Lost in the hysteria surrounding Tim Tebow is something more basic. We are living through the actual rebirth of “BroncoMania.”
Sure, there are those who say BroncoMania has existed every fall for the past three plus decades. But that’s not accurate. In truth, BroncoMania was a short-lived joy ride that captured the city in the fall of 1977 and ended a few months later after the city held a parade for the Super Bowl losers. What’s been masquerading as BroncoMania for the past 33 years is only an imitation. It wasn’t the real thing.
If you lived here back in the 1970’s, you can recall the incredible rush of excitement created by the Broncos unexpected run to the top of the AFC West and ultimately, the Super Bowl. The big, bad Oakland Raiders were the reigning Super Bowl Champs and no one had any reason to think the upstart Broncos were ready to do anything special that season under new coach Red Miller. Miller was a run-first, play great defense kind of coach (sound familiar?) They had a quarterback, Craig Morton, of which little was expected but much was delivered. (Hmmm.)
In the middle of the season came the incredible Broncos 30-7 demolition of the favored Raiders in Oakland. Yes, those Broncos won IN Oakland (Hmmm.) Wanna talk miracles? The place-kicker caught a touchdown pass in that game. Suddenly, people around here started to believe. Before you knew it, Denver had won its first AFC West title, and was hosting the mighty Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the play-offs. The city was in a state of hysteria.
Those Broncos won that game, and then another to win the AFC title and advance to the Super Bowl. They had beaten two teams with more pure talent than they had, Pittsburgh and Oakland(for a second time) to reach the big game. Finally, the powerful NFC champs, Dallas, topped Denver the big bowl. No matter. The city was infatuated. Houses, cars, gas stations. If it would hold still, it got painted orange.
THAT, folks was BroncoMania. It was born when the team exceeded expectations and took the fans on a joy ride that no one had planned on. The lack of expectations made the Super Bowl loss palatable. It gave fans hope that one day soon, their team WOULD win the big game. The vibe was 100% positive.
What happened in the years that followed was not “mania.” It was normal fan fervor. Equal parts exuberance and hope, frustration and angst. Normal fan stuff. Some were still positive, others, having tasted success, were disgruntled when the Broncos lost in the play-offs the next season. That’s what happens when expectations enter into the equation. Remember, this year’s gift is next year’s obligation.
So for the past 33 years, the following for the Denver Broncos has been pretty standard NFL stuff. Sure, the fans continue to sell out games, but so do a lot of other NFL cities. Even when Denver won back-to-back Super Bowls in the late 90’s, the celebrations were pretty much the same sort of thing you see in every championship winning city every year. Chants ringing out of “We’re Number One” and all that. It was all good, but it wasn’t “special” like 1977. By this time, the whole parade thing was pretty much old hat. Add in the Colorado Avalanche, and downtown Denver hosted four of them in five years.
Now fast forward to 2011: Going into the season, very little was expected of these Denver Broncos. No one thought this team was even close to being a play-off contender. They didn’t – and still don’t - have the pure talent that other contenders in the AFC have, and they didn’t have a quarterback that anyone who gets paid to analyze football had anything positive to say about.
Guess what. Something magical has happened – again. Call it luck, call it destiny, heck…call it divine intervention if you want to, but these Broncos have the same kind of mojo working now that the Orange Crush had back in ’77. They seem to most of, if not all of, the breaks. They keep winning and winning, mostly in heroic, late game fashion. It’s like it’s supposed to be “their year.”
Hence the rebirth of actual, real live BroncoMania, complete with its joy and excitement. It’s not laden with much frustration and disappointment about what this team ISN’T doing. Fans are surprised and happy, and they are just enjoying the ride for as long as it lasts.
And guess what? Should this joy ride continue, and the Broncos win the AFC West, they will probably be hosting a play-off game in early January. Their opponent will likely be the same team they hosted on Christmas Eve, 1977 – the Pittsburgh Steelers. Expect BroncoMania to be in full bloom. And remember to move anything you don’t want painted orange.
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