Broncos Make John Elway Announcement on Friday

The Broncos will host the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday with a chance to get back to the Super Bowl for the first time since that Manning-led team in 2015. Regardless of the outcome, it will be the final game (and the coldest) of the season at Empower Field at Mile High, so the Broncos pulled out all the stops.

On Friday, the Broncos announced that Elway, 65, will serve as the honorary captain for the AFC Championship Game. The team shared the news on social media with a graphic of Elway wearing his gold Hall of Fame jacket and holding the three Lombardi Trophies he won as a member of the franchise.

"The Duke is our Honorary Captain for the AFC Championship Game," said the post, punctuated by a goat emoji.

Against the Patriots, the Broncos will be without one of their usual team captains, starting quarterback Bo Nix. The ankle injury Nix suffered in the final minutes of the 33-30 win against the Buffalo Bills last week means that backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham will take over for the first playoff start of his NFL career this weekend.

With Elway in the house, Stidham and the 2025 Broncos team have the opportunity to become legends in their own right and earn a place in Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara against either the Seattle Seahawks or the Los Angeles Rams. The Broncos-Patriots game kicks off at 3 p.m. ET on CBS.