Denver Broncos Super Bowl: The Spirit of '77

As the Denver Broncos head into a record-tying eighth Super Bowl appearance, Coloradans are settling into a now familiar ritual of big game preparations. But it wasn't so terribly long ago, in the winter of 1977-78, that the Broncos were prepping for their first visit to professional football's ultimate event. 

When the 1977 NFL season dawned, the Denver Broncos were hardly anyone's idea of a potential Super Bowl contender. Despite posting a decent 9-5 record in the 1976 season, they started out '77 with a new coach, Red Miller, and a new quarterback, Craig Morton. 

Though new to Denver, Morton was hardly new to football. The 33-year-old journeyman had already logged 12 seasons in the league, but was coming off a miserable 2-10 season with the New York Giants. 

The season got off to a promising, if not bombastic, start with a 7-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. While Morton had a respectable game, completing 12 of 20 passes for 145 yards, he threw one interception. The game's sole touchdown was a 10-yard rush by running back Otis Armstrong. 

From there on out, however, everything seemed to go the Broncos' way. They proceeded to win 12 of their regular season games and knocked off Pittsburgh and Oakland in the playoffs. 

Seventy-seven was also the year of the vaunted "Orange Crush Defense," spearheaded by Lyle Alzado, Randy Gradishar and Louis Wright. This fabled orange wall held regular season opponents to a measly 10.5 points per game and became the object of a growing phenomenon known as "Broncomania."

With each Bronco victory, the team's popularity grew and by the time they were headed to Super Bowl XII in New Orleans, the Mile High City was in a frenzy. Remember, this was a team that had never even been to the playoffs and had only logged three winning seasons in their entire 16-year history. 

According to longtime Denver Post sports columnist Woody Paige in his book Orange Madness: The Incredible Odyssey of the Denver Denver Broncos, Denverites rallied around the team like they never had before. He recounts empty streets and shopping centers during Broncos games and points out that the Denver Police reported a major drop in crime when the games were on. 

Paige does point out that business at Denver's legion of massage parlors, which he described as "quasi-legal at the time," reported an uptick in business after each Denver Broncos victory that season.

The only folks who seemed to see a surge in business during game time, according to Paige, were television repairmen. These hardworking tele-saviors were dispatched to homes to minister to TV sets that had gone out during the game and needed to be back in order forthwith. 

Though the Broncos lost to the Dallas Cowboys 27-10 in Super Bowl XII, the spirit of that '77 team lives on in the form of Denver's unwavering devotion to its NFL franchise. Broncos fans have stood with their team through four more losing Super Bowls and two Super victories (and probably one more on Sunday, February 7).

Broncomania, of course, has grown considerably over the years since the team's first Super Bowl appearance, and their presence in the Mile High City is inescapable. Though plenty of folks put up a pretty good argument that Bronco fandom borders on the extreme, it's tough to understate the team's presence in modern-day Denver. 

To learn more about the Denver Broncos, check out the following titles:

• Orange Madness: The Incredible Odyssey of the Denver Broncos, Woodrow Paige, Jr. 
• Mile High Miracle: Elway and the Broncos - Super Bowl Champions at Last!, Jerry Green
• Broncos: From Striped Socks to Super Bowl and Beyond, Bob Collins