A sports agent and longtime friend of legendary NFL QB John Elway died from hitting his head on the pavement when he fell from a golf cart as he and Elway were taking part in an after-party event for the Stagecoach County Musical Festival, authorities confirmed Friday.
Jeffrey Sperbeck, 62, of San Clemente suffered a traumatic head injury on the night of April 28 at the Madison Club in La Quinta.
The Riverside County Coroner’s Office said Friday that he succumbed to the “blunt head trauma” injury just after 1 a.m. on April 30.
“The manner of death is `accident,’ and the mode of death — how the injury occurred — is `passenger fell from golf cart,”’ the agency said in a statement, which ends the investigation that began almost two weeks ago.
Published reports indicated Sperbeck was the passenger in a cart being driven by Elway about 7 p.m. on April 28 in the 53000 block of Humboldt Boulevard.
The two friends and business partners had been involved in festivities surrounding the music festival, which was held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio.
Sperbeck reportedly fell out of the back of the cart while it was traveling at an unconfirmed speed, striking his head.
He was taken to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, where he lingered in a coma, never regaining consciousness, until the predawn hours of April 30.
Elway was questioned by sheriff’s deputies but not arrested.
Sperbeck and Elway teamed up in 1990, when the victim became the athlete’s NFL agent, while Elway was quarterback for the Denver Broncos. The two-time Super Bowl champion hung up his jersey in 1998, ultimately serving as the team’s general manager, then later as a consultant. He retired altogether in 2023.
The two men partnered in a winery venture in 2013, according to reports.