Report: John Elway won't be charged in death of business partner

John Elway will not be charged in the April incident in which his longtime business partner fell off a golf cart driven by the Hall of Fame quarterback and later died, a Denver television station reported.

Jeff Sperbeck was 62 when he passed away in La Quinta, Calif.

Chad Bianco, the sheriff in Riverside County, Calif., told 9NEWS that the investigation confirmed the initial findings of an accident and that the cause of death was blunt force trauma.

"We've talked to everyone involved and we found nothing new," he told the station. "There was nothing criminal. It was what we've been saying all along that this was a tragic accident."

An official announcement from the sheriff's department is due soon, according to 9NEWS.

Elway, Sperbeck and their wives were in the desert to attend the Stagecoach music festival, TMZ reported in April.

Elway, 65, and Sperbeck founded 7Cellars winery together in 2013. Sperbeck also was Elway's longtime agent.

Sperbeck, certified by the NFL, represented more than 100 NFL players as an agent and business adviser over a 30-year career, according to his bio on the winery's website.

"I am absolutely devastated and heartbroken by the passing of my close friend, business partner and agent Jeff Sperbeck," Elway said in a statement after Sperbeck's death. "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."

Elway played for the Denver Broncos from 1983-98, winning Super Bowl championships in each of his final two seasons. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004. He returned to the team as an executive in 2011, working as the general manager through 2020 and as president of football operations in 2021.

--Field Level Media