When John Elway took the job as executive vice president of the Denver Broncos, he told team owner Pat Bowlen that he was only taking the position in order to win Super Bowl championships.
To compete for titles, Elway knew he had to have a championship-caliber quarterback in Denver. Elway now feels he has that guy in Peyton Manning -- who was formally introduced as a Bronco on Tuesday -- which immediately put Tim Tebow's status in Denver in limbo.
Elway addressed the Tebow situation during Tuesday's news conference, and said there's a possibility that Tebow Time was over in the Rocky Mountains.
"It is a possibility," Elway said, "and he knows that's a possibility."
Five teams already have expressed interest in the Broncos' one-time starting quarterback, a league source told NFL Network's Michael Lombardi on Tuesday, with the New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars the front runners.
Elway said that he and head coach John Fox called Tebow on Monday night to deliver the news that Manning had taken his role as starting quarterback.
"(We) talked to him about it," Elway said. "This is a tough business. The things he did last year were tremendous."
Elway added: "We had to make a decision as an organization on what would be the best opportunity for the Denver Broncos to be competitive for a world championship," Elway added. "Peyton Manning was the best (option)."
Elway said he got the sense that Tebow was disappointed, but said Tebow remained upbeat throughout the conversation in typical fashion.
Elway said Tebow told him, "We're talking about Peyton Manning, and I understand exactly what you're doing."
Manning told reporters that he hasn't reached out to Tebow, yet, but spoke highly of his future as an NFL quarterback -- be it in Denver or somewhere else.
"Let me just say this, I know what kind of player Tim Tebow is and what kind of person he is," Manning said. "If Tim Tebow is here next year, I'm going to be the best teammate I can for him. ... Those are decisions that have to be made by other people ... and those conversations never did come up with me."
