I'd guess that a lot of the players would catch on to snowboarding quickly and easily. After all they are outstanding athletes with quick reactions and well developed sense of balance.
Much rather have them on a snowboard than on skis. Much easier for a ski to catch on something and twist a knee or ankle to a point of damage. The snowboard is much less likely to do that kind of damage. These guys know how to fall without getting hurt, just keep from getting legs twisted and forced into bad positions.
Don't know on Elway specifically but it used to be that almost all NFL player contracts included clauses covering what they considered hazardous or risky behaviors and skiing was included along with things like skydiving. Some even had prohibitions against things like pick up basketball. If a player wanted to participate in one of the listed activities his agent would have to negotiate an exemption for him but that usually involved waiving future guarantees or unpaid signing bonuses if the player was injured at the activity.
For this level of athlete at their ages I think the chances of suffering a serious injury snowboarding are relatively small, maybe lower than blowing a knee dunking a basketball at the rec center. The more they enjoy being in Colorado and partaking in this kind of activity the better it is in terms of them selling other players on coming here and playing.
