Topps is promoting the release of its future-focused Bowman Draft trading cards with a throwback tale of a hot prospect whose baseball career is all but forgotten.

John Elway’s cup of coffee in Yankee pinstripes is told through appearances from the Hall of Fame NFL quarterback, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and Larry David, who reprises his “Seinfeld” role as the voice of George Steinbrenner. The 90-second spot recalls the elaborate tribute to the what-if baseball career of Tom Brady that the Fanatics-owned brand ran last December, also in support of its Bowman Draft release.

“It’s Gotta Be Elway!” breaks today on social media and lampoons a fateful moment in the 1981 Major League Baseball draft when Elway was selected by the New York Yankees ahead of another available outfielder, Tony Gwynn. In the ad, Steinbrenner boisterously overrules baseball advisors recommending Gwynn, the future Hall of Famer, while delivering other “Seinfeld” references like his fondness for calzones and recurring show character Keith Hernandez. (In real life, Elway was picked in the second round of the draft, 52nd overall; Gwynn went 58th overall to the San Diego Padres in the third round).

Also read: Fanatics imagines Tom Brady as an MLB legend in new campaign

Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions produced the spot along with Topps. It ends as the present-day Elway awakens on a couch alongside an autographed John Elway “Dream Draft Picks” card available in Topps’ 2024 Bowman Draft trading card set focused on rookie cards. The tagline is, “What might have been could be yours.”

For all the bluster displayed in the ad, Steinbrenner had a real affection for Elway and a nose for his box-office potential. Elway’s pro baseball career was brief but impressive: In 42 games in the low minors in 1982, he hit .318 with a .432 on-base percentage. Most famously, Elway used his bat as leverage to force a trade from the Indianapolis Colts to the Denver Broncos following the 1983 NFL draft, which began his 16-year Hall of Fame football career.

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