John Elway's Longtime Agent and Business Partner, Jeff Sperbeck Pronounced Dead After Falling Off Back of Golf Cart Driven By John Elway

SI - NFL legend John Elway and his longtime friend and agent, Jeff Sperbeck, were involved in a bad accident at The Madison Club in La Quinta, Calif. over the weekend.

Elway and Sperbeck were reportedly leaving a Stagecoach afterparty Saturday night on a golf cart when Sperbeck fell off the back of the cart and sustained a traumatic head injury, TMZ reported Wednesday. Sperbeck was unconscious but still breathing when the paramedics arrived and was immediately transported to a local hospital in Palm Springs, where he was initially being kept on life support.

Sperbeck later died from his injuries, ESPN reported Wednesday afternoon. He was 62.

The Riverside County police are currently investigating the incident. Elway has not yet commented on the situation.

Sperbeck served as Elway's NFL agent from 1990 up until the former Denver Broncos quarterback's retirement nearly a decade later. The two longtime friends opened a winery together in 2013.

Horribly sad. Horribly scary how quickly something like this can happen. To one second your at a festival with your longtime friend, agent, and business partner. Then on your way home, in the snap of a finger, he falls off the back of the golf cart and loses his life. That's a living nightmare. It probably didn't even seem real. It legitimately seems like something that would happen in my dream right before I wake up in a cold sweat. It's honestly one of those things that seems fucked up to blog about. A guy lost his life in a seemingly freak accident. You can say one of a million different cliches people use when something tragic like that happens. But unless you've personally been affect by a similar incident, nothing comes off as genuine. You can't thoughts and prayers someone back to life. I didn't know Jeff Sperbeck existed until 15 minutes ago. My life is going to go back to normal as soon as I hit submit on this blog. But to be reminded that something like this can happen at any moment, it at minimum makes you take a minute to appreciate people in your life. And hopefully makes you pay a little more attention next time you're riding in a golf cart. 

There are next to zero details about the nature of the crash beyond he fell off the back and hit his head. I found one interview with a woman who arrived on the scene about a minute after the accident.

Here's what TMZ Sports producer, Mike Babcock reported about the incident this afternoon.

There's obviously one gigantic elephant in the room that we don't have an answer to yet. The police are currently investigating the situation. John Elway is yet to comment on anything. I don't want to be the guy throwing out any theories as to why exactly might have happened. But regardless of how this specific accident went down, it's a little crazy how fast and loose people are when it comes to golf carts. We often don't even consider them vehicles capable of injuring of us to a serious degree. My parents moved to a golf course when I was in high school, and I'll sometimes see literal groups of children driving their parent's cart on the neighborhood streets. Given it's a small little neighborhood in Bowling Green, Ohio, where most all cars are driving 25 mph or less. Drivers typically know to be on the lookout for golf carts. But whether it's kids without licenses, or grown adults crossing the road 20 beers deep, nobody ever expects anything bad to happen. To the point some people will try to tip their carts intentionally as a prank. Or drive down a hill at full speed in an attempt to pull off a Fast & Furious style drift. There was even a time, it must have been nearly 10 years ago now, where it was a viral trend to run over your friend with a golf cart at full speed as he lined up for his shot. Those are some extreme examples, but people are always letting their guards down in golf carts. In reality, it doesn't take much for something to go terribly wrong.