Milestone No. 1: The Broncos finally get to hoist the Lombardi Trophy
Apr 10, 2025, 12:51 PM
The Fan is turning 30! For three decades, the station has been covering Denver sports, serving as a media outlet of record for the biggest events over the past 30 years.
There have been a lot of them. From championships to MVPs, from historic seasons to improbable victories, The Fan has been there for all of them.
What were the best of the best? During a six week span, Denver Sports will chronicle the moments that stood out the most. It’s a countdown from No. 30 to No. 1, in a series called “Mile High Milestones.”
Enjoy the trip down memory lane!
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The city of Denver lives and dies with the Broncos. Fans in the Mile High City bleed orange. The mood of the town ebbs and flows with the fate of their NFL team.
Four times during the first 36 years of the franchise’s existence, Broncos Country had suffered through the cruelest of endings. They’d reached the game’s biggest stage, only to come up short, with each loss more painful than the previous one.
Denver’s first shot at a championship came in 1977, the year that Bronco Mania was truly born. But a 27-10 loss to the Cowboys in Super Bowl XII ended the dream.
Nine years later, John Elway led the Broncos back to the big game. This time around, the Giants vanquished the team’s hopes, as Denver lost 39-20.
Undeterred, Elway and company returned the next season. But Super Bowl XXII was a disaster, as Timmy Smith ran wild and Doug Williams threw touchdown pass after touchdown pass, with the Redskins winning 42-10.
And finally, Super Bowl XIV provided the Broncos with their third chance in four years to get over the hump. They didn’t come close, getting blown out 55-10 by the 49ers in a game not as close as that score would indicate.
Those weren’t the only devastating losses, however. In 1996, Denver appeared poised to make another title run. But their 13-3 season went for naught when Jacksonville upset them in the Divisional Round.
That loss stung. It felt like the best chance Elway to finally get a ring. It seemed like the football gods were never going to smile on the Broncos.
That was the sentiment heading in the ’97 season. Denver had a really good team; they were certainly a Super Bowl contender. But the entire town was on pins and needles; Broncos Country was trying to avoid another crushing disappointment.
It didn’t take long for the excitement level to ramp up, however. Decked out in brand new uniforms, the Broncos got off to a fast start.
Denver got off to a 6-0 start, averaging 31.7. points per game along the way. Elway was throwing the ball all over the field, with Shannon Sharpe, Ed McCaffrey and Rod Smith serving as his primary targets. And Terrell Davis emerged as the premier running back in the league, giving the Broncos a balanced offense that seemed unstoppable at times.
After a loss to the Raiders in Week 8, Denver rattled off three-consecutive wins. Even a blizzard couldn’t derail them, as fans on snowmobiles helped the players reach DIA in time for a flight to Buffalo before an overtime win over the Bills.
Then, adversity struck. Pete Stoyanovich hit a 54-yard field goal at the gun to help the Chiefs beat the Broncos by a 24-22 count at Arrowhead. That loss flipped the balance of power in the AFC West; even at 9-2, Denver was in a dogfight with Kansas City.
Back-to-back losses in Weeks 15 and 16 moved the Broncos down the standings. But that wasn’t the worst thing to happen to the team during those games. A spitting incident between Bill Romanowski and J.J. Stokes during a loss to the 49ers was captured by the “Monday Night Football” cameras; a huge controversy ensued.
That distraction, plus the fact that Denver was only a wild-card team despite finishing with a 12-4 record, had people doubting the Broncos heading into the playoffs. Once again, it appeared that a golden opportunity was going to slip through the team’s fingers.
But this season was different. This time around, the orange and blue were able to seize the day.
Their “Revenge Tour” through the playoffs kicked off with a home game against the Jaguars. The Broncos rolled, avenging the postseason loss the year before with a convincing 42-17 victory.
Next, Denver traveled to Kansas City for a third tilt against the Chiefs. Once again, they made amends for a previous stumble, winning 14-10 at Arrowhead.
Finally, the Broncos made a return trip to Pittsburgh, the site of their Week 15 loss. In the AFC Championship Game, Denver came out on top, winning 24-21 at Three Rivers Stadium.
The Broncos were back in the Super Bowl, but they were double-digit underdogs to the defending champion Packers. As a result, not everyone was excited about them returning to the NFL’s title game. Elway’s mother famously asked her son if Denver had to make the trip; she jokingly dreaded the thought of another disappointment.
Early in Super Bowl XXXII, her fears looked well-founded. Brett Favre led the Packers on a touchdown on their opening drive, hitting Antonio Freeman with a 22-yard strike in the back of the end zone. Everyone in Broncos Country was muttering the same thing; “Here we go again.”
But Denver answered. On their initial drive, the Broncos marched right down the field, capped with a two-yard touchdown run by Davis. Just like that, it was game on; this time around, things would be different.
Elway added a one-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, followed by a 51-yard field goal by Jason Elam to take a 17-7 lead. But Favre, the league’s MVP that season, didn’t lie down; the quarterback hit Mark Chmura for a six-yard touchdown with just 12 seconds to play in the first half.
Green Bay tied the score early in the third quarter. The Broncos responded with an epic, 92-year touchdown march, with Davis scoring his second touchdown of the day to cap it off. That drive included a key third-down conversion by Elway, as the 37-year-old quarterback scrambled to his right, leapt into the air, was hit by a Packers defender and spun to the ground. Known as “The Helicopter,” the play became the signature moment of the game.
Favre showed why he was the NFL’s Most Valuable Player, however. He led his team on an 85-yard drive to tie the game at 24-24.
That set up the most-important drive in Broncos history. With just over three minutes to play in the game, Denver had the ball in a tie game, with the Super Bowl on the line. And they delivered.
Elway orchestrated a five-play, 49-yard march that ended with Davis recording his third touchdown run of the day. Up 31-24, the Broncos were 1:42 away from their first championship.
But they had to stop Favre before they could reach their goal. And it wasn’t going to be easy. The QB was one of the best in the sport; his late-game heroics were on par with Elway’s.
And it looked like he might dash Denver’s hopes. With 1:04 to play, the Packers had first-and-10 at the Broncos 35-yard line. They were on the move.
But then, Denver’s defense tightened. A four-yard completion to Dorsey Levens and an incompletion that would’ve moved the ball to the 15 set up a crucial third-and-six. On that play, Favre threw a strike to Robert Brooks. But a perfectly timed hit by Steve Atwater broke up the pass; the safety knocked out himself, Brooks and teammate Randy Hilliard in the process.
With 32 seconds left to play, the Packers faced a fourth-and-six on Denver’s 31-yard line. Favre took the snap, looked across the middle and tried to hit Chmura for the first down. But John Mobley stepped in front of the pass, knocking it to the ground.
And the celebration ensued. Broncos players raced onto the field. The sidelines erupted. Fans cheered. Some even cried. Emotions came pouring out.
The team’s 37-year wait was over. After a lot of heartbreak, Denver had finally done it. They had won the Super Bowl!
Davis was named the game’s MVP, rushing for 157 yards and three scores, despite missing a portion of the first half with a migraine headache. And Elway was carried off the field, finally reaching the prize that he had been chasing for 15 years.
During the trophy ceremony, Pat Bowlen summed up the way everyone in Broncos Country was feeling. The team’s owner uttered the four most famous words in franchise history.
“The one’s for John!”
It certainly was. But it was also for everyone in the long-suffering fan base. It was for the people who packed Mile High Stadium game after game for decades. It was for those who bled orange, who never gave up hope.
January 25, 1998 will forever be the greatest sports day in the history of Denver. It was the moment that the city had waited for since 1960.
The Broncos were champions!
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THE COUNTDOWN
30: Ubaldo Jimenez has a magical season
29: Todd Helton get enshrined in Cooperstown
28: Valeri Nichushkin goes missing in the postseason – twice!
27: The Avalanche win their second Stanley Cup
26: The Nuggets come back from two 3-1 deficits in the bubble
25: The seemingly never-ending Broncos ownership saga
24: Hurricane Josh hits the Mile High City
23: The Rockies trade Nolan Arenado to the Cardinals
22: The Nuggets reach the Western Conference Finals in 2009
21: John Elway gets enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame
20: The Avalanche hoist third Stanley Cup in franchise history
19: The Avalanche acquire Patrick Roy from the Canadiens
18: The Broncos produce the greatest offensive season in NFL history
17: John Elway joins the Broncos front office to right the ship
16: The Avalanche win the Stanley Cup in 1996
15: The Broncos nearly decade-long quarterback carousel
14: The Avs-Red Wings rivalry turns into a bloodbath
13: The Broncos win back-to-back titles during historic season
12: The Broncos suffer one of the worst losses in franchise history
11: The Broncos part ways with head coach Mike Shanahan
10: The Nuggets trade away Carmelo Anthony in a blockbuster deal
9: Nikola Jokic finally wins a much-deserved MVP award
8: Coach Prime arrives in Boulder and resuscitates the Buffaloes
7: The Broncos make a blockbuster trade for Russell Wilson
6: The Broncos win Super Bowl 50 thanks to an all-time great defense
5: The Nuggets win the first NBA title in franchise history
4: Rocktober was a three-week run of near perfection
3: The Broncos win the Peyton Manning sweepstakes
2: Tebow Mania becomes the biggest story in sports
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Wanna hear more about this Mile High Milestone? Tune into “The Rundown” at noon or check out the show on YouTube to hear Richie Carni and a special guest take a walk down memory lane.
