Team History: Broncos overcome early troubles to win three Super Bowls

Team History: Broncos overcome early troubles to win three Super Bowls

The Denver Broncos were one of the founding members of the American Football League, which started play in 1960, but the team’s beginning can be traced to baseball.

Bob Howsam served as a U.S. Navy pilot during World War II, and he was the son of a U.S. Senator and Colorado governor.  Howsam, along with his father and brother, ran the Denver Bears, a minor league baseball team in the Western League and later the Triple-A American Association. Under the family’s leadership, the Bears became a successful team and Howsam was a two-time Sporting News Minor League Executive of the Year.

Howsam was responsible for the building and expansion of Bears Stadium in an attempt to bring a major league team to Denver. In the late 1950s, he was one of the charter owners of the Continental League, which was supposed to be a “third major league.” However, MLB owners decided to expand over the next few years, leading to the demise of the new league before a game was played.

Left with quite a bit of debt, no hope of gaining a major league expansion team and a stadium that was too large for a minor league team, Howsam turned to football. He tried to get ownership of an NFL team but was turned down, so he joined with three others to start the AFL. A fan contest named the team the Broncos, a moniker that was used by a Midwest Baseball League club in the 1920s. The first coach was Frank Filchock, a former Redskins player who had spent the previous eight years coaching in Canada.

Howsam’s time in the AFL was short. The stadium debt became too much and he sold the team to construction company owner Gerald Phipps in 1961. The Broncos went a league-worst 39-97-4 in 10 AFL seasons, and they were the only team never to play in a postseason game.

The field leaders in Denver’s early years include Lou Saban, who won two championships with the Bills and Mac Speedie, a six-time All-Pro wide receiver who won five AAFC and NFL championships with the Browns.

The Broncos finally started to have some success in renamed Mile High Stadium in the early 1970s, after the AFL merged with the NFL. John Ralston, who led Stanford to a pair of Rose Bowl victories, became the head coach in 1973, and the offense was improving behind running backs Floyd Little and Otis Armstrong, as well as receiver Haven Moses and tight end Riley Odoms. The team had three winning seasons under Ralston but did not make the playoffs.

Denver’s first taste of postseason play came under Robert “Red” Miller, who had been the team’s offensive line coach in the mid-1960s. The team traded for quarterback Craig Morton, who struggled with the Giants, and Miller and defensive coordinator Joe Collier established the “Orange Crush.” The league’s top-rated defense against the run featured linebackers Randy Gradishar and Tom Jackson, cornerbacks Louis Wright and Steve Foley, safety Bill Thompson and high-energy defensive end Lyle Alzado.

For the first time in the team’s 18-year history, the Broncos not only reached the playoffs but led the AFC with a 12-2 record. The defense held opponents to 10.6 points per game and sent four players to the Pro Bowl. After defeating the Steelers in the Division game, Morton threw two touchdown passes and Denver held off a late Oakland rally for a 20-17 win in the AFC Championship Game.

The Broncos faced Tom Landry and the Cowboys in Super Bowl XII. Tony Dorsett ran for a touchdown and Roger Staubach hit Butch Johnson for another, and Dallas had a 20-3 lead. Rob Lytle scored on a one-yard run to close the gap, but the Cowboys sealed the 27-10 victory on a pass from halfback Robert Newhouse to Golden Richards.

Dallas held Denver to 156 yards, including 35 net passing yards, which is still a record for the fewest in Super Bowl history. Defensive end Harvey Martin (two sacks) and tackle Randy White (one sack) were named co-MVPs, marking the first time a defensive lineman had won the award and the only time the honor was shared.

With “Broncomania” in full force, the team reached the postseason the next two years but failed to get past the Division round. After an 8-8 season in 1980, Miller was replaced by former Cowboys player and assistant coach Dan Reeves, who became the youngest head coach in the NFL and was also named the team’s vice president. The Broncos went 10-6 in Morton’s final year as a starter in 1981 before dropping to 2-7 in the strike-shortened 1982 season.

In 1981, Phipps sold the franchise to Edgar Kaiser Jr., who was the grandson of shipbuilding industrialist Henry Kaiser, as well as a Special Assistant to Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon.

The Broncos caught a break in the 1983 NFL Draft. The Baltimore Colts selected Stanford quarterback John Elway with the first pick, but he did not want to play for a team that was so poorly run. After exploring a trade with the 49ers for Joe Montana, Baltimore ultimately sent him to Denver for tackle and fourth overall pick Chris Hinton, plus backup quarterback Mark Herrmann and a first-round pick in 1984.

Kaiser ran the Broncos for just three years before selling majority ownership to Pat Bowlen, a lawyer whose father owned oil companies in Canada.

Elway led the Broncos to the playoffs in his first two seasons. After a 9-7 record and a Wild Card spot in 1983, Denver won the AFC West with a 13-3 mark the following year but lost to Pittsburgh in the Division round. Despite going 11-5 in 1985, the Broncos lost a tiebreaker to both the Jets and the Patriots, who went on to play in Super Bowl XX.

Denver reached the Super Bowl in three of the next four seasons, defeating the Browns in the AFC Championship Game each time. After going 11-5 in 1986, Elway led the Broncos on “The Drive” to send the game against Cleveland to overtime. Rich Karlis won the contest with a 33-yard field goal.

In Super Bowl XXI, Elway scored on a one-yard run and Denver led 10-9 at halftime. However, Phil Simms was the better quarterback, completing a record 88 percent of his passes (22 of 25) and throwing three touchdowns in the 39-20 Giants victory.

The following season produced a 10-4-1 record. In the AFC title game, Cleveland running back Earnest Byner lost the ball before crossing the goal line for the potential game-tying score and “The Fumble” preserved the 38-33 Broncos win.

Elway threw a touchdown pass to Ricky Nattiel and Denver was up 10-0 after one-quarter of Super Bowl XXII. However, Washington scored a record 35 points in the second and went on to win, 42-10.

Two years later, the Broncos had the best record in the AFC at 11-5, then edged the Steelers and beat the Browns again in the conference title game. In Super Bowl XXIV, Montana threw five touchdown passes and the 49ers won 55-10, the most lopsided final score in Super Bowl history.

After moderate success under Reeves and Wade Phillips over the next five years, the Broncos named former quarterbacks coach Mike Shanahan their head coach. Denver had an 8-8 mark in his first season but led the AFC with a 13-3 record in 1996. However, the season ended with a disappointing 30-27 loss to the Jaguars in the Division round.

The following year, a 12-4 record was only good enough for a Wild Card spot, but the Broncos avenged their loss to Jacksonville with a first-round win. Terrell Davis scored two touchdowns in a 14-10 win in Kansas City in the Division game, and Denver squeaked by the Steelers 24-21 in the AFC Championship Game.

Davis scored three one-yard touchdowns, including the game-winner with 1:47 left, and the Broncos ended a previous 0-4 mark with a 31-24 win over Brett Favre and the Packers in Super Bowl XXXII. The Broncos were just the second team to win the Super Bowl as a Wild Card since the AFL-NFL merger and were the first AFC team to win the game in 14 years.

Denver returned to the Super Bowl the following season after a franchise-best 14-2 record in the regular season. The Broncos routed the Dolphins and defeated the Jets to set up a date with the “Dirty Bird” Falcons in Super Bowl XXXIII. Elway threw for 336 yards and a touchdown, and he also ran for another score in the 34-19 victory, which made the Broncos the seventh team to win back-to-back Super Bowls.

Elway retired after the win, and Denver made the playoffs four times behind Brian Griese and Jake Plummer, highlighted by a 13-3 mark and a run to the AFC Championship Game in 2005. However, a 34-17 home loss to the Steelers in that game was the last Broncos postseason appearance for five years, and the final one under Shanahan, who was fired after the 2008 season.

Problems arose for Bowlen when he disclosed to Kaiser that he offered 10 percent of team ownership to Elway. Kaiser sued Bowlen, citing a right of first refusal clause when he sold the team. A jury found in favor of Kaiser in 2004, but an appellate court sided with Bowlen four years later.

Bowlen relinquished day-to-day leadership of the club in 2010 and Elway, now the team’s general manager and executive vice president of football operations helped oversee a resurgence. John Fox, the former coach of the Carolina Panthers, was named head coach in 2011. After a 2-5 start, Denver won the AFC West with an 8-8 record.

Tim Tebow, who led several comeback wins during the regular season, threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas in overtime to beat the Steelers in the Wild Card round. The Broncos got routed by the Patriots the next week.

Colts legend Peyton Manning signed with Denver in 2013, and he led the team to a 13-3 mark and the best record in the AFC. After dispatching San Diego and New England in the playoffs, the Broncos were shut down by the Seahawks defense in a 43-8 rout in Super Bowl XLVIII. The following year, Bowlen officially named Joe Ellis CEO and President and gave him control of the team, citing a battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

In 2015, Denver was again the top seed in the AFC before topping the Steelers and Patriots to reach Super Bowl 50. Despite being held to 194 yards, the Broncos won their third title with a 24-10 win over the Panthers. C.J. Anderson had a touchdown run and Malik Jackson recovered a fumble in the end zone for another score.

Manning retired after that game and the Broncos have not been back to the playoffs since. The drought may end now that the team has traded for Super Bowl-winning quarterback Joe Flacco and drafted Drew Lock, of Missouri. One of them will lead an offense that includes running back Phillip Lindsay and receivers, Emmanuel Sanders and Courtland Sutton. The defense features linebackers Von Miller and Bradley Chubb, along with defensive backs Chris Harris Jr., Darian Stewart and new addition Kareem Jackson.

-By: Kevin Rakas