Happy birthday: 'The Drive' turns 30

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- It has launched countless backyard BBQ conversations between strangers hoping to find a little common ground before the food is done, been a part of family gatherings for three decades and is as tightly woven into the fabric of life in the Rocky Mountain region as the mountains themselves.

Thirty years ago Wednesday, John Elway and the Denver Broncos authored “The Drive," that 15-play, 98-yard slice of history that folks still ask Elway about even now as goes about the business of football legend who also happens to go about the business of being the Broncos’ top football decision-maker these days.

The particulars can be recited by many in the Broncos’ faithful, as quickly…