Denver Broncos

Inaugural season: 1960

Home field: Empower Field at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado

Owner: Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group

Team colors: Orange, navy blue, white

Overview

The Denver Broncos are a National Football League (NFL) franchise that plays in the West American Football Conference (AFC) division. Denver has been one of the most successful teams since the American Football League (AFL) and NFL merger in 1970, with an overall regular season record of 476–414–10. During that stretch, they have played in eight Super Bowls and won three (1997, 1998, and 2015).

The Broncos play home games at Empower Field at Mile High Stadium, named after the city's high elevation—a fact that enhances the home-field factor for the Broncos. The stadium is 5,280 feet (1,610 meters) above sea level, and because the Broncos team members live and train at these higher elevations, they are more used to the effects on the body. Further enhancing the team’s home field factor, the Broncos have sold out every home game since 1970, including all 76,125 seats at Mile High—the team’s home since 2001. The Broncos average just over 76,000 fans per game, among the highest in the NFL, ranked only behind teams with larger stadiums.

This fan devotion has enhanced the team's value. In 2019, Forbes valued the Denver Broncos as the twenty-sixth most valuable professional sports franchise in the world, with an estimated net worth of $2.65 billion. The Broncos were ranked as the eleventh most valuable team in the NFL, with a two percent increase in worth from their 2018 valuation. In 2023, Forbes ranked the team thirteenth among the most valuable NFL teams at $5.1 billion.

History

Denver owes its NFL franchise in part to Major League Baseball (MLB). In the 1950s, Bob Howsam—the future owner of the Broncos—had operated a minor league baseball team in Denver with an eye towards establishing an expansion team in the upstart Continental League, a proposed third professional baseball league. However, before the new league could begin, the existing American and National Leagues ended Denver’s hopes by establishing new teams in several cities. To Howsam’s frustration, Denver was not one of them. In preparation for the new team, he had expanded Bears Stadium, where his minor league Denver Bears played, to 34,000 seats. Saddled with a stadium too big for a minor league baseball team and a massive personal debt, Howsam reevaluated his plan. His extensive debt meant only a professional football team would allow him to emerge financially stable. An appeal for a team to the NFL was unsuccessful, so he joined the other seven owners to find the rival AFL.

Despite being awarded a franchise, the stadium debacle had left Howsam financially stretched. As a result, during the Bronco's first season, they played in recycled uniforms left over from the Copper Bowl, a college football all-star game. The most eye-catching part of their debut uniforms was the players’ vertically striped yellow and brown socks, which were universally despised by fans and players alike. After 4–9–1 and 3–11 seasons in the franchise’s debut seasons, new general manager Jack Faulkner burned the socks in a 1962 publicity stunt to symbolically inaugurate the team’s fresh start. While Denver rebounded to a 7–7 record that season, the team’s AFL history was largely dismal. Under five different coaches—Frankie Filchook, Jack Faulkner, Mac Speedie, Ray Malavasi, and Lou Saban—the Broncos went a combined 39–97–4 for a .287 winning percentage.

Howsam’s financial problems contributed to the team’s poor record. As AFL and NFL teams were engaged in bidding wars for the best players, Howsam could not afford the contracts for the elite athletes the team needed. As a result, ticket sales remained weak for the first five years of the franchise’s history. In 1964, the team only sold 7,996 season tickets. As a result, several minority owners pushed to sell the team to a group of investors in Atlanta in 1965. The team came close to leaving; only a last-minute sale of the Broncos and Bear Stadium to Alan and Gerald Phipps allowed the team to remain in the city. In response to almost losing the team, ticket sales exploded, with nearly three times as many fans purchasing season passes.

The AFL and NFL merged into a single league for the 1970 season. Under Saban, the Broncos struggled in the new joint league, and he was fired in 1971. He was replaced in 1972 by John Ralston, who turned the team into a contender in the AFC West. However, unable to ultimately win a division title, Ralston was fired after the 1976 season. Red Miller, a former offensive line coach for the Broncos, was chosen as the team’s eighth coach in seventeen seasons.

Miller immediately engineered a turnaround for the Broncos, leading them not only to a 12–2 season and their first playoff berth but taking them to the 1976 Super Bowl. Though they lost 27–10 to the Dallas Cowboys, it marked a dramatic reversal from the middling first two decades of the franchise. Over the next twenty-two seasons, the Broncos reached the playoffs thirteen times. The period between 1986 and 1998 proved to be the franchise’s heyday, as they reached the Super Bowl on five occasions. Between 1987 and 1990, the Broncos dominated the AFC, reaching the Super Bowl on three different occasions under coach Dan Reeves, quarterback John Elway, and new owner Edgar Kaiser, Jr. Despite this success, they were handily defeated in each of these pivotal games, losing to the New York Giants, 39–20, in 1986; the Washington Redskins, 42–10, in 1987; and the San Francisco 49ers, 55–10, in 1989, the most lopsided loss in Super Bowl history. Denver was one of the AFC’s elite teams, but their blowout losses in the Super Bowl ultimately gave the Broncos a reputation for coming up short on the biggest stage. The failure to win the Super Bowl affected Reeves’s time in Denver, and he was fired after an 8–8 season in 1992.

Reeves was replaced by Wade Phillips, who only lasted through two seasons. To restore the Broncos’ reputation, former Broncos quarterback coach Mike Shanahan was hired. During Shanahan’s first eleven seasons with the Broncos, the team was a perennial contender. They won back-to-back Super Bowls in 1997 and 1998, defeating the Green Bay Packers, 31–24, and the Atlanta Falcons, 34–19. However, Shanahan’s last three seasons with the team were mediocre, and he was let go in 2008. The next decade would prove to be a series of ups and downs for the Broncos. New coach Josh McDaniels would last less than two seasons and be ultimately replaced by John Fox in 2011. In 2013, the Broncos signed veteran quarterback Peyton Manning, who had been released by the Indianapolis Colts. At thirty-six, Manning was regarded as somewhat of a risk, but he immediately helped engineer a turnaround for the Broncos, leading them to a 55–16 record over four seasons. During that period, he led them to four AFC West division titles and four playoff berths. His tenure was highlighted by a 24–10 win over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50 after the 2015 season. Manning retired after the Super Bowl, leaving the Broncos searching for their next franchise quarterback. The team returned to mediocrity, going 20–28 between 2016 and 2018, with no playoff berths.

Notable players

The Denver Broncos have sent fifteen players and one coach to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Perhaps the most famous and beloved player in Broncos history is John Elway (1983–1998), who led the team to two Super Bowl wins. He spent his entire career with the Broncos and was named to the Pro Bowl nine times, honored as the NFL’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1987, and was the Super Bowl MVP in 1999. In addition, Elway briefly became the NFL’s passing yards leader in 1993, ultimately finishing with 56,439 career yards. Several players later passed him. In 2011, Elway returned to the team as its general manager. Other hall-of-fame players on the offensive side for the Broncos include tight end Shannon Sharpe (1990–1999, 2002–2003), running backs Floyd Little (1967–1975) and Terrell Davis (1995–2001), and offensive tackle Gary Zimmerman (1993–1997). Other key offensive contributors for the Broncos include offensive tackle Karl Mecklenburg (1983–1995), wide receiver Rod Smith (1994–2006), center Tom Nalen (1994–2007), wide receiver Demaryius Thomas (2010–2018), and kicker Jason Elam (1993–2007).

On the defensive side of the ball, such players as cornerbacks Willie Brown (1963–1966) and Champ Bailey (2004–2013) and safety Brian Dawkins (2009–2011) have all been enshrined in the Hall of Fame. In addition, players as such defensive backs Goose Gonsoulin (1960–1966), Louis Wright (1975–1986), and Steve Atwater (1989–1998); linebackers Tom Jackson (1973–1986) and Randy Gradishar (1974–1983), and Al Wilson (1999–2006); and defensive end Elvis Dumervil (2006–2012) have all led some of the great defensive efforts in team history. In 2011, Denver drafted linebacker Von Miller (2011–2021), who was named to seven Pro Bowls in his first eight seasons and was the MVP of Super Bowl 50.

Long-time owner Pat Bowlen (1984–2019) was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2019, and the following year, safety and two-time Super Bowl winner Steve Atwater (1989–1998) was inducted. Other significant players include John Lynch (2004–2007) and Peyton Manning (2012–2015), both inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2021. Manning was also honored as a Denver Broncos Ring of Fame member the same year. Linebacker DeMarcus Ware (2014–2016) was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2023, and linebacker Randy Gradishar (1974–1983) was inducted in 2024.

Bibliography

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“Denver Broncos Team History.” Pro Football Hall of Fame, www.profootballhof.com/teams/denver-broncos/team-history. Accessed 30 July 2019.

Fordyce, Nathan. “Denver Broncos: Who’s the Greatest Bronco of All Time?” 27 July, 2012, bleacherreport.com/articles/1272961-greatest-bronco-of-all-time#slide0. Accessed 20 July 2024.

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Matas, Aaron, and Anna Staver. “Verify: Does Denver’s Mile High Altitude Really Affect the Outcome of Sports Games?” 9 News, 30 July 2019, www.9news.com/article/news/local/verify/verify-does-denvers-mile-high-altitude-really-affect-the-outcome-of-sports-games/73-514443034. Accessed 30 July 2019.

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