FROM FRUIT TO FOOTBALLS; ELWAY'S EX-NEIGHBORS GOT AN EARLY GLIMPSE OF HIS STRONG ARM.Byline: Lee Barnathan Daily News Staff Writer Jack Mutz Jr. remembers John Elway John Albert Elway, Jr. (born June 28, 1960) played American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Denver Broncos from 1983 through 1998. Elway holds many college and professional records and was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and is the only before he was throwing passes in the NFL NFL abbr. National Football League NFL (US) n abbr (= National Football League) → Fußball-Nationalliga . When he was throwing fruit at neighbors' houses. Mutz lived 10 houses down from the Elways on Celtic Street in Northridge 20 years ago. ``We were 17, acting like idiots,'' Mutz said this week from his Chandler, Ariz., home. ``We terrorized people. We were always throwing oranges and lemons
One time, Elway threw an orange so hard it went through a screen door about 80 feet away. The woman who lived there came out and blamed Mutz for it. Apparently she didn't know about Elway's rocket arm - the one he would use to build his legend for the Denver Broncos. ``He had an incredible arm,'' said Mutz, now a professional groundskeeper in the golf course industry. Mutz said Elway could stand 10 feet from the Granada Hills High right-field fence and throw home on the fly with the ball never rising more than three feet off the ground. Actually, Mutz knew more about Elway than just his arm. When the Elways moved to Northridge from Pullman, Wash., in 1976, Mutz met a quiet, reserved boy with pigeon toes Noun 1. pigeon toes - disability in which the toes are turned inward; often associated with knock-knee disability, disablement, handicap, impairment - the condition of being unable to perform as a consequence of physical or mental unfitness; "reading disability"; and a noticeable chest bone who liked basketball more than baseball or football. No matter the sport, Elway was a fierce competitor. ``If he could spit farther, he would,'' Mutz said. Because of his awkward appearance, Elway often was teased at school, Mutz said. Elway took it in stride Adv. 1. in stride - without losing equilibrium; "she took all his criticism in stride" in good spirits , usually coming back with some witty retort. Then on Friday night, he would win a football game. ``I'd see people who teased him Thursday come up to him on Monday and high-five him. They couldn't believe it,'' Mutz said. Mutz's father, Jack Sr., assistant athletic director Athletic director (commonly, "athletics director") is a position at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, which oversees the work of the coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic at The Master's College History The Master's College was founded as Los Angeles Baptist Theological Seminary on May 25, 1927 to meet the need for a fundamental Baptist school on the West Coast. in Santa Clarita, also knew of Elway's successes but said Elway didn't let them go to his head. Elway owned a big white car he nicknamed Luke, probably in honor of Luke Skywalker from ``Star Wars.'' Mutz, Elway and about six other guys would pile in and laugh it up as John drove Luke in circles along dirt roads. ``He was a normal kid,'' Mutz said. |
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