Hall of Fame Broncos quarterback John Elway was behind the wheel when his longtime agent, Jeff Sperbeck, fell off a golf cart Saturday night and suffered injuries that have left him on life support, according to TMZ.
The 61-year-old Sperbeck’s prognosis is “not good” and doctors told his family “there’s no hope he will recover,” TMZ previously reported.
He was on the back of the cart as Elway was driving, and the two-time Super Bowl winner’s business partner reportedly hit his head on asphalt at the private Madison Club community in La Quinta, Calif.
Sperbeck was transported to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs after Elway called 911, TMZ reported.
Elway and Sperbeck attended the Stagecoach music festival earlier Saturday with their wives and had just left a party when the accident happened, the report said.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation after being made aware of the incident on Monday, according to News Channel 3 in Palm Springs.
Sperbeck, who was an agent for 30 years, represented Elway starting in the 1990s before the two became business partners, later starting a winery called 7Cellars, a nod to Elway’s jersey number.
Elway, 64, retired after winning a second straight Super Bowl to cap the 1998 season, when he finished as the game’s MVP.
A nine-time Pro Bowler and the 1987 MVP, Elway is 12th in NFL history with 51,475 yards passing and 14th all-time with 300 touchdown passes.
He later became the Broncos’ general manager and executive vice president of football operations in 2011, leading them to a win in Super Bowl 50 in Peyton Manning’s final season.
Elway became president of football operations in 2021 and was a team consultant for one season in 2022 before stepping away from the team’s front office.