The agent for Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway was killed in an “accident,” Southern California investigators said Friday, nearly two weeks after a tragic golf cart fall.
Jeffrey Sperbeck’s death was caused by “blunt head trauma,” according to a statement from the Riverside Sheriff’s Coroner Bureau statement, which also labeled the fatality an “accident.”
The “mode of death” for the 62-year-old Sperbeck was described as: “Passenger fell from golf cart.”
The sheriff’s department on Friday did not elaborate on any potential criminal responsibility, only saying “the investigation remains ongoing.”
So it wasn’t clear prosecution would be recommended for the April 26 crash at the Madison Club, a private golf resort community in La Quinta near Palm Springs where Elway owns a home.
But Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco strongly hinted last week this case wouldn’t end in a criminal referral, saying that “so far it appears to be just a tragic accident.”
A source familiar with the details of the incident confirmed to NBC affiliate KUSA of Denver that Elway, a two-time Super Bowl winner with the Broncos and Hall of Fame member, was driving the golf cart.
A representative of the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, which would have final say on any potential charges, couldn’t be immediately reached for comment late Friday afternoon.
Sperbeck also once represented New York Jets assistant coach Greg Knapp, who died on July 22, 2021 after a bicycle crash near San Francisco.
Knapp, 58, was an avid cyclist and he suffered fatal injuries when a motorist swerved into the bike lane and hit him in San Ramon, Sperbeck said at the time.
