By Thomas Heath
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 28, 1998; Page D9

It was 10 minutes before kickoff and John Elway, suffering from an injured hamstring, was throwing the last of his warmup passes when Denver Broncos Coach Mike Shanahan sacked his star quarterback.

"He said, 'Let Bubby [Brister] take the rest of them,'" said Elway, recounting being benched prior to yesterday's game against the Washington Redskins at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium. "I said, 'That's fine.'"

The 38-year-old Elway, in his 16th year with the Broncos, quietly went to the locker room, changed into street clothes and took to the sideline, where his only contributions were encouragement and tips to Brister.

Brister didn't look as if he needed much of either, as he directed the Broncos to a 38-16 victory.

On the Broncos' first possession, he ended the seven-play drive with a 19-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Ed McCaffrey. He went on to complete 16 of 24 passes for 180 yards, including a second touchdown, and no interceptions.

"Bubby played very well," Shanahan said. "You come into this environment and you don't turn the ball over and you're able to put over 30 points on the scoreboard, you've got to feel good about Bubby's play."

Shanahan said he waited until the last minute for signs that Elway could play, but he felt that if Elway went down with a more serious injury, Shanahan would blame himself.

"Just looking at him yesterday . . . I could see John not being John," Shanahan said.

"You'd have to be around him. I really had a feel today. I was talking to John, and John is the type of player who will never tell you he can't go. There's a look in his eye. He was giving it everything he possibly could to play. I just did not feel that it would be the right decision to play him.

"I thought there'd be a setback, and if he did hurt himself early in the game I'd never have forgiven myself. So I came to him before the game and I said, 'Hey John, I just want to tell you I've got a gut feeling that you shouldn't play.'"

As he stood by his locker after the game, Elway said he knew Shanahan had made the correct decision, even though he said he doesn't like the view from the sideline.

"It's not a lot of fun to watch," said Elway. "If I got in a situation where I had to move around and try to do something, I would risk me going down and taking myself out for another four or five weeks. It wasn't what I wanted to do, but I think it was the best thing."

The 36-year-old Brister said he thought he might be needed after watching Elway limp around in practice all week.

Brister's starting call came just seconds before the Broncos took the field, when offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak talked to Brister in the locker room.

"Ku came to me before the game and said, 'John can't go. You've got the ball,'" said Brister, whose heyday was with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1988 to 1991.

"I was ready."

"It feels good playing with a team like this," Brister added.

This is "the first time in my career to have this caliber of talent on a team. This is a machine. And I'm just glad to have the opportunity to run it."

And if Elway's hamstring hasn't loosened by next week, Brister said, "I'll hold down the fort for another week."