Original sentence: While Cal was out of contention for a postseason bowl game, the implications of this game were far more important to Stanford, led by quarterback John Elway, playing in his last regular season game before heading off to become a future National Football League star enshrined in both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame
Edited sentence: While Cal was out of contention for a postseason bowl game(*actually, they weren't out of contention for a bowl game, it's just that since they had no Elway, finishing with a better record than Stanford still meant nobody wanted them in a bowl) , the implications of this game were far more important to Stanford, led by quarterback John Elway, playing in his last regular season game before heading off to become a future National Football League star enshrined in both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame