ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) George Paton is notoriously picky, bypassing opportunity after opportunity over the past decade before accepting John Elway's to succeed him as general manager of the Denver Broncos.

"I knew he wasn't going to take a job to say, `I'm a GM,'" said his mentor, Vikings GM Rick Spielman. "It had to be a very special place, and I think Denver presented everything that he was looking for to leave here, not only from the business side and the football side, but also from the family side."

Paton, a 50-year-old football lifer who has spent half his life in the NFL, said during his introductory news conference Tuesday that he made an immediate connection with Elway, team president Joe Ellis and head coach Vic Fangio when he interviewed for the job.