Video: Arrowhead Flusters John Elway, Ref Threatens To Penalize Chiefs For Crowd Noise
By Brett Gering
To this day, John Elway remains the poster boy for the rivalry between the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs. If you think otherwise, the following video would like two minutes for rebuttal.
Redittor ChromaticKs, who uploaded the footage, dates this particular game back to Week 14 of the 1990 season. Not unlike this year, the Chiefs had already lost a nail-biter at Denver in the second week. On this Sunday, they shouldered a three-point deficit at the half.
When a revamped Kansas City squad exited the locker room, the plot took a U-turn, which ultimately resulted in an audible assault.
Elway and Co. found themselves at their 1-yard line, loathing whomever included earholes in the helmet design. Predictably, the Arrowhead faithful let their feelings known, (painfully) loud and clear.
On the first play, Elway’s archenemy, Derrick Thomas, fakes the rush and drops into coverage. Bill Maas, however, beats his man on the opposite end of the formation, while Percy Snow trucks the running back as he blitzes up the middle. Said pressure forces an errant pass to the flat.
The Broncos then line up for second down, shifting Kerry Porter out of the backfield. He then goes into motion, triggering the left tackle to leave his stance prematurely, which only amplifies the surrounding megaphones.
Denver takes another crack at it and returns to the line. Ten of the 11 Broncos ready up for the next play while their quarterback, with hands on hips, complains to the official. He briefly crouches under center, takes one look at his slot receiver—who’s giving a “I can’t hear my thoughts” gesture—and backs away from the line.
Third time’s a charm?
Elway gets under center for a half-second, stands, places both hands on his hands and glares at the official with a defeated, “I’ll take my ball and go home” stare.
He returns under center. He stands back up. Once again, play is stopped.
The camera switches to Kansas City’s sideline, showing Marty Schottenheimer and the gloriousness that is Bill Cowher’s mustache.
When it cuts back to the field, the official turns on his microphone and addresses Arrowhead: “Any further crowd-noise problem will result in a charged timeout against Kansas City. Thank you for your cooperation.”
Eventually, the Chiefs, behind a Barry Word-led ground attack and three-touchdown performance by Steve DeBerg, scored 21 second-half points en route to a 31-20 win.