Floyd Little and Charley Johnson

[The Moops]

Found this 1973 game story on broncos web site. Pretty cool.


http://www.denverbroncos.com/page.php?id=334&storyID=7632

[Los Broncos]

I was a year and a half old when this game took place.

[dsmoot]

Those were the days. Charley Johnson was Denver's first legit QB and Floyd was still playing well. We played a great game against the Raiders on a national stage. The first of the building blocks were being placed for 1977. A definite upgrade in talent was emerging after all those subpar years. If you weren't a Bronco fan back in those days, you just don't know how exciting it was to see this team start turning the corner. It some ways, it was like going to a Superbowl in the later years. The fan base was crazy loyal, not like today.

[DennisSmithHOF]

I noticed the starting DLT for Houston is Al Cowlings. Is that AC that is OJ's buddy. "You know who this is, it's AC dammit"

[footstepsfrom#27]

Eight days after defeating the Oilers, the Broncos would play on Monday Night Football for the first time, and the ensuing 23-23 tie with the Oakland Raiders proved a rousing introduction to the national stage for the Broncos, who'd spent their entire existence to that point playing in the football equivalent of dinner theatre.
Orange Monday...this was the first game I ever saw Denver play in person. It was pure bedlam...Mile High was rocking even with only 50k or so fans and you had to scream into someone's ear to be heard.

Memories...

[broncosteven]

The 1st game I ever remember seeing was Denver vs Houston. I don't remember plays but it was so exciting I must have burned the matchup in my brain.

I also remember a Butt-pirate game to end the season that we lost on a FG miss by Jim Turner. If turner makes the kick for the win we go even that year. Or something... I had a recital that day and my Mom let me go the Piano teachers house early so I could watch the game and play the recital. Nice old lady, but she picked at slivers in her fingers all the time but I digress. The "Theme from THe Sting" was big at the recital so it must have been '74?

[The Moops]

I grew up a Broncos fan on the east coast (Delaware) and started following the Broncos when I was 7, because I liked the horse on the helmet! It was 1970 and my best friend told me I was wasting my time because they were never on TV. I quickly discovered Floyd Little was the lone super star on offense and he ended up leading the AFC in rushing that year. I got my parents to buy me a bunch of football magazines and cut out numerous photos of him and plastered them all over my bedroom wall.

The next year, the Broncos came east and played the Eagles at Vet stadium. My dad took me to the game and Floyd ran through them for over 100 yards. One play I remember he took a hand off, started left got surrounded by a bunch of eagles and reversed field, like Barry Sanders became famous for, and darted through the defense all the way down to the one yard line. He punched it over for a TD the next play. I was crushed when the Broncos lost at the end on some blocked punt, typical for back then.

That year (1971) Floyd led the NFL in rushing with 1,133 yards . . . and I had seen how great he was live and in color. It would be another 2 years before I saw them again on Monday Night Football against the Raiders in 1973. By then, Floyd was 31 but still the star.

The crusher was that final game in 1973 against the Raiders for the AFC West. Denver lost after coming back from a big Raiders lead. I think if Charley Johnson hadn't been knocked out with a concussion early in the 4th quarter, Denver would have won.