No Charges for Elway in Fatal Golf Cart Accident

UPDATE Jul 14, 2025 8:30 AM CDT

NFL great John Elway will not face charges in a freak fatal accident involving his former agent in California, reports USA Today. "There was nothing criminal," Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco tells Denver TV station 9News. Jeff Sperbeck fell out of a golf cart being driven by the former QB, and the sheriff says the subsequent investigation found no negligence on Elway's part. It was a "tragic accident," he says.

Apr 30, 2025 5:30 PM CDT

The business partner and former agent of NFL great John Elway died Wednesday of injuries suffered when he fell out of a golf cart being driven by the Hall of Famer. Jeff Sperbeck, 62, hit his head on asphalt on Saturday in a private golfing community in La Quinta, California, TMZ reports. He was placed on life support in a Palm Springs hospital. The death is being investigated by the Riverside County Sheriff's Office, per the Denver Post.

Elway, Sperbeck, and family members were leaving a party after attending the Stagecoach music festival earlier in the day when the fall occurred. No one else was injured. Sperbeck represented Elway, longtime quarterback of the Denver Broncos, during his playing career. The friends opened a winery together in 2013, per the Post.