Denver Broncos

Broncos won the first-ever American Football League game over the Boston Patriots, 13-10, on September 9, 1960. Denver has reached the Super Bowl six times, winning it in the 1997 and 1998 seasons. Quarterback John Elway arrived in 1983. Prior to Elway, Denver had over 24 different starting quarterbacks in its 23 seasons to that point. The Broncos would lose Super Bowl XXI to the New York Giants 39-20, Super Bowl XXII to the Washington Redskins 42-10 and Super Bowl XXIV to the San Francisco 49ers 55-10, the most lopsided Super Bowl in history.

In 1995, the Broncos debuted rookie running back Terrell Davis, who, in 1997 would lead the Broncos to their first Super Bowl victory, in Super Bowl XXXII, over the Green Bay Packers 31-24. The Broncos repeated the following year, defeating the Dan Reeves led Atlanta Falcons 34-19 to win Super Bowl XXXIII. Prior to the 2005 season, the Broncos were plagued by early season success followed by late season flops. 2005 Season

In that game, the Broncos became the first team in NFL history to have two players, Mike Anderson and Tatum Bell, rush for over 100 yards and another player, Jake Plummer, pass for over 300 yards in a single game. The key play that led to Jason Elam's 24-yard game winning field goal was a 55 yard run by Ron Dayne who filled in for the injured Tatum Bell. On December 17, the Broncos defeated the Buffalo Bills 28-17. The Broncos entered their third consecutive year in the playoffs with the momentum of a four game winning streak. The last team with a chance of winning three consecutive Super Bowls before the Patriots were the Broncos themselves. The Steelers went on to win Super Bowl XL.

2006 Season

In 2006 the Denver Broncos had high hopes among the league in being able to compete for the Super Bowl title. The Broncos defense started off the first five games of the season allowing only one touchdown, an NFL record, but struggled down the season stretch.

2007 Denver Broncos season

The 2006-2007 off-season began tragically. Just weeks later, on February 24, Broncos 3rd string running back Damien Nash collapsed and died following a celebrity basketball game.

The Broncos also added punter Todd Sauerbrun to help their special teams

In the post-Elway years, Shanahan has taken the Broncos to the playoffs several times. In the 2005 season, the Broncos defeated the New England Patriots in the divisional round and advanced to the AFC Championship game, losing at home to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The team then unveiled a new logo featuring a bucking horse, and changed their team colors to orange, blue, and white. From 1969 to 1971, and again from 1978 to 1979), the team wore orange pants with their white jerseys.