That’s Broncos executive John Elway with a tee in his mouth (Associated Press)

John Elway spent last year getting asked about Tim Tebow. Now, the Broncos executive VP gets asked about Peyton Manning. It’s cool. He understands. As Elway told me before a practice round of the American Heritage Celebrity Golf Championship, those queries will persist until everyone sees Manning throw.

But what Elway wanted to talk about was balance. The running game. As he figured out through his career, the best way to earn a Super Bowl ring is to be able to do a lot of things as an offense, rather than just wing it.

“If that’s one thing that I ever learned, having been through three Super Bowls where we didn’t run the football very well (it’s that you need to run it),” Elway told me. “Once we did get it and win Super Bowls, we had great balance and were able to run the ball as well as throw it and play good defense and special teams. So, that’s so important to be able to get a football team that’s capable of competing for world championships. You always gotta get a little bit lucky, but you gotta have all phases to win it all.”

No surprise, then, that Elway earned his two Super Bowl rings after his team unleashed RB Terrell Davis on defenses. That helped. But as for Manning… “Everybody feels comfortable, especially Peyton, about where he is,” Elway said.

Check out my story on NFL.com for more on the Broncos, the running game, and Manning.

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