As a Broncos fan it pains me to ask this, but what if Elway stayed in Indy?
When John was drafted, they were going into their final season as the Baltimore Colts.
If Elway stays, though, that means (according to ex-Colt GM Ernie Accorsi. I found this out after reading his book, The GM) that Accorsi kept his mouth shut after Elway called him.
The story goes like this: Elway called Ernie a few days or so after the draft. He agreed to play in Baltimore, and he told Accorsi that he would call back when things died down. However, Ernie said that he made the mistake of telling the owner, and Robert Irsay traded John to Denver that night (thank goodness. I am a Denver fan as well).
Accorsi said that he was going to tell John that he wasn't wedded to HC Frank Kush (John's dad didn't like him. He was a wannabe Bobby Knight. His dad, Jack, was a player's coach) because he didn't hire him (Accorsi wasn't GM in 1982. D. Syzmanski was. Accorsi was just handed the job by Irsay). Ernie also thought that they eventually would have had to sign Elway, and that the Colts would have ended up staying in Baltimore because of the excitement that Elway would have brought to the fan base.
As for the Broncos, I could see them sticking with Steve DeBerg for the next few seasons (or maybe even giving Mark Herrmann a shot. Dan Reeves liked him). DeBerg was an underrated QB. He had no defense in San Francisco, and he played on some bad TB teams.