineman Henry Ford to help with the Evans deal.