Endzone Sports' Equip Mngr Interview ???

[EndzoneSports]

For the January update of our "Game Used News" page at Endzone Sports' web site (http://endzone.pscoggin.com/gunews.htm), we will be interviewing Larry Elliott, long-time equipment manager of the Denver Broncos (1965-82). Looking to get Mr. Elliott's perspective on how the EM's job has changed over the decades, we're asking for your help. If you have any questions of a general nature that you would like us to pose as part of this Q&A session, please submit them here by noon Friday, Dec. 9 for consideration. Then check our web site after Jan. 1 to see the transcript of our interview with Mr. Elliott.

[rbalm]

Patrick.

Thanks for letting us participate. I was wondering if you could ask him if John Elway wore Champion jerseys, especially his rookie year?

Thanks
Adam

[EndzoneSports]

Patrick.

Thanks for letting us participate. I was wondering if you could ask him if John Elway wore Champion jerseys, especially his rookie year?

Thanks
Adam

Adam-

Keeping in mind that Larry's tenure with the Broncos only lasted through '82 and Elway's first year was '83, I doubt that he would have much specific knowledge about this topic. While I have spoken with his successor (Bill Harpole) on this topic in the past, he wasn't of much help either. With credit to my friend Mark Hayne for the analogy, keep in mind that most equipment manager's specific memory about what brand of jersey was used in what year is akin to asking an office manager what brand of letterhead he was using 15 years ago. It's probably not something that they can recall with a great amount of detail. While we as collectors tend to obsess over it, to them it was just a commodity... a tool of the trade.

With that said, I'll do my best to offer an answer. In our research, which we've documented in part at our web site, weve uncovered positive photographic evidence that shows Elway (and apparently Elway ONLY) wearing Champion road (white) jerseys during the 1985 and '86 seasons (see the Appendix sections of http://endzone.pscoggin.com/Uni_1985.pdf and http://endzone.pscoggin.com/Uni_1986.pdf). One collector who has acquired one of these jerseys has an accompanying letter from a team source stating that the jersey was worn by Elway from 1983 through 1988. We have not, however, been able to confirm (though game-dated photographic evidenece) the use of this style jersey for any years other that the two previously mentioned.

Best regards,

[kyle6338]

Hey Patrick,
I was hoping I could still pose a question that you could possibly ask, even though the deadline has passed. My question, although Larry may not be able to answer it, was regarding the use of tearaway jersey's. When were they used, what players does he know used them, and when were they finally put to rest. I appreciate it.
-Kyle Meyer
Kyle.Meyer@colorado.edu

[EndzoneSports]

Hey Patrick,
I was hoping I could still pose a question that you could possibly ask, even though the deadline has passed. My question, although Larry may not be able to answer it, was regarding the use of tearaway jersey's. When were they used, what players does he know used them, and when were they finally put to rest. I appreciate it.
-Kyle Meyer
Kyle.Meyer@colorado.edu

Kyle-
We've already submitted the first series of questions to Larry, but I'll see if there's a way that I can work this in as a follow-up.

[EndzoneSports]

The Game-Used News page at our web site--The Broncos Endzone--has been updated including our exclusive interview with former Broncos equipment manager Larry Elliott. The Q&A session with Mr. Elliott can be viewed at http://endzone.pscoggin.com/gunews.htm.

Regards,

[Eric]

Patrick-

Insightful piece. Nice work. Interesting to hear the reasoning behind all of the little details we constantly wonder about.

On a separate note, I continued reading the articles below that one on the same page and thought this was worth pointing out to members of the forum regarding the typical number of jerseys and helmets. It can be found here.
http://endzone.pscoggin.com/gunews.htm
Eric
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Broncos.com Interview Valenti (9/7/05). As a collector of game-used jerseys, one’s best friend could easily be the team’s equipment manager. Not necessarily as a source of items for the collection, but at the very least as a source of information about the items that are being collected.

Earlier this summer denverbroncos.com interviewed Broncos’ current equipment manager Chris Valenti and queried him on several aspects of his job. Several of his responses to questions posed provided information of particular interest to Broncos’ uniform/jersey collectors. From this interview it can be determined that the current practice is that each player is issued one (each home and road) jersey for the entire season. Each player also has a back up jersey prepared in case the primary one becomes unusable for some reason.

The uniforms are hand scrubbed, laundered and repaired each week with the goal of making everything look new. Like the jerseys and pants, helmets receive touch-up paint and are re-decaled on a weekly basis in order to maintain a polished appearance.

Players will generally use the same helmet for the entire year and are given the helmet at years’ end. Regarding purported game-worn helmets being offered on eBay, Valenti states that since “the helmets are actually given to each of the players at the end of every season so if it is being sold, it would have been obtained from the player himself.”
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