John Elway is the NFL’s consummate quarterback. He consumes opponents with his legendary arm, dashing runs, and incredible will to win.His statistical feats made him suitable for framing at the Hall of Fame long ago. His miracle fourth-quarter comeback victories have become commonplace. His mountain-man ruggedness has endeared him to both peers and fans, who saw him lift the Denver Broncos onto his back and then carry them to three Super Bowls, the closest thing to a one-man team in modern times.

But Elway has tested the ultimate boundaries of his will and skills in ways he never could have imagined at Stanford, where he was college football’s ultimate Golden Boy.

When he arrived in the NFL in 1983, many scouts believed he has the potential to be the best quarterback ever. But Elway played like a bumbling parody of himself during his first two disappointing seasons with the Broncos, providing easy fodder for his critics, some of whom never forgave him for refusing to play for the Baltimore Colts, the team that selected him first in the 1983 draft.

Elway forced the trade that sent him to Denver, but even the Broncos famously fervent fans were asking the same question a national magazine posed in 1985: Whatever happened to John Elway? Later Elway would come to clash with coach Dan Reeves, whose constricted, conservative offense sheathed his brilliance. Later, Elway would cry out, I’m suffocating! because of the relentless scrutiny of Denver’s media, which reported hi life as thoroughly as the Washington press corps does the President’s.

But Elway also developed into one of the greatest football players of any time, and into a timeless hero to his fans. In these hip fleeting times, Elway is a throwback to football’s golden past, when winning and fighting to win were more important than pots of gold and Q ratings. John Elway: Armed and Dangerous is the story of the rise and fall-and eventual triumph of one of sport’s most enduring, endearing stars. It is the story of Elway’s relationship with his dad, a college coach who raised his son to play like tough, feisty Bobby Layne.

It’s a story of a great escape artist who dodged disaster on and off the field with rare aplomb. It’s the story of a Golden Boy who steeled himself in crises so that his rare talents wouldn’t be wasted. It’s the story of a 36-year-old man who, in his final few seasons, is determined to become the greatest quarterback ever.