NFL legend John Elway has struggled to deal with the death of his longtime agent, Jeff Sperbeck, after a freak golf cart accident that occurred in April.
A source told Page Six that the Broncos icon “is not coping well with the loss and the accident” and that Elway “has been really upset and withdrawn.”
Sperbeck died at the age of 62 in April after he fell off a golf cart Elway was driving at the Madison Club in La Quinta, California.
Since the tragedy, the source described Elway as being “very down” and that “he is not his usual upbeat self” compared to his usual “man about town” personality.
The 911 call Elway made to get his friend help was released on Tuesday, according to TMZ.
The call is heavily redacted and Elway is heard telling the 911 operator that “we were on a golf cart and he fell off the golf cart.”
“He fell off the golf cart,” Elway said. “He was on the back and he fell off the golf cart.”
Sperbeck was taken to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs and placed on life support before he died four days later on April 30.
The death was ruled by the coroner to be the result of “blunt head trauma,” and it was ruled the manner of death was an “accident.”
The Riverside County (California) Sheriff’s Office said Friday that it had found no criminal activity and that the death was an accident.
“It’s over,’’ Riverside sheriff Chad Bianco said to 9NEWS. “We’ve talked to everyone involved and we found nothing new. There was nothing criminal, it was what we’ve been saying all along that this was a tragic accident.”
Sperbeck had been Elway’s agent since the 1990s and later became business partners, opening the 7Cellars winery together.
Elway won two Super Bowls as a member of the Broncos and won a third ring as the team’s general manager.
Elway released a statement expressing “profound sadness” over Sperbeck’s death.
“I feel with the sudden loss of someone who has meant so much to me,” Elways said. “My heart and deepest sympathies go out to Jeff’s wife, Cori; his children Carly, Sam and Jackson; and everyone who knew and loved him. Jeff will be deeply missed for the loyalty, wisdom, friendship and love he brought into my life and the lives of so many others.”
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