So.....what is your point? It kind of sounds like you are trying to justify their uncooperative, childish conduct.
The football teams should have refused to draft either of them.
In what world -- especially on a website like Free Republic -- is it "uncooperative" or "childish" to do something that is legal and reasonable in order to avoid working for an employer you don't like?
In both the Elway and Manning cases, the two highly prized quarterbacks had perfectly legitimate reasons to play their cards the way they did.
Elway in particular looks like a prophetic genius. Less than two years after the 1982 NFL draft saga that saw Elway drafted by the Baltimore Colts and then traded to Denver, Colts owner Robert Irsay became one of the most despised figures in the NFL when he relocated the franchise to Indianapolis. Why would anyone with an ounce of leverage want to work under those conditions?