Denver BroncosEstablished August 14, 1959; sixty two years Denver Broncos Denver Broncos in the past[1]First season: 1960Play in Empower Field at Mile HighDenver, ColoradoHeadquartered at UCHealth Training Center in Dove Valley, Colorado[2]
LogoWordmark
American Football League (1960–1969)Western Division (1960–1969)
National Football League (1970–present)American Football Conference (1970–gift)Denver Broncos AFC West (1970–present)
Team colorsOrange, navy blue, white[three][4][five] MascotThunder (live horse)Miles (gown fit)Owner(s)Estate Denver Broncos of Pat Bowlen[6][7]CEOJoe EllisHead coachVic FangioGeneral managerGeorge Paton[8]Denver Broncos (1960–gift)Orange Crush (1977–gift)No Denver Broncos Fly Zone (2014–2018)League championships (3)Super Bowl championships Denver Broncos (3)1997 (XXXII), 1998 (XXXIII), Denver Broncos 2015 (50)Conference championships (eight)AFC: 1977, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1997, 1998, 2013, 2015Division championships (15)AFC West: 1977, 1978, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1998, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015NFL: 1977, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015DU Stadium (1960)Mile High Stadium (1960–2000)Empower Field at Mile High (2001–present)
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete within the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The crew is founded in Dove Valley, Colorado and plays home games at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado.
The team began to play in 1960 as a constitution member of the American Football League (AFL) and joined the NFL as a part of the merger in 1970. The Broncos are owned by way of the property of Pat Bowlen and presently play domestic games at Empower Field at Mile High (the stadium became formerly called Invesco Field at Mile High from 2001 to 2010, Sports Authority Field at Mile High from 2011 to 2017, and Broncos Stadium at Mile High from 2018 to 2019). Prior to that, the club performed its home games at Mile High Stadium from 1960 to 2000.
The Broncos have been barely competitive in the course of their 10-12 months run in the AFL and their first seven years within the NFL. They did no longer have a winning season till 1973. In 1977, four years later, they certified for the playoffs for the primary Denver Broncos time in franchise records and superior to Super Bowl XII. Since 1975, the Broncos have end up one of the Denver Broncos NFL’s maximum a success groups, having suffered simplest eleven dropping seasons.[9] They have received 8 AFC Championships (1977, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1997, 1998, 2013, 2015), and 3 Super Bowl championships (1997 (XXXII), 1998 (XXXIII), 2015 (50)), and percentage the NFL file for maximum Super Bowl losses (5 — tied with the New England Patriots). The Broncos have 8 number one participants enshrined within the Pro Football Hall of Fame: John Elway, Floyd Little, Shannon Sharpe, Gary Zimmerman, Terrell Davis, Champ Bailey and Steve Atwater, in conjunction with past due membership owner Pat Bowlen.[10] In 2021, Peyton Manning (Denver Broncos who receivedAFC Championships, Super Bowl 50, and an NFL MVP all through his 4 seasons as a Bronco) changed Denver Broncos into inducted as well.[eleven]Franchise history[edit]1960–1969: AFL technology[edit]
The Denver Broncos Denver Broncos were founded on August 14, 1959, when minor league baseball owner Bob Howsam turned into offered an American Football League (AFL) constitution franchise. The Broncos received the first-ever AFL game over the Boston Patriots thirteen–10, on September 9, 1960. Seven years in a while August 5, 1967, they have become the first-ever AFL group to defeat an NFL team, with a thirteen–7 win over the Detroit Lions in a preseason recreation. However, the Broncos were now not successful in the Nineteen Sixties, prevailing greater than 5 video games simplest once (7–7, 1962), compiling a 39–ninety seven–four (.293) file at some point of the 10 seasons of the AFL.[thirteen]
Denver got here close to losing its franchise in 1965, till a nearby possession institution took manage,[14][15] and rebuilt the group.[sixteen] The team’s first movie star, “Franchise” Floyd Little, turned into instrumental in preserving the team in Denver, due to his signing in 1967 in addition to his Pro Bowl efforts on and rancid the sector. The Broncos were the only original AFL group that never performed inside the title sport, as well as the simplest unique AFL team in no way to have a triumphing season while a member of the AFL at some point of the upstart league’s 10-year records.[17]1970–1982[edit]
In 1972, the Broncos hired former Stanford University coach John Denver Broncos Ralston as their head teach. In 1973, he became the UPI’s AFC Coach of the Year, after Denver achieved its first triumphing season at 7–five–2. In 5 seasons with the Broncos, Ralston Denver Broncos guided the crew to triumphing seasons 3 instances. Though Ralston finished the 1976 season with a nine–five record, the group, as turned into the case in Ralston’s previous triumphing seasons, still missed the playoffs. Following the season, several prominent gamers publicly voiced their discontent with Ralston, which soon led to his resignation.[18]
The Broncos defeated the Raiders in the 1977–seventy eight AFC Championship Game to earn their first journey to the Super Bowl.
Red Miller, a long-time assistant train changed into employed and along with the Orange Crush Defense (a nickname originated in 1977, Denver Broncos additionally the emblem of the popular orange-flavored soft drink) and getting older quarterback Craig Morton, took the Broncos to what was then a document-placing 12–2 ordinary-season document and their first playoff look in 1977, and in the end made their first great bowl appearance in Super Bowl XII, wherein they have been defeated by the Dallas Cowboys (Morton’s former group), 27–10.[19]
In 1981, Broncos’ owner Gerald Phipps, who had bought the group in May 1961 from the authentic proprietor Bob Howsam, sold the team to Canadian financier Edgar Kaiser Jr., grandson of shipbuilding industrialist Henry J. Kaiser.[20] In 1984, the group changed into bought with the aid of Pat Bowlen, who located group ownership right into a own family believe sometime before 2004 and remained in everyday manage until his conflict with Alzheimer’s disorder pressured him to cede the crew to Joe Ellis in 2014.[6][7][21]1983–1998: John Elway era[edit]
Dan Reeves have become the youngest head teach inside the NFL while he joined the Broncos in 1981 as vp and head train. Quarterback John Elway, who played university football at Stanford, arrived in 1983 via a trade. Originally drafted by the Baltimore Colts as the first pick out of the draft, Elway proclaimed that he might shun soccer in favor of baseball (he became drafted through the New York Yankees to play middle area and become additionally a pitching prospect), until he become traded to a selected listing of different groups, which protected the Broncos.[22] Prior to Elway, the Broncos had over 24 specific beginning quarterbacks in its 23 seasons to that factor.[23]
John Elway (right) arms the ball for a speeding play against the Packers in 1984.
Reeves and Elway guided the Broncos to six publish-season appearances, 5 AFC West divisional titles, three AFC championships and three Super Bowl appearances (Super Bowl XXI, XXII and XXIV) at some point of their 12-year span collectively. The Broncos lost Super Bowl XXI to the New York Giants, 39–20; Super Bowl XXII to the Washington Redskins, forty two–10; and Super Bowl XXIV to the San Francisco 49ers, 55–10; the latter rating remains the most lopsided Denver Broncos scoring differential in Super Bowl records. The final 12 months of the Reeves-Elway era have been marked through feuding, due to Reeves taking over play-calling obligations after ousting Elway’s preferred offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan after the 1991 season, as well as Reeves drafting quarterback Tommy Maddox out of UCLA instead of going with a huge receiver to assist Elway. Reeves was fired after the 1992 season and replaced by using his protégé and pal Wade Phillips, who had been serving as the Broncos’ shielding coordinator.[24][25][26] Phillips become fired after a mediocre 1994 season, wherein management felt he lost manage of the crew.
In 1995, Mike Shanahan, who had previously served under Reeves as the Broncos’ offensive coordinator, lower back as head instruct. Shanahan drafted rookie strolling again Terrell Davis. In 1996, the Broncos have been the pinnacle seed inside the AFC with a 13–3 report, dominating maximum of the groups that yr. The fifth-seeded Jacksonville Jaguars, but, disillusioned the Broncos 30–27 in the divisional round of the playoffs, finishing the Broncos’ 1996 run.[18]1997–1998: Back-to-again Super Bowl champions[edit]