Ex-Broncos teammate Terrell Davis welcomes John Elway escaping the spotlight: 'Enjoy it, big man'

Apr. 13—Terrell Davis can identify with John Elway.

Like Elway, Davis is a Broncos legend, a Super Bowl MVP and a Hall of Famer. "TD" has followed with interest his former teammate moving on after his contractual association with the Broncos came to an end in March.

"It's a point in his life where it's time to get out of the spotlight for him," the former All-Pro running back said in a wide-ranging interview with The Denver Gazette. "He's been in the spotlight as a player or as an executive and that stuff wears on you, and sometimes you just want to just go play golf and live the life that you've created. You got to do what you got to do. Play your golf. Your kids are grown. You're an empty nester. Enjoy it, big man."

Elway, 62, was a legendary Broncos quarterback from 1983-98, leading them to two Super Bowl victories, and was their general manager from 2011-20, a tenure that included another Super Bowl win. After George Paton took over as general manager in 2021, Elway spent that season as president of football operations and then in 2022 was a consultant to Paton.

"He's always going to be synonymous with the Broncos whether he's officially associated with them or not," Davis said. "Whenever you think about the Broncos, you think about Elway."

Davis, 50, also was one of the team's biggest stars, and he also has taken a step out of the limelight. After being an NFL Network analyst from 2009-21, he departed and moved with his family from the Los Angeles area back to the Denver area.

Davis has some business ventures. But much of his time in his two years back in Colorado has been spent, along with his wife Tamiko, raising their kids, sons Jaxon, 12, and Myles, 10, and daughter Dylan, 8.

"Day-to-day is just being around them, trying to help raise them and involved in their sports," said Davis, who played for the Broncos from 1995-2001, was MVP of Super Bowl XXXII in January 1998 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017. "Coaching them in flag football, and that's the fun part right now.

"It was two-fold (leaving NFL Network). The kids were growing up, and I wanted to spend more time with them, and you get to a point when it's time to move on and get into something else."