DENVER (AP) – Jake Plummer has created the biggest buzz around the Denver Broncos since John Elway retired four years ago. Now it’s time for him to prove it’s not just hype.

Plummer opens his first training camp with the Denver Broncos’ quarterback Thursday, carrying with him the hopes of a city that hasn’t been this excited since No. 7 retired after the 1998 season with consecutive Super Bowl rings.

And although nobody expects him to be Elway, who led the Broncos to five Super Bowls in his 16-year career, they expect more from Plummer than they got from Brian Griese, most often the starter for the last four seasons. .

“He’s just got a great personality for the situation that he’s been thrust into,” general manager Ted Sundquist says of Plummer.

“He realizes how important football is to Denver, realizes our analysis and interpretation of why we haven’t succeeded the last couple years and realizes what his role is here.

“And at least to this point, I think he’s lived up to every billing that we gave him coming from Arizona.”

But the next part will be the most difficult: showing it on the field.

Plummer’s got the swagger and emotion of Elway. But on the field, he hasn’t been any better than Griese, who was sent packing after four mediocre seasons in Denver.

Sure, Plummer made a name for himself with a slew of fourth-quarter comebacks in Arizona, but his mistakes were part of the reason the Cardinals seemed to always be playing from behind.

Plummer has 114 interceptions and 90 touchdowns in 82 games and his career passer rating is just 69.1. He did lead the Cardinals to the playoffs in 1998, the team’s first postseason since 1947, but the Cardinals won no more than seven games in his other five seasons.

Last season, Plummer threw 20 interceptions and had a quarterback rating of 65.7 for a team that finished 5-11, but the Broncos are hoping the tutelage of coach Mike Shanahan and a better supporting cast will make a difference this year.

Plummer will certainly have more weapons than in Arizona, especially last year, when his entire receiving corps was wiped out by injuries. With few playmakers and an almost nonexistent running game, Plummer often tried to do too much in an effort to provide a spark.

With teammates like running back Clinton Portis, last year’s offensive rookie of the year, plus wide receivers Rod Smith and Ashley Lelie and tight end Shannon Sharpe, Plummer isn’t likely to feel as often that he has to make the big play himself.

But being surrounded by good players didn’t seem to help Griese escape the Elway aura. Four years after his retirement, Elway is still one of the most popular athletes in Denver. His face is plastered on billboards throughout the city and commercials for his fleet of car dealerships are all over television.

Griese was dubbed as Elway’s replacement in 1999, but he was just 27-24 as a starter.

and led the Broncos to the playoffs once in four years before being released in June. He is now a backup in Miami.

Now it’s Plummer’s turn to take on Elway’s ghost.

“Obviously, Elway’s record and what he’s done here speaks for itself,” Plummer said. “If I can do half of what he did, it would be very nice.”

AP-ES-07-23-03 1549EDT