Yes, The Yankees Really Drafted John Elway Ahead Of Tony Gwynn

Image credit: PALO ALTO, CA - APRIL 1980: Future NFL quarterback John Elway of Stanford University at bat during an NCAA baseball game against USC in April 1980 at Sunken Diamond stadium in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by David Madison/Getty Images)

Topps officially announced this morning that one of the big chase cards in the 2024 Bowman Draft release will feature NFL legend John Elway in a Yankees jersey.

And the card is more than just a clever way to drive interest in the release — it’s actually something that came pretty close to happening.

The Royals actually drafted Elway out of high school in the 18th round of the 1979 draft. He instead decided to attend Stanford, where he played both football and baseball.

As a freshman, Elway played the outfield and hit a respectable .269. But in his sophomore season in 1981, he dialed it up to the tune of a .361 average with nine homers and 50 RBIs in 49 games.

People started paying attention to Elway, including Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

“George was enamored with the idea of John,” Yankees scout Gary Hughes told ESPN in 2013. “‘We’ve got to have this guy. He’s going to be great. He’s going to be a Yankee.'”

So in the second round of the 1981 draft, the Yankees took Elway No. 52 overall, six spots ahead of when the Padres drafted Tony Gwynn. (Also drafted that year after Elway? David Cone, Paul O’Neill, John Franco, Mark McGwire, Fred McGriff, Roger Clemens and Vince Coleman)

Elway signed for $140,000 and played for Class-A Oneonta in 1982. After a slow start, he hit .356 in July to finish the season at .318/.432/.896. The Yankees were convinced that he could be a big-time player. He even ranked as Baseball America’s No. 1 Yankees prospect in 1983. Here’s an excerpt:

“The arm he had is a gift from God,” longtime Stanford coach Mark Marquess told MLB.com in 2015. “He could’ve been a Major League player. He’s left-handed [as a hitter]. He’s got power. He’s athletic. He’s got a cannon for an arm … I’ve never seen any athlete — in football or baseball — with that arm.”

But Elway was torn — he still loved football and wanted to play. As the 1983 NFL Draft neared, the Yankees tried to get him to choose baseball for his future, and when Elway was drafted first overall by the Baltimore Colts (an organization he didn’t mesh with), it looked like his future might lie in pinstripes.

But not long after, the Colts traded Elway to the Denver Broncos, he chose football and the rest is history.

So much like last year’s Bowman Draft chase of Tom Brady in an Expos uniform (he was drafted by them in 1995), this year’s Elway Yankees card chase is a fun tribute to what might have been. Here’s the commercial Topps dropped today, featuring the actor — and Larry David’s voice — who played George Steinbrenner on Seinfeld, Stephen A. Smith and a mythical backstory of the whole situation: