The Associated Press
LA QUINTA, Calif. (AP) — NFL Hall of Famer John Elway won’t be charged after his business partner Jeffrey Sperbeck was fatally injured falling out of his golf cart at a Southern California golf resort community in April, authorities said.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco told KUSA-TV in Denver on Friday that investigators found nothing criminal and ruled it a tragic accident.
Sperbeck, Elway’s partner and former agent, died after suffering an injury when he tumbled out of a golf cart driven by the former quarterback on April 26 at The Madison Club in La Quinta, east of Los Angeles. Sperbeck was 62.
Sperbeck’s cause of death was “blunt force trauma” and the manner of death was an accident that occurred when the “passenger fell from the golf cart,” the county coroner’s report said.
“I’ve looked at video 100 times and there’s no explanation as to why he fell off, he just fell off,’’ Bianco said.
Elway didn’t immediately comment on the findings. He said in an April statement that he was devastated by the death of his close friend.
“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 said at the time.
Elway’s April statement did not address his presence at the scene.
Sperbeck, a sports agent who once served as Elway’s representative, was a longtime friend of the Pro Football Hall of Famer. The pair were co-owners of 7Cellars, a winery based in Napa County in collaboration with winemaker Robert Mondavi Jr.
Sperbeck got his start as an agent in the Bay Area in the late 1980s after starring as a quarterback at Sacramento’s Jesuit High School and attending Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, according to the Nob Hill Gazette. Among his first clients were 49ers stars Ronnie Lott and Roger Craig before he connected with Elway in 1991.
He founded two different agencies: Sullivan & Sperbeck, alongside Mike Sullivan in 1994, which was later sold to Octagon Sports; and The Novo Agency in 2009.
Sperbeck remained active as an agent for players and coaches after going into business with Elway, representing more than 100 NFL players, coaches and executives, according to 9NEWS’s Mike Klis, a longtime Broncos reporter. Former 49ers running back LaMichael James, veteran wide receiver Brandin Cooks and veteran defensive tackle Danny Shelton were former clients of Sperbeck’s.
Longtime NFL assistant coach Greg Knapp — who was a practice squad player and, later, an offensive coordinator for the 49ers — was also on Sperbeck’s client list. Sperbeck, who lived most recently in Southern California, helped organize a fundraising effort against distracted driving after Knapp was struck and killed in 2021 while riding his bike in San Ramon.
Bay Area News Group staff writers Michael Nowels and Jerry McDonald contributed to this report.