28 Denver Broncos Facts: Learn More About The American Football Team

The Broncos are one of the oldest football clubs in history.

They were established on August 14, 1959, by Bob Howsam. He won an AFL championship with them in 1977.

The Broncs became members of the NFL teams during 1970 after the AFL-NFL merger was finalized.

When they first joined, they were in the AFC West division; they were later paired with their old AFL rivals - The Oakland Raiders.

Broncos are a professional football team that was established in 1960 as a charter member of the now-defunct American Football League.

They joined the National Football League during the AFL–NFL merger of 1970 and went on to win their first AFC Championship in 1977 after having played for 21 years without making it past the postseason.

They play at Sports Authority Field at Mile High and have done so since 2001 after playing at Mile High Stadium from 1970 to 2000.

The Denver Broncos team plays their home games at the Sports Authority Field located at Mile High Stadium.

The Broncos stadium or the Sports Authority Field has a seating capacity of 76,125, which makes it the third-largest stadium in the NFL and second-largest sports stadium in the United States.

Continue reading to learn more information about the Denver Broncos football team and the team history. After this, you may also want to look at other fun articles about Dallas Cowboys facts and American Football facts.

Facts About Denver Broncos

• The Denver Broncos are a member of the NFL's American Football Conference West division, and the Broncos compete in the National Football League.
• Their name was chosen by some fans. A Denver journalist ran a contest for them to choose their new names and 'Broncos' won by a landslide with over 4500 submissions.
• During his career, John Elway led the Broncos to AFC championships, but never a Super Bowl win while he was QB.
• The Broncos don't just play at home in Colorado. They also take the field for one game every year at London's Wembley Stadium.
• The current Denver Broncos team logo is very similar to their old one. It did not change much between the time it was first introduced, in 1991 and today.
• They are called 'The Orange Crush' because of their defense which has featured many great players, including Randy Gradishar and Lyle Alzado, during the 1980s.
• This defensive line was one of the most feared defensive players in their conference.
• The Denver Broncos team has been under constant pressure from animal rights organizations, which claim that they should stop using live animals as mascots.
• Before joining the NFL, the Broncos were members of multiple different leagues, starting with being a charter member of the American Football League.
• During their first run as the Denver Gold, they won the 1971 league championship over the Miami Dolphins.

Denver Broncos' Accomplishments

• Denver Broncos are one of only two to win the non-division championship and also the Super Bowl. They managed this feat back in 1977 when they went 14-2 during their regular season.
• The Denver Broncos have won 2 Super Bowls, both coming during John Elway's time as quarterback for the team.
• During their first year as members of the NFL (the 70s), they won only one game and lost nine.
• However, things were looking bright after their third season when they had an 8-6 record and made it to the playoffs.
• Since 1984, six winners of the non-division championships have made it to the title game, and two of those successful teams went on to score a victory.
• The Broncos have a fantastic record overall, making it to the playoffs around 15 times and winning 13 of those games.
• The Denver Broncos have won three AFC championships, two AFL titles, and eight divisional championships – though they have never been the winning team of a Super Bowl.
• The Broncos won Super Bowls XXXII and XXXIII back to back for their second and third titles.
• They were also members of the NFL's elite during the 1997 season when they went 13–3.
• Before joining the NFL, they were champions of the American Football League in both 1962 when the Broncos defeated the Boston Patriots and 1965 when they beat the San Diego Chargers.
• This makes them a five-time AFL/AFC champion in addition to being a one-time NFC champion.
• In the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Broncos have eight major members.

Denver Broncos' History

• The Denver Broncos were one of four teams that originally split away from the American Football League (AFL) to join the National Football League (NFL).
• The other three teams were the Cleveland Browns, New York Titans, and Baltimore Colts.
• The Denver Broncos started as the Denver Broncos Football Club back in 1959.
• They changed to their current name after they started playing in 1960 and kept it that way until 2001 when they switched to the 'Football Club.'
• The team was originally founded by Bob Howsam, who also served as their first general manager. In 1960, he hired former Stanford University coach John Ralston as head coach.
• Howsam then brought on Jack Faulkner from Cleveland Browns to serve as assistant general manager and defensive backs coach.
• He then hired Lou Saban from the University of Kentucky as head coach, and he eventually led to them getting their first-ever playoff berth in 1967 after they switched conferences and divisions to become an AFC team.
• After two losing seasons, Ralston was fired and replaced by Red Miller, who stayed on until the 1983 season when he was replaced by Dan Reeves, who still holds the record for most games coached with the team.
• After Denver's first winning season in 1973, John Ralston was named the AFC Coach of the Year by the United Press International.
• For the very first time in franchise history, they advanced for the playoffs and progressed to Super Bowl XII in 1977.

Famous Denver Broncos Players

• When Peyton Manning took part in the 2011 season for the Broncos, he set several NFL records.
• These included: most touchdown passes in a game (tied with five other players), most touchdown passes in half (4), and the longest time between two consecutive games with at least four touchdown passes - 13 years.
• John Elway was with the team from 1983 until 1998. During this time, he managed to become one of the most successful quarterbacks in league history.
• He did all this despite having never won a Super Bowl while playing for them.
• Even though injuries forced Floyd Little to retire at age 29 years old, he still managed to rack up over 6000 rushing yards throughout his career.
• He also holds the record for most punt returns (152), longest touchdown run (80 yards), and is fourth on the all-time touchdowns scored list - with a total of 56.
• John Elway was not the only player for the team to have his number retired - Floyd Little had his jersey number (44) retired by the Broncs back on October 28, 2010.
• Doug Lee or 'Peyton Manning' is a bit of a mystery to player rankings.
• While his former team, the Indianapolis Colts, held him as one of the best quarterbacks ever, suddenly, he went to Denver and became even better.
• This has led some experts to declare that Peyton played better during his time with the Denver Broncos than with the Colts.
• Kendall Hinton only completed one throw for 13 y (12m) in nine tries as an emergency quarterback.
• It set a record for the fewest pass completions in a single game in the team history, and he was intercepted twice.
• Following the 2010 season, Joe Ellis was elevated to team president from Chief Operating Officer, while John Elway was rehired as the group's Executive Vice President of Football Operations.