The NFL Draft Chronicles: 1983 Elway to Marino
Remembering the 1983 NFL Draft.
The 1983 NFL Draft produced one of the best quarterback classes of all time. It featured the likes of John Elway of Stanford, Dan Marino of Pitt, Jim Kelly from the University of Miami, and Ken O’Brien from Cal Davis. Three out of the four are Hall of Fame quarterbacks.
This draft sparked the modern-day draft because of the drama behind the scenes. First, the Baltimore Colts were to make Elway the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, but he wasn’t having any of it.
He told the Colts that if they took him as No. 1, he would play baseball. Several teams were interested in Elway, but as we all know, he eventually ended up with the Denver Broncos, where he won two Super Bowls.
The only quarterback on this list to do so. Dan Marino’s journey to Miami is even more interesting. Marino was expected to be the second quarterback to be taken in the draft that year, but it didn’t work out that way.