SANTA CLARA, Calif. — John Elway’s big gamble on his old backup quarterback paid off all right.
Elway wanted a tougher and tougher-minded team than the 2014-15 Broncos that were one-and-done in the playoffs and Gary Kubiak backed him up again.
“We call ourselves the grinders,” Kubiak said after Broncos 24, Panthers 10, in Super Bowl 50. “And we grinded one more time to a championship.”
Kubiak walked a treacherous tightrope when Peyton Manning was severely diminished by plantar fasciitis in his left foot and rehabbed while Brock Osweiler more than held the fort. When Manning was healed enough to return for the playoffs, Kubiak gave him back the football.
“He knew he was on a good football team,” Kubiak said. “I’m just so proud of him and what he did to make his way back and what he meant to this group.”
Kubiak became the first coach to win a Super Bowl for the same team for which he played in a Super Bowl. He joined Tom Flores and Mike Ditka as the third coach to win the Super Bowl as a head coach for the team he played for. He became the fourth coach to win a Super Bowl in his first year as head coach of that team.
“I came to a really good football team. I know that,” Kubiak said. “We asked them to make some concessions along the way. We were going to be a different type of team. We’re very young upfront offensively, so we were going to be built a little bit different. We knew defensively, that was the strength of our team. We had to teach our guys that we were going to win a little bit different way and those type of things.”
Kubiak installed his offense, asked Manning to adapt, and slayed Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady and Cam Newton.
“I’ve been doing this a long time,” Kubiak said. “If you’re going to win a championship, you’re going to have to beat good guys, you’re going to have to do it over the course of a month. I’ve been telling the players all year long, ‘It’s one thing to be in the playoffs, but can you be the best team for one month at that time?’ We found a way to do that.”
Asked if he could imagine winning a Super Bowl after never getting there in Houston, Kubiak said: “Yeah, in my wildest imagination, I did. I knew I wanted to keep coaching. I felt like I was a good football coach.
“Those things happen in football, and I got very fortunate to get an opportunity in Baltimore [as offensive coordinator last season], which was very special to me, and it helped me as I ended up here. So life is fair.”
