An eyewitness has provided a firsthand account of the tragic accident that claimed the life of Jeff Sperbeck, the longtime friend, agent, and business partner of NFL legend John Elway. Sperbeck, 62, suffered a fatal head injury after falling from a golf cart in La Quinta, California, on Saturday, April 26, 2025, with Elway at the wheel. According to The Denver Post on April 30, Sperbeck was placed on life support following the incident but had no chance of recovery, as medical professionals informed his family that he was only being kept alive to preserve his organs for donation. He passed away at 1:10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 30, at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, per the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office.
The eyewitness, a woman who arrived at the scene roughly a minute after the accident, described the chaotic aftermath in a video clip shared by TMZ. She noted that Sperbeck appeared to have rolled off the cart and struck his head on the asphalt, sustaining severe trauma. The incident occurred in the 53000 block of Humboldt Boulevard, within The Madison Club, an exclusive golf community known for its celebrity residents, including Elway, Adele, and Apple CEO Tim Cook, per Forbes. Elway, Sperbeck, and their spouses had been leaving a party at the club when the accident happened, with no other injuries reported, per The Denver Post.
Elway, a Hall of Fame quarterback and former Denver Broncos executive, expressed his devastation in a statement to The Denver Post, saying, “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.” The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident, though there is no indication that Elway was driving negligently, per TMZ’s April 30 report. Authorities have not released further details, and no charges have been filed as of May 1, 2025.
Sperbeck’s relationship with Elway spanned over three decades, beginning in 1990 when he started managing Elway’s marketing and business activities, per Wikipedia. A veteran NFL agent, Sperbeck represented over 100 players during his 30-year career, including stars like Trent Dilfer, Joey Porter, and Ronnie Lott, per en.wikipedia.org. In 1994, he co-founded Sullivan & Sperbeck, a sports marketing firm in Northern California, which was acquired by Octagon in 2001, where he served as Director of Octagon Football, growing the division to over 80 active NFL players, per the same source. Beyond sports, Sperbeck and Elway ventured into the wine business, co-founding 7Cellars with winemaker Rob Mondavi Jr., a venture inspired by the success of Elway’s Steakhouses, per 7cellars.com.
The loss of Sperbeck, who also worked with the Novo Agency and Rep1 Sports after Octagon, reverberates through the NFL and business communities. His death comes amidst a busy offseason, with the 2025 NFL Draft concluding days earlier, where the Giants and Bears were hailed as the biggest winners, per The Facility on FS1. Meanwhile, unrelated NFL drama, including a prank call scandal involving Shedeur Sanders’ leaked phone number, has also dominated headlines, per TMZ. As the investigation into Sperbeck’s accident continues, the focus remains on honoring his legacy, with sympathies extended to his family, friends, and the many lives he touched throughout his career.
