Denver Broncos

Prior to Elway, Denver had had over two dozen different starting quarterbacks in its twenty-three seasons to that point. Elway would remain the quarterback through five Super Bowls, three under head coach Dan Reeves and two under Mike Shanahan, and would end his career as the MVP of Super Bowl XXXIII, his last NFL game. The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. Originally drafted by the Baltimore Colts as the number one pick of the draft, Elway proclaimed that he would shun football in favor of baseball unless he was traded to a selected list of other teams, which included Denver. It starred Humphrey Bogart (who won the Academy Award for Best Actor), Katharine Hepburn, Robert Morley and Theodore Bikel. Quarterback John Elway arrived in 1983. It was directed by Huston. Prior to 1977 season, Denver had received very little national attention and was rarely featured on nationally-televised games. Forester.

Rookie coach Red Miller along with the Orange Crush Defense and aging quarterback Craig Morton, promptly took Denver to its first playoff appearance -- and ultimately first Super Bowl -- in 1977. The film was adapted by James Agee, John Huston and Peter Viertel from the 1935 novel by C.S. In 1973, John Ralston coached the now-mature Broncos to a 7-5-2 record, including a dramatic tie with Oakland in Denver's first-ever Monday Night Football appearance that is still remembered as a pivotal game in Bronco history. Ralston coached the team until 1976, when well-publicized clashes between Ralston and his players led to Ralston's removal. The film opened on December 23, 1951 in Los Angeles and February 20, 1952 at Capitol Theatre in New York City. In 1967, under head coach Lou Saban, Denver took the field with almost two dozen rookies on its roster; though Saban's tenure was unsuccessful, it set the stage for later successes. Englishwoman Rose Sayer (Katharine Hepburn) and Canadian Charlie Allnut (Humphrey Bogart) make unlikely companions, but their quarreling turns into romance as they work toward their goal of sinking a German ship that patrols the lake into which the river feeds. Denver, in fact, came close to losing its franchise in 1965, but a local ownership group took control that year and began to build the team. The African Queen is a 1951 film in which a devout missionary and a drunkard steamboat captain pilot a boat down a river in German East Africa as World War I begins.

It is odd to remember a time, then, when Denver was the lowliest of teams, managing its first winning season in 1973 after thirteen years of futility. Denver has reached the Super Bowl six times, winning it in the 1997 and 1998 seasons. Despite their relative lack of early success, the Broncos produced some memorable games, like the 38-38 tie against the Buffalo Bills in 1960. They were the first pro football team to wear vertically-striped socks (and the first to burn their socks in a public ceremony!).

They were the first AFL team ever to defeat an NFL team, on August 5, 1967 when they beat the Lions 13-7. They had the first black place-kicker in professional football, Gene Mingo. The Broncos won the first-ever American Football League game, over the Boston Patriots (13-10) on September 9, 1960. Although the Denver Broncos' 39-97-4 record was the worst of any of the original eight American Football League teams', the franchise had many proud moments and several AFL superstars, including Lionel Taylor and Floyd Little.

Since 2001, they have played at INVESCO Field at Mile High, built next to the former site of Mile High Stadium. Mile High Stadium was one of the NFL's loudest stadiums, with steel flooring instead of concrete, which may have given the Broncos an advantage over opponents. For most of their history they played in Mile High Stadium, which became one of the shrines of professional football for its unbroken string of sell-outs and its famous home-field advantage percentage for the Broncos, especially during the post-season. In their first four appearances, they suffered successively lopsided defeats, achieving near-legendary status as frustrated losers before winning back-to-back Super Bowl championships in 1998 and 1999 under quarterback John Elway and coach Mike Shanahan.

A charter member of the American Football League, they were a backwater small-market team that met with little success in their early years but have since become one of the elite franchises of the league after having advanced to the Super Bowl six times. The Denver Broncos are a National Football League team based in Denver, Colorado. Gary Zimmerman. Rick Upchurch.

Jim Turner. Lionel Taylor (born 1935, first receiver with 100 catches in a season (1961)). Dennis Smith. Shannon Sharpe.

Clinton Portis. Craig Morton. John Mobley. Gene Mingo (first black field goal kicker in professional football, 1960).

Karl Mecklenburg. Wahoo McDaniel. Ed McCaffrey. Floyd Little (born 1942).

Tom Jackson. Abner Haynes. Gaston Green. Randy Gradishar.

Goose Gonsoulin (born 1938). Cookie Gilchrist (born 1935). Olandis Gary. Miller Farr.

Tony Dorsett. Terrell Davis (third player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season). Mike Croel. Dale Carter.

Steve Atwater. Floyd Little - #44. Frank Tripucka - #18. John Elway - #7.

Al Wilson. Trevor Pryce. Rod Smith. Jerry Rice.

Jake Plummer. John Lynch. Ashley Lelie. Jason Elam.

Champ Bailey. John Elway (2004).