Denver Broncos is an American football team which was founded on August 14th, 1959 when minor league baseball owner Bob Howsam was awarded an American Football League (AFL) charter franchise.
On September 9, 1960, the Denver Broncos defeated the Boston Patriots 13-10 in the inaugural AFL game. Seven years later, on August 5, 1967, they defeated the Detroit Lions 13-7 in a preseason game to become the first AFL team to ever defeat an NFL squad.
However, the Broncos struggled in the 1960s, going 39-97-4 (.293) throughout the course of the 10 AFL seasons, with only one win exceeding five games (7-7, 1962).
In 1965, Denver was on the verge of losing its franchise when a local ownership group took over and rebuilt the team. Due to his 1967 signing and Pro Bowl performance on and off the field, the team’s first superstar, “Franchise” Floyd Little, helped to keep the team in Denver.
The Broncos were the only original AFL team to never play in the championship game and the only original AFL team to never have a winning season while playing in the AFL in the 10-year history of the fledgling league.
John Ralston, a former Stanford University coach, was appointed head coach of the Broncos in 1972. He won the AFC Coach of the Year award from the UPI in 1973, the year Denver had its first winning season (7-5-2). Ralston led the Broncos to three winning seasons during his five seasons with the franchise.
What year was Denver Broncos founded?
The Broncos was founded on August 1th, 1959.
Who is the head coach of Denver Broncos?
The Broncos is headed by Jerry Rosburg and Nathaniel Hackett.
Who owns the Denver Broncos franchise?
The Broncos is owned by the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group.
How much is Denver Broncos worth?
The franchise value of the Denver Broncos from the National Football League increased from 2002 to 2022. In 2022, the franchise value came to $4.65 billion.
Denver Broncos history
Gerald Phipps, who had acquired the Broncos in May 1961 from Bob Howsam, sold them to Canadian investor Edgar Kaiser Jr., a descendant of shipbuilding giant Henry J. Kaiser, in 1981.
Another Canadian, Pat Bowlen, bought the team in 1984. He transferred team ownership into a family trust before 2004 and maintained day-to-day control until his battle with Alzheimer’s disease caused him to hand up control of the organization to Joe Ellis in 2014.
When Dan Reeves joined the Broncos in 1981 as vice president and head coach, he broke the record for the NFL’s youngest head coach. John Elway, a quarterback who attended Stanford University for his undergraduate degree in football, was traded in.
Mike Shanahan, who had previously worked as the Broncos’ offensive coordinator under Reeves, took over as head coach in 1995. Terrell Davis, a rookie running back, was selected by Shanahan.
Elway and Davis worked together to lead the Denver Broncos to their first Super Bowl triumph in 1997, a 31-24 victory over the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXII.
The next year, the Broncos won the Super Bowl once more after defeating the Atlanta Falcons (headed by Elway’s longtime head coach Dan Reeves) 34-19.
After the 1998 season, John Elway announced his retirement, and for the following four seasons, Brian Griese started at quarterback. Following a 6-10 record in 1999, primarily because Terrell Davis suffered a season-ending injury, the Broncos rebounded in 2000, qualifying for the Wild Card playoffs but falling to the eventual Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens.
Josh McDaniels, a former offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, was hired by the Broncos as the team’s new head coach on January 11, 2009, two weeks after Shanahan was let go.
Following the 2010 campaign, John Elway rejoined the organization as the team’s Executive Vice President of Football Operations, and Joe Ellis was elevated from Chief Operating Officer to Team President.
The Broncos and head coach John Fox reached a mutual decision to split ways on January 12, 2015, which was one day after their divisional playoff loss to the Colts.
The Broncos underwent a number of changes to their coaching staff and players soon after Kubiak was named head coach, including the hiring of Wade Phillips as defensive coordinator and defensive mastermind. Under Phillips, the Broncos’ defense improved from being mediocre to being ranked No. 1 in the NFL.
Coach Gary Kubiak made his retirement announcement on January 2, 2017, citing health as his primary motivation. On January 11, 2017, the Broncos hired Vance Joseph, the defensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins, as their head coach.
Vic Fangio, the defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears, was hired by the Denver Broncos on January 10, 2019, to serve as the franchise’s 17th head coach. Mike Munchak, the offensive line coach for the Broncos, lost out to Fangio.
The Denver Broncos announced on June 7, 2022, that the Walton-Penner family, headed by Rob Walton, had reached an agreement to buy the team for $4.65 billion (a record for North America), subject to the NFL Finance Committee’s and 3/4 of the league’s team owners’ approval.
The new ownership group was publicly unveiled by the Broncos to the Denver community and media on August 10, 2022. Rob Walton, Carrie Walton Penner, Greg Penner, Melody Hobson, Condoleezza Rice, and Lewis Hamilton make up the entire group.
Following the Broncos’ 51-14 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Christmas Day, which left them at 4-11, Hackett was fired on December 26. Interim head coach Jerry Rosburg took his place.
He joined Lou Holtz in 1976, Pete McCulley in 1978, Bobby Petrino in 2007, and Urban Meyer in 2021 as the sixth head coach to not complete his first season. On January 25, Jerry Rosburg was let go from the workforce.
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