Rovell: How John Elway missed out on a fortune

Broncos owner Pat Bowlen and John Elway (with head coach Mike Shanahan) at Elway's retirement in 1999.The document was dated Sept. 23, 1998, and it contained, at least in retrospect, John Elway's golden ticket to a lifetime fortune.

The deal: Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen would give Elway the right to buy 10 percent of the Broncos for $15 million. Bowlen would also give him the option to buy another 10 percent of the franchise by forgoing the deferred salary Bowlen owed him on the condition Elway would become a special assistant to Bowlen, which would eventually lead to a COO job. That total deferred salary? About $21 million.

But there was even more that made the deal a no-lose…