Audio from the emergency 911 call placed by NFL Hall of Famer John Elway after his friend and business partner fell off a golf cart captured an exchange between the former Denver Bronco and a dispatcher.
In a statement Monday, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said investigators found nothing criminal and ruled the death of Jeffrey Sperbeck a tragic accident. Sperbeck was fatally injured after falling out of his golf cart driven by Elway at a Southern California golf resort community last April.
After providing a location during the redacted 911 call obtained by NBCLA, Elway identified himself and explained what happened to the dispatcher.
Elway: “We’re on a golf cart, and he fell off the golf cart.”
Dispatcher: “Did that golf cart run into anything? Or did he just fall out of it?”
Elway: “No, he just fell off the golf cart. He was on the back and he fell off the golf cart.”
After sending paramedics, the dispatcher was about to guide Elway through first aid to stop the victim’s bleeding, but a medic soon arrived at the site.
No criminal charges will be filed in the case, the sheriff’s department said.
Sperbeck, Elway’s partner and former agent, died after the fall on April 26 at The Madison Club in La Quinta, east of Los Angeles.
He 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.
Elway 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 in the earlier statement.
Sperbeck began managing Elway in 1990, when Elway was quarterback for the Denver Broncos. He represented more than 100 NFL players during a three-decade career as an agent and business adviser.
Sperbeck helped manage Elway’s business empire, which included restaurants, car dealerships and a Napa Valley winery.