John Elway fatal car crash: painful new details emerge about incident that killed NFL star’s ‘close friend’

New details have emerged from John Elway’s fatal golf cart incident that left one of his good friends dead.

On the last weekend of April, the former NFL quarterback was involved in a golf cart accident in California, during which his business partner Jeffrey Sperbeck fell off the back of the vehicle and hit his head on the asphalt, suffering a traumatic brain injury as a result.

He was subsequently taken to the hospital, where he was placed on life support, however he died a few days later, on Wednesday, April 30, aged 62.

At the time, TMZ reported that the police had since launched an investigation into the incident, though there was no indication that John had been driving negligently.

Now, CBS affiliate 9 News reported this week that John, who was in town for Stagecoach, the country music festival, left a private function at Madison Club in La Quinta with his wife, his son Jack and his wife, Jeff, his wife Cori, and more friends on April 26.

They had attended Stagecoach the night before, but opted not to attend on Saturday because of inclement weather. They reportedly had a fleet of three or four golf carts with a total of 10 to 15 people, all headed to John’s nearby house at the private golf resort’s community.

The outlet further reported that John was driving a single-bench cart at the rear of the caravan of cars, with his wife Paige seated next to him and Jeff’s wife, Cori, seated on the outside. Jeff was seated in the back next to TV personality Johnny Bananas, whose real name is Johnny Devenanzio.

It remains unclear what caused Jeff — who allegedly fell straight back and immediately hit his head — to fall, however it has since been emphasized that there was no swerving or horseplay, no one was drunk, the cart didn’t hit anything and it had been a smooth ride.

Elway has since paid tribute to Jeff in a statement which read: “I am absolutely devastated and heartbroken by the passing of my close friend, business partner and agent Jeff Sperbeck.”

“There are no words to truly express the profound sadness I feel with the sudden loss of someone who has meant so much to me.”

Jeff had a 30-year career in sports, during which he represented over 100 NFL football players as their agent, among them John himself. In that time, he led various sports agencies, until in 2009 he founded his own, The Novo Agency, which represents several current and retired players, including John.

Moreover in 2015, he and the former Broncos quarterback founded 7Cellars Wine & Spirits, which produces premium and ultra-premium wines from the Central Coast of California as well as the Napa Valley.