NFL legend John Elway on Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Super Bowl

>>> welcome back to " morning joe ." joining us now to talk a little football, two-time super bowl -winning quarterback, current executive vice president of the broncos, john elway . john now currently also serving part of the dove and men journey to comfort campaign. good to have you with us.

>> thank you. it's good to be here.

>> let's talk about the incredible season you guys had. some people thought you were taking a chance bringing peyton manning in because of his injury, the surgery he had. he sat out the season prior. but you said it wasn't that tough of a decision to bring him in.

>> i think we got in the sweepstakes, and when they released him in indianapolis, we got in the sweepstakes, had him sit down, talk to him, realized where he was. and when you have a mind like peyton manning and a drive like peyton manning , if there was anybody that was going to come off like he did, it was going to be peyton manning . so once he chose us, we felt good about the fact that he was going to be able to come back and have the year he had.

>> can you explain what makes peyton manning so special. his arm, i don't want know if it blows you away, the way john elway 's arm did, but what is it about him, the way physically and mentally that makes him great?

>> that's where you get the advantage, on the mental side. obviously, he's a great athlete or he wouldn't be able to play in the nfl . but definitely, his advantage is on the mental side, and he tries to get coverage before he gets the ball. in the old days, when i was playing, we read coverage on our drop. he wants to know what it is before the ball snapped and then it gets us in a good play against that defensive. he gives us that advantage. he'll get you off bad play and into a good one.

>> he's a coach on the field.

>> john, before we get into the super bowl , the more substantiative stuff in the tease, of course the picture of tebow , if manning was not available in the sweepstakes, would you have stayed with him another year? we all know what happened in new york, what a disaster. clearly he had that great run for you guys. manning is not on the board this year. would you have gone with him this year?

>> when we finished the season after, you know, in '11, the plan was to come back and bring competition in and see what happened. so, but the way that things played out, peyton was out there, available, we happened to sell him and have him come to denver . so coming out of the 11th season, tim was going to be our starter. but we were going to bring people in.

>> so if you talk to some people privately in the new york jets' organization and there was this outcry, the way sanchez was playing, why don't you put tebow in and give him a shot. he said, because we've watched him in practice, he is not a starting quarterback in the nfl . he does not give us a good chance to win. do you think tim tebow should be a starting quarterback in the nfl at this point?

>> the jets made the decision that they should stay with sanchez and went with mcelroy when sanchez went down. tim can be a quarterback, but that situation has to be right.

>> do you think he can find a job somewhere?

>> we'll see. you never know. i'm glad we've got peyton manning in denver and we're going to ride on him.

>> it's interesting, because in some ways, the legal has already evolved from the wildcat offense, and tebow is almost already kind of old news. but you talk about the super bowl and rg3 and the way they've played. they've taken the wildcat and become a different type of player. my question to you, you're still a big, strong guy . and rg3 isn't quite as big as you. can guys run like that in the nfl and have ten-year careers? because it's scary to watch them sometimes.

>> you know, i think they can if they're smart with it. and the bottom line is, you look at what collin did, when he had 185 yards rushing in the divisional playoff round, he didn't get hit a whole lot. you know, rg3 i love the way he plays, his athletic ability and all that, i think he'll realize as time goes, when he take the hits and when he can't. it's tough as a competitor, because i always felt like if you went feet first, you're losing five yards. it's such a weapon to have offensively, and if you do it right, it puts so much pressure on the defense.

>> one of the guys who lost last week, tom brady . if he'd won and gone to the next super bowl , these whole two weeks would have been a conversation about, is he the greatest quarterback of all time. if he wins a fourth super bowl , joins his idol, joe montana , terry bradshaw . where do you put tom brady in the pantheon of great quarterbacks. some people say, he came out hot early, but of late hasn't been able to get that ring.

>> he's going to always be in the discussion. as long as tom plays, he's going to be in the discussion of who's the best of all time. you talk about the three super bowl wins that he's had, plus, he's been close, lost two, been there five times, and they've been in the ac championship game , like this year, that they lost. but it takes a lot to get there and it takes a team to win a championship. so tom brady will always be in that discussion. and as time goes on, and as i said with peyton , i think if we give peyton a couple more world championships , and peyton 's going to be in that discussion forever too. so for me, it comes down to, i mean, how many world championships have you been able to win.

>> it's kind of the reverse of your situation. you have early frustration in the big game and then late success. and he's had early success winning the super bowls and now he's had these disappointments, from the undefeated season in '07 and on. i guess not to give him advice, but how do you keep getting to believe that you can get that done when you're having those frustrations of losing the super bowl ?

>> well, he's tasted it, so he knows what it feels like to win one, which is the ultimate win. to be world championships , the ultimate win as a quarterback, a football player, that's what you play for. so that's the ultimate win. so he's got a taste of that. i think as he realizes, the older he gets, he still has much drive as he had when he was younger, but i think he sees the end of the tunnel coming. so the drive -- the thing is, he will have more drive now than he's ever had and chase that. he knows how to win it, we know that. so it's a matter of just putting it all together as a team again.

>> really quickly, before we go, a game coming up a week from sunday, who do you like?

>> two good football teams. i think if you look at the teams on paper, you're going to take the 49ers. i think if you look at the emotional side, the career that ray lewis has had, they've been riding those emotions, did it in denver , did it last week in new england, so it's hard to quantify the emotional side to the talent side, but i also believe in championship, in the super bowl , in world championship games, that the best team is going to win. that's why, i think, the 49ers are going to win.

>> niners win. and donnie, he doesn't bathe regularly, but if he did, he would use dove soap .

>> that's good to hear. feel comfortable in your skin.

>> what are you working on with dove?

>> dove, we have the campaign, that's feeling comfortable within your skin and had a couple of commercials about the play, about my walk, and the dance, where i embarrass my kids. so it's all about feeling comfortable in your skin.

>> it's a really great campaign.

>> the dove plus men campaign called journey to comfort. check it out. john elway , it's so great to have you here. appreciate you coming in.

>> glad to be here.

>>> coming up next, after benghazi, secretary hillary clinton gives as good as she gets during a fiery hearing up on capitol hill . the impact of her testimony, and yes, we'll talk a little 2016 , next on " morning joe ." p [