56 Facts About The Denver Broncos

1.

Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver.

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2.

The Broncos compete in the National Football League as a member club of the league's American Football Conference West division.

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3.

The Broncos are currently owned by the Walton-Penner group, and play their home games at Empower Field at Mile High; Denver previously played its home games at Mile High Stadium from its inception in 1960 through the 2000 season.

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4.

The Denver Broncos were barely competitive during their 10-year run in the AFL and their first seven years in the NFL.

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5.

Since 1975, the The Denver Broncos have become one of the NFL's most successful teams, having suffered only eleven losing seasons.

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6.

Denver Broncos were founded on August 14,1959, when minor league baseball owner Bob Howsam was awarded an American Football League charter franchise.

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7.

The Denver Broncos came close to losing its franchise in 1965, until a local ownership group took control, and rebuilt the team.

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8.

The The Denver Broncos were the only original AFL team that never played in the title game, as well as the only original AFL team never to have a winning season while a member of the AFL during the upstart league's 10-year history.

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9.

In 1972, the The Denver Broncos hired former Stanford University coach John Ralston as their head coach.

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10.

In five seasons with the The Denver Broncos, Ralston guided the team to winning seasons three times.

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11.

However, the The Denver Broncos went on the road to face the Indianapolis Colts in back-to-back seasons and were blown out by more than 20 points in each game, allowing a combined 90 points.

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12.

The Denver Broncos' defense began the first five games of the 2006 season allowing only one touchdown - an NFL record that still stands.

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13.

On January 11,2009, two weeks after Shanahan was fired, the The Denver Broncos hired former New England Patriots' offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels as the team's new head coach.

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14.

The Denver Broncos chose to start rookie first-round draft choice Tim Tebow at quarterback for the final three games.

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15.

The The Denver Broncos defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card round on a memorable 80-yard touchdown pass from Tebow to wide receiver Demaryius Thomas on the first play of overtime, setting a record for the fastest overtime in NFL history.

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16.

However, the The Denver Broncos lost to the New England Patriots in the Divisional round.

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17.

In March 2012, the The Denver Broncos reached an agreement on a five-year, $96 million contract with former longtime Indianapolis Colts' quarterback Peyton Manning, who had recently missed the entire 2011 season following multiple neck surgeries.

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18.

The The Denver Broncos broke all offensive records and QB Peyton Manning shattered many QB records that season as well.

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19.

However, the The Denver Broncos were defeated by the Indianapolis Colts in the Divisional round of the 2014 playoffs, marking the third time in four seasons that the The Denver Broncos lost in the Divisional round of the playoffs.

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20.

Shortly after Kubiak became head coach, the The Denver Broncos underwent numerous changes to their coaching staff and players, including the hiring of defensive coordinator, defensive mastermind Wade Phillips, under whom the The Denver Broncos' defense went from middle of the road to being ranked No 1 in the NFL.

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21.

The The Denver Broncos acquired Mark Sanchez from the Philadelphia Eagles and selected Paxton Lynch during the 2016 draft.

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22.

The The Denver Broncos hired Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Vance Joseph as head coach on January 11,2017.

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23.

On May 1,2018, the The Denver Broncos signed local undrafted free agent running back Phillip Lindsay, who became a fan favorite due to his underdog mentality, explosive play style and local roots.

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24.

On January 10,2019, the The Denver Broncos hired Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to become the 17th head coach in franchise history.

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25.

On December 1,2019, the The Denver Broncos started Mizzou rookie quarterback Drew Lock for the first time.

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26.

On November 29,2020, after all three of the The Denver Broncos' quarterbacks were placed in COVID-19 protocol, the The Denver Broncos were forced to turn to undrafted wide receiver and former college quarterback Kendall Hinton as the emergency quarterback.

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27.

The Denver Broncos made notable improvements in the defensive secondary, signing former All-Pro cornerback Kyle Fuller and cornerback Ronald Darby, as well as drafting Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II with the ninth overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

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28.

On November 1,2021, the The Denver Broncos traded franchise legend Von Miller to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for a 2nd and 3rd round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

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29.

The The Denver Broncos announced the hiring of Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett as head coach on January 27,2022.

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30.

The Denver Broncos then announced on February 1,2022 that they were now up for sale and that they would be parting ways with the Bowlen family, the former owners of the franchise.

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31.

On March 16,2022, the Broncos traded Drew Lock, Noah Fant, Shelby Harris, Denver's 2022 first-round pick, its 2022 second-round pick, its 2023 first- and second-round picks, and its 2022 fifth-round round pick for Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks' 2022 fourth-round pick.

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32.

The The Denver Broncos announced that Condoleezza Rice would join the ownership group on July 11,2022.

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33.

Denver Broncos have three AFC West rivals—the Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers.

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34.

All teams, along with the The Denver Broncos, were charter members of the American Football League, with each team placed in the AFL Western Division.

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35.

The Denver Broncos have had several memorable matchups with the Chiefs, particularly during the years in which John Elway was the The Denver Broncos' starting quarterback.

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36.

The The Denver Broncos defeated the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in the divisional round of the 1997 NFL playoffs, en route to their first Super Bowl victory.

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37.

The Denver Broncos had a brief rivalry with the Browns that arose from three AFC championship matches in 1986,1987 and 1989.

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38.

The Denver Broncos had an old rivalry with the Seattle Seahawks, who were members of the AFC West from 1977 to 2001, prior to the Seahawks' move to the NFC West as part of the NFL's 2002 re-alignment.

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39.

The AFL Broncos played at the University of Denver's Hilltop Stadium from time to time, including the first victory of an AFL team over an NFL team: The Broncos beat the Detroit Lions on August 5,1967, in a preseason game.

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40.

The The Denver Broncos had the best home record in pro football over a 32-year span from 1974 to 2006.

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41.

In late 2012, the The Denver Broncos announced that the stadium would receive $30 million upgrades including a new video board in the south end zone three times larger than the previous display.

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42.

In 1968, the The Denver Broncos debuted a design that became known as the "Orange Crush".

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43.

The Denver Broncos wore their white jerseys at home throughout the 1971 season, as well as for 1980 home games vs the San Diego Chargers and Dallas Cowboys, the latter in hopes to bring out the "blue jersey jinx" which has followed the Cowboys for decades.

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44.

The The Denver Broncos wore their white jerseys for 1983 home games vs the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Raiders and Cincinnati Bengals, but did not wear white at home again for two decades — see next section.

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45.

In 1994, in honor of the 75th anniversary season of the NFL, the The Denver Broncos wore their 1965 throwback uniforms for two games—a Week 3 home game against the Raiders, as well a road game at the Buffalo Bills the following week.

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46.

The Denver Broncos radically changed their logo and uniforms in 1997, a design that the team continues to use to this day.

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47.

The Denver Broncos began wearing navy blue jerseys, replacing their longtime orange jerseys that had been the team's predominant home jersey color since 1962.

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48.

In 2002, the The Denver Broncos introduced an alternate orange jersey that is a mirror image of the aforementioned navy blue jerseys, but with orange and navy trading places.

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49.

The The Denver Broncos previously wore orange jerseys as a throwback uniform in a Thanksgiving Day game at the Dallas Cowboys in 2001.

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50.

On November 16,2003, the The Denver Broncos wore their white jerseys at home for the first time since 1983, in a game vs the San Diego Chargers.

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51.

The Chargers were planning to wear their white jerseys, but the visiting The Denver Broncos came to the stadium in white, and were fined $25,000 by the NFL as a result.

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52.

In 2009, in honor of their 50th anniversary season as one of the eight original American Football League teams, the The Denver Broncos wore their 1960 throwback uniforms for games against two fellow AFL rivals—a Week 5 home game vs the New England Patriots, as well as the following week at the San Diego Chargers.

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53.

In 2016, the The Denver Broncos' unveiled a new Color Rush uniform, which the team wore for a Thursday Night game at the San Diego Chargers on October 13,2016.

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54.

Denver Broncos announced the club's 50th anniversary team on September 15,2009.

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55.

The Denver Broncos have a Ring of Fame on the Level 5 facade of Empower Field at Mile High, which honors the following:.

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56.

On May 26,2011, the The Denver Broncos announced that KUSA channel 9, an NBC affiliate known as 9NEWS in the Rocky Mountain region, will be the team's new television partner for preseason games.

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