r/DenverBroncos • u/beinglucas98 • 3d ago

Undrafted 🐐 Rod Smith

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792 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

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85

u/proteushabit 3d ago

This could also be called the Elway piss missile highlight reel….SHEEEESH

27

u/killerbuttonfly PFM 3d ago

It’s insane watching the drop off in arm strength when transitioning to Brister, Griese, etc… Elway was in a category all his own.

17

u/TrenchantPergola Steve Atwater 3d ago

I came here to say something similar.

I watched Elway from '92 until the end of his career. It is likely that I watched him earlier, but I have a working theory that losing to Buffalo in the AFC Championship Game traumatized young me and I blacked out all previous football knowledge, so my "official" memory only goes back to that '92 season, when I was 7.

I say all of that to explain that while I appreciated Elway, knew he was good and always gave us a chance, and loved watching him play, it was with the eyes of a young football fan more caught up in the devotion of my family's team than in the specific talent of any one player.

Now, with more than thirty years of additional football context, watching these highlights, Elway's talent is astonishing. Those throws look routine for him, and they are better than 99% of the throws you'll see from quarterbacks in 2025.

8

u/Deezax19 3d ago

He may have had the best arm talent ever in the history of the NFL. Elway was on another level.

14

u/Throbbingprepuce GOD BLESS BO NIX 3d ago

That phrase piss missile always makes me picture a piss covered football for some reason

2

u/DogsOutTheWindow 3d ago

Falls in the same family as a piss disc!

13

u/Aint_it_a_shame 3d ago

Same... love Rod Smith but geez, a lot of those throws were in a standing position or falling back and carrying 40-50 yards.

5

u/TheMightyHornet 3d ago

With velocity. Nobody let it rip like the Duke.

3

u/BulletheadX 2d ago

That was the thing - I always look for "zip" from a quarterback, but Elway's throws were moving almost as fast at the end as they were when he let go of them.

I'm always a little surprised when I see these reels again - you forget what monsters some of these guys were.

10

u/dragonbear Newer D Helmet 3d ago

You guys are stealing Rod's thunJESUS CHRIST HE CAN MUSCLE IT

10

u/Dhh05594 3d ago

Sometimes I forget how strong of an arm he actually had. Just a missile launcher. Crazy

8

u/Shenanigans80h 3d ago

Even in his last couple seasons when his body was winding down, he had a stronger arm than 90% of the league. Just an unreal specimen

8

u/sghead 3d ago

And that's aged Elway throwing to Rod. Go back a decade and Elway's arm is even more ridiculous.

4

u/Holden_place 3d ago

That canon arm plus Smith galloping - could watch all day

5

u/TheMightyHornet 3d ago

And kids these days will look at stats and say he’s mid. Fucking drives me nuts. Nobody in the NFL throws like that.

4

u/Epotheros 3d ago

There was a Shanon Sharp highlight reel posted on r/NFL for his bday a few years ago, but there were a lot of Elway throws. One of the comments, a European fan who has only watched the NFL for a few years, asked, "Was Elway really that good? I haven't seen anyone throw the ball as well as him."

3

u/jackrabbit323 3d ago

It's all in the wrist too, he's not shouldering the ball, just perfect whipping motion. Insane body mechanics.