John Elway the man doesn't want Elway the punk-rock band to use his name

By Michael Roberts Fri., May 27 2011 at 11:03 AM

Categories: Sports

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John Elway.

John Elway's got a lot on his plate right now, what with the Denver Broncos coming off their worst season in ages and an NFL lockout preventing his new coach, John Fox, from being able to work with players new and old. But somehow, he's found time to inform members of a punk-rock band named Elway that he'd like them to change their name. Could Westword be partly responsible?

Andy Thomas profiled Elway the band in our May 11 issue, noting that the musicians picked the moniker after deciding that their previous handle, 10-4 Eleanor, was "terrible." The Elway name has "tongue-in-cheek connotations," Thomas writes, but suggests that it gives the group "a little head start."

Elway the band.

True enough -- but maybe not in the way the guys imagined. As originally reported in PunkNews.org, the band received a letter from Elway's lawyer requesting a name change. Vocalist/guitarist Tim Browne's response? "Of course, any Coloradoan worth their salt might point out the absurdity of Mr. Elway's insistence on legally strongarming a virtually unknown punk band rather than focusing his attention on mending the badly broken Denver Broncos," he writes in a statement to PunkNews.org, "but that's a whole different issue."

Whatever the case, the story's already worked its way into the national sports press, with NBC Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio opining that "the name really isn't all that compelling or creative, especially since one of their songs is called 'Patrick's Scarf is So Douche.'" Still, Florio acknowledges that "they're getting some decent exposure because of the emerging flap, due in part to the fact that not much else is going on."

Indeed, football news is so slow that Florio and his colleagues may "start an acapella rap group. Maybe we'll call it Favray's Junk."

For more details, check out Dave Herrera's post on our Backbeat blog. In the meantime, rock on.

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