Was anyone here a fan during the 60's.....

[AboveAverage]

.....and can possible give this current generation of fans that have internet assess some perspective? I genuinely would appreciate your input.

[Popps]

I can only go back to the mid-70s, and can tell you that if there WAS a team as gutless as what I saw today... I don't remember it.

I remember BAD teams... teams that lacked talent. But, I don't recall seeing a quit-job like I saw today.

[Paladin]

The teams in the 60s were part timers, Popps. They held day jobs. They were not very good teams then. But they never quit like this team has done.

Know what? I blame coaching. Something happened that turned the team around, and I think they will need to have a Players' meeting and have a conversation about what is wrong. I am not suggesting a group hug affair, but Smith had had that kind of ability to talk with Shanahan about what was wrong.

Team leadership? Maybe.

[BroncoBuff]

Fan since 69-70, and imo the worst displays in Broncos history were both in the Hoosier Dome.

Monday Night Football @ Indy in 1988 was unthinkable ... worse than yesterday even. Lost like 55-14 ... totally gave up. Second, the playoff game where Al Wilson was yelling at his teammate while Marvin Harrison got up under his nose and ran in for a TD. Those are the two worst ever. I suppose the 2nd quarter of the Redskins Super Bowl comes close.


The 1960s were HORRIBLE on the field, though the team had character. We were the worst team in pro football onfield, bar none. It should be noted that "the 1960s" to me ended in 1973 when we hired John Ralston. Before that, we were the worst team in existence. 4-10, 5-9 every year. I remember once very clearly, loading the dishwasher after dinner - I was prolly 9 - listening to Hank Stram being interviewed on the radio by Bob Martin. Hank said, "it's always tough to play the Broncos." I was just 9, but I knew he was lying :~ohyah!:

[broncoblue]

1982...never heard of the nfl before that.We got a hour highlights on c4 in england and i loved it ,i then needed a team and my cousin in denver was a bronco fan so i became a bronco.Now we get triple headers every sunday on sky tv,we get mnf and theres streaming.

[broncogary]

... I remember once very clearly, loading the dishwasher after dinner - I was prolly 9 - listening to Hank Stram being interviewed on the radio by Bob Martin. Hank said, "it's always tough to play the Broncos." I was just 9, but I knew he was lying :~ohyah!:

Actually, the Bronco's were tough to play back then, because they had a strong defensive line, but because of no QB, they were easy to beat.

[BroncoBuff]

No quarterback?!

But Pete Liske spoke at my Elementary School when I was in 4th grade!! (Holy Trinity on 73rd and Federal) ... He made me the fan I am today! :strong:

[broncogary]

No quarterback?!

But Pete Liske spoke at my Elementary School when I was in 4th grade!! (Holy Trinity on 73rd and Federal) ... He made me the fan I am today! :strong:

Yep, he was that year's savior. LOL

[halfcreek]

Fanatical fan since 1960, so I have seen it all. With the early teams it was accepted that they would be bad, so fans gave them a break. People were excited to have pro ball in Denver. There have always been the cynics and the whiners who go apoplectic when the team loses. People are justified to be POed with the lack of performance vs SD. The team needs viagra.

[Orange_Beard]

Born in 65, I was a titty fan at that time.

Still am, FYI.

[NYBronco]

Back in the late 60's and early 70's if the Broncos beat the raiders it was like winning a SB Championship. Comparing one era to another is difficult due to the way the game has changed in all aspects but mostly just my own personal recall.

[dsmoot]

Fan since 69-70, and imo the worst displays in Broncos history were both in the Hoosier Dome.

Monday Night Football @ Indy in 1988 was unthinkable ... worse than yesterday even. Lost like 55-14 ... totally gave up. Second, the playoff game where Al Wilson was yelling at his teammate while Marvin Harrison got up under his nose and ran in for a TD. Those are the two worst ever. I suppose the 2nd quarter of the Redskins Super Bowl comes close.


The 1960s were HORRIBLE on the field, though the team had character. We were the worst team in pro football onfield, bar none. It should be noted that "the 1960s" to me ended in 1973 when we hired John Ralston. Before that, we were the worst team in existence. 4-10, 5-9 every year. I remember once very clearly, loading the dishwasher after dinner - I was prolly 9 - listening to Hank Stram being interviewed on the radio by Bob Martin. Hank said, "it's always tough to play the Broncos." I was just 9, but I knew he was lying :~ohyah!:

Moved to Colorado in 71 from Baltimore. It is difficult to draw parallels to the 60's in Denver to today. Remember, Denver was straining to emerge from a minor league cowtown image in sports and demographics. No insult intended because I absolutely fell in love with Colorado and its people as compared to the east coast mentality. The BRONCOS were the ONLY game in town (other than an ABA team) and the fans were incredibly loyal regardless of game outcomes. The team lacked talent but they played hard. However, the fans did demand 100% effort as was evidence with the Lou Saban "half a loaf game" vs Miami.

However, Ralston did have a hand in changing/demanding expectations. Success against the Raiders and Pittsburgh came first. Finally, 1977 cemented the change in expectations that would never allow the return to the 60's in terms of fan loyalty and team performance. Denver is now a major league town with the Rockies, Avalanche, Nuggets, MLS, etc. More significantly, the people have changed as many, many have poured into Colorado from various parts of the country, completely changing the states demographics and peoples attitudes toward the sports teams. The rose colored glasses no longer exist with the fans in Denver. I miss it to a degree but things never stay the same.

[dsmoot]

Fan since 69-70, and imo the worst displays in Broncos history were both in the Hoosier Dome.

Monday Night Football @ Indy in 1988 was unthinkable ... worse than yesterday even. Lost like 55-14 ... totally gave up. Second, the playoff game where Al Wilson was yelling at his teammate while Marvin Harrison got up under his nose and ran in for a TD. Those are the two worst ever. I suppose the 2nd quarter of the Redskins Super Bowl comes close.


The 1960s were HORRIBLE on the field, though the team had character. We were the worst team in pro football onfield, bar none. It should be noted that "the 1960s" to me ended in 1973 when we hired John Ralston. Before that, we were the worst team in existence. 4-10, 5-9 every year. I remember once very clearly, loading the dishwasher after dinner - I was prolly 9 - listening to Hank Stram being interviewed on the radio by Bob Martin. Hank said, "it's always tough to play the Broncos." I was just 9, but I knew he was lying :~ohyah!:

Moved to Colorado in 71 from Baltimore. It is difficult to draw parallels to the 60's in Denver to today. Remember, Denver was straining to emerge from a minor league cowtown image in sports and demographics. No insult intended because I absolutely fell in love with Colorado and its people as compared to the east coast mentality. The BRONCOS were the ONLY game in town (other than an ABA team) and the fans were incredibly loyal regardless of game outcomes. The team lacked talent but they played hard. However, the fans did demand 100% effort as was evidence with the Lou Saban "half a loaf game" vs Miami.

However, Ralston did have a hand in changing/demanding expectations. Success against the Raiders and Pittsburgh came first. Finally, 1977 cemented the change in expectations that would never allow the return to the 60's in terms of fan loyalty and team performance. Denver is now a major league town with the Rockies, Avalanche, Nuggets, MLS, etc. More significantly, the people have changed as many, many have poured into Colorado from various parts of the country, completely changing the states demographics and peoples attitudes toward the sports teams. The rose colored glasses no longer exist with the fans in Denver. I miss it to a degree but things never stay the same.

[Hogan11]

I believe everyone here was around for the 1990 season....that's the kind of year we're facing at present barring any adjustments that work.

Who's gonna go up and live atop a billboard till the Broncos win another game this time?

[Rock Chalk]

God damn raider fan at work is giving me a hard time. If I dont post for the next few days, its cuz Im in jail for raidercide.

[sketch]

God damn raider fan at work is giving me a hard time. If I dont post for the next few days, its cuz Im in jail for raidercide.

LOL...why I'm glad I work at home on weeks like this.

[ROYC75]

Fanatical fan since 1960, so I have seen it all. With the early teams it was accepted that they would be bad, so fans gave them a break. People were excited to have pro ball in Denver. There have always been the cynics and the whiners who go apoplectic when the team loses. People are justified to be POed with the lack of performance vs SD. The team needs viagra.


This is it in a nutshell..... My sis & BIL lived in Boulder and he was a crazy football nut,claimed the fans accepted it. It wasn't until the Orange Crush D can along when the fans went gaga over the team.

Denver is like KC this year, just not very good . It's tough to take when you have been pretty solid for years......

Welcome to the NFL........

[ROYC75]

God damn raider fan at work is giving me a hard time. If I dont post for the next few days, its cuz Im in jail for raidercide.

Hilarious! Hilarious! Look at the bright side buddy, KU won !:yayaya:

[Paladin]

Alec, you can handle it. You're smart, remember?

[TailgateNut]

God damn raider fan at work is giving me a hard time. If I dont post for the next few days, its cuz Im in jail for raidercide.


It's ok, as long as you dispose of the body before they can perform an autopsy!

[Rock Chalk]

Alec, you can handle it. You're smart, remember?

Fortunately Raidercide is a class c misdemeanor. I'd only be gone a couple of days ;D

[UboBronco]

Yes, I have seen it all. In the early years, they just did not have the talent. The organization was run on a shoestring budget, and was almost run as a Junior Varsity orgagnization. They even made Dick Butkus one of their first draft choices, because they knew he was a good player, but that he was going to sign with the Bears, so they did not have to pay for him.

Ralston was the first one to bring in talent. Saban tried to win with coaching, but never had the talent to succeed. Thus games like the half a loaf game. For you youngsters out there, the half a loaf was the season opener one year, and Lou Saban did not try to win, but stay a tie at the end, because half a loaf was better than none.

The effort on Sunday was by far, one of the lowest efforts I have ever seen. That was the most disturbing thing. I hope Shanny stops signing retreads, and starts rebuilding, like Ralston did, through the draft. I almost feel like the old Raider or Redskin teams, if a vetern is out there, Denver will pick them up and overpay. Time to go back to builing from within. Much as the Rockies are doing. Hopefully the Rockies will pay to keep their good players, which I believe is the one thing the Broncos will do.

[Cito Pelon]

Yes, I have seen it all. In the early years, they just did not have the talent. The organization was run on a shoestring budget, and was almost run as a Junior Varsity orgagnization. They even made Dick Butkus one of their first draft choices, because they knew he was a good player, but that he was going to sign with the Bears, so they did not have to pay for him.

Ralston was the first one to bring in talent. Saban tried to win with coaching, but never had the talent to succeed. Thus games like the half a loaf game. For you youngsters out there, the half a loaf was the season opener one year, and Lou Saban did not try to win, but stay a tie at the end, because half a loaf was better than none.

The effort on Sunday was by far, one of the lowest efforts I have ever seen. That was the most disturbing thing. I hope Shanny stops signing retreads, and starts rebuilding, like Ralston did, through the draft. I almost feel like the old Raider or Redskin teams, if a vetern is out there, Denver will pick them up and overpay. Time to go back to builing from within. Much as the Rockies are doing. Hopefully the Rockies will pay to keep their good players, which I believe is the one thing the Broncos will do.

Yeah, the 60's there was not much budget to go around. They did have some decent players. The AFL itself was a shoestring budget League for most of its existence. Dallas moved to KC, LA Chargers moved to SD, etc. But it was the only game in town, the stadium was small, didn't have an upper deck until '73.

Denver had some players and coaches that went on to success elsewhere, Marlin Briscoe was part of Miami's good teams after the merger, Lou Saban went to Buffalo where he had a lot of success. Ray Malavasi went on to the LA Rams and USC I believe and had success.

The Bronco players used to have their own fan clubs, you'd see them in their own sections in the stands. There was one that called themselves "Criter's Critters" after the OG Ken Criter who was a pretty good competitor. I remember one game Criter must have been saying some pretty nasty stuff to a DL guy, and everybody is in their stance, the QB is calling his cadence, but before the ball is snapped this DL stands up and slugs Criter in the eye, right through the gap in his facemask.

Ah, the bad old days. The team didn't have a winning record in any season until '73, and only finished at .500 one time before that.

Good thread. I haven't thought of some of this stuff in years.

Here's a link for people that want to review the 1960's:

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/denindex.htm

[Bronco Bob]

.....and can possible give this current generation of fans that have internet assess some perspective? I genuinely would appreciate your input.

Missed it by a few years. I first started paying attention to the Broncos in 1973.

[2KBack]

I believe everyone here was around for the 1990 season....that's the kind of year we're facing at present barring any adjustments that work.

Who's gonna go up and live atop a billboard till the Broncos win another game this time?

Shortly after the game, this is exactly what I was thinking. Time to get up on the billboard. I remember the post used to have a weekly pick'em game in back then (maybe they still do), and I got screwed every week because I couldn't bear to pick against Denver.

[joe9999]

I watched the games in the 60's growing up being that my Dad was a big Broncos fan. Those were rough years. Back then the teams with the big bucks would win year after year. The Cowboys would always have superior talent and crush us. The Chiefs and Raiders were almost always losses. But we got better year after year. It is much more difficult to go gradually from a super bowl champion to a pitiful team.

[Meck77]

Now this is a group of "real" Broncos fans. If you aren't a member I'd encourage you guys to sign up. Plenty of fans from the 60's in this group.

http://www.denverbroncosqbclub.com/

Shanny is going to speak at the next meeting Oct 18th. Now is a great time to sign up!

[Old Dude]

Well, first of all, the 60's was a decade. The broncos didn't just struggle for a month or two or a season or two, but for the whole decade.

It was a lot harder, back then, to see a light at the end of the tunnel. There wasn't really any free agency, other than the leagues raiding each other, and the Broncos weren't much of a player in that effort, since they were a shoestring operation.

So any improvement had to come via trades or the draft. But most trades didn't work out very well for the simple reason that what looked like a solid player at a needed position was often a guy who looked better than he really was due to his supporting cast. Meanwhile, guys who looked less than spectacular here, often looked much better when they got to join a stronger team with more help around them.

The draft wasn't much help until the merger, because no matter who we drafted, they would usually sign with the NFL team. We drafted quality players like Merlin Olsen and Dick Butkus but had no chance of signing them.

Even after the merger, we were still in a hole, and it took a long time to dig out of it.

Today, bad as things might look, the Broncos could still be within a year or two of contending for the super bowl ... get a solid draft and the right free agents, get some luck with injuries, have your divisional opponents hit some hard times, and suddenly you're in the playoffs with at least a little HFA.

And most other NFL teams could say the same thing.

The futility we've seen over the past few weeks is striking because it is so unusual for Denver. We're not used to seeing it year in - year out.

Some of the problems are just a matter of young players learning their way. Cutler and Marshall probably have very bright futures. We've got a lot of very young linemen. Some won't be around very long, but some will blossom.

Also, keep in mind that, at least for purposes of the last game, our vets were in bad shape. At least a couple of starters couldn't suit up at all. Champ and Nalen both got hurt during the game. Bly was limping around. Lynch probably wasn't 100 percent. I don't know how distracted Henry was, but the media circus probably didn't help his cause.

Make no mistake, this team is not a serious playoff contender. They will have to work hard to get above .500. But there are brighter days ahead and you can count on it.

[crawdad]

totally[/I] gave up. Second, the playoff game where Al Wilson was yelling at his teammate while Marvin Harrison got up under his nose and ran in for a TD. Those are the two worst ever. I suppose the 2nd quarter of the Redskins Super Bowl comes close.:

I was at that 55-10 debacle in Indy in 1988. I was completely embarassed by our team but it was no where near what happened yesterday.

We will survive and I remain positive.