The messages came trickling in one by one, from former colleagues with the Denver Broncos and others across the league.
When Brian Callahan left the Broncos days after winning the Super Bowl in February to take over as Lions quarterbacks coach, one person after another reached out to congratulate him on the job.
There was Gary Kubiak, his boss with the Broncos and a longtime former NFL quarterback. There was Greg Knapp, Denver’s esteemed passing-game coordinator and a coach whose quarterbacks have made 11 Pro Bowls. And there was John Elway, the Broncos general manager and a Hall of Fame quarterback in his playing days.