I thought it might be fun to have a series of blogs (and, since it’s my blog, whatever I think might be fun seems pretty likely to find its way into print) on Broncos by the numbers.
The team has just completed 50 years of play, a milestone in any franchise history, and over that time a lot of players have made contributions, large and small, to what the Broncos are. It’s like family members, some more accomplished than others but when you are in a family, you are in for keeps. So too for the Broncos. Once a Broncos, always a Bronco.
Those players have worn a lot of numbers over the years, and we are going to take a look, over time, at various uniform numbers.
Today we will blog about number “7″.
When you are playing any game involving uniform numbers and the Denver Broncos, the number “7″ has to come into the conversation fairly soon, and so it has today.
There is nothing that can be added to what has been said and written, by me alone, in fact, about John Elway. He is nothing less than a legend, and is one of the great number “7″s in all of sport history, ranking near Mickey Mantle on the all-time, all-sport scale.
The number “7″ is retired by the Broncos, one of just three retired numbers in team history, but there are a couple of others who wore the number for Denver’s pro football franchise.
Little known and largely forgotten is a talented and hard working quarterback named Mickey Slaughter, who toiled for the Broncos on those terrible teams from 1963-66. Slaughter was drafted by Denver out of Louisiana Tech in 1963 and he was a player who gave it his all on teams that had no offensive line, few skilled position players and no defense to speak of. So the cards were stacked against Slaughter, who, looking to change his luck, also changed his uniform number, switching from his original “7″ to “14″ halfway through his Denver career.
The number change didn’t really help, but after his playing career Slaughter became a coach at his alma mater and ultimately helped develop Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw, who quarterbacked four world championship teams with the Pittsburgh Steelers. In sports, it’s amazing how one guy is connected to another.
The Broncos’ other number “7″ of course was Craig Morton, a member of the team’s Ring of Fame for his great six-year career (1977-82) that began with that most magical of seasons in the Mile High City, 1977. Morton will forever be the first quarterback to guide the franchise to a Super Bowl, a genuine big time quarterback who came to Denver at just the right time for Morton, the Broncos, and really, for the whole city.
While it would seem obvious that John Elway would immediately go into his number “7″ jersey that he wore throughout his college career at Stanford, team owner Edgar Kaiser actually called Morton before issuing the number to make sure Craig was OK with it. I was in Mr. Kaiser’s office when he placed the call to Craig, and began with small talk before Craig cut in and said, “You want my uniform number, don’t you,” laughing as he said the words. The two men chuckled together and Craig said, “Absolutely, I’ll be honored to have number seven continue with John Elway.”
And so it was, with number seven and the accomplishments of that number now permanently embedded into the memory bank of every member of Broncos Country.
Tags: 2010, Broncos, craig, Denver, elway, jim, john, mickey, morton, saccomano, slaughter
7 is our lucky number, only QB’s wearing #7 took us to all our superbowls, all 6 of them.
Which is troubling since #7 has been retired…
Gonna have to put a brand new plan into motion to get there again, #8? not likely, #9? same thing, #15? best shot? Stay tuned….
and #7 will forever live on in legend!! I love it and miss seeing it on the field. As long as there was time on the clock and #7 had the ball we always had a chance!!
Elway was the embodiment of excitement.
And that’s the reason why 7 is in my username and why its my favorite number. Lots of respect for Morton who wore it before Elway and saying he’d be honored to have that number carried on with Elway. Little did he know what Elway would do with that number. haha
Great recap of the #7, Jim!!
Keep the faith Broncos Country…
GO BRONCOS in 2010!!!!!
Woot tebow and company started talking serious bout a contract last night and this morning. Tebow should be signed soon.
-And i guess my party about signing T.O. is over…*tear*
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d819594cb/article/source-tebow-close-to-deal-with-broncos-ahead-of-camp?module=HP_headlines
heres the link.
Yeah, this could be Tebow’s day, he doesn’t want to miss any of this, and he is already missing his first day, he’s gotta be itching to go, the stupid agent is probably the only one standing in his way.
If you take Tebows #15 and subtract Ortons #8 that leaves #7!!!!!!! kddn
Smart way to get rid of Orton to get your boy Tebow to play, LOL.
Thank you Mr. Saccomano. I really like the idea of going through the history of who wore what numbers for Us.
This was a great and all too necessary edition of the series. It is strange how in sports, one person can be tied to so many others, and one may not ever know it. I would not have known of Slaughter going back to his college, and helping to ‘rear’ Bradshaw. Good info….
I like that O_C – Tebow, minus Orton = 7
Except, I have great faith that Orton is going to have a career year (again… He actually does every year he has been in the NFL, so it wouldn’t be surprising to anyone who is paying attention). Therefore, my point is, no minusing of Orton this year (though We will see the post-season, mark my text). It will be great to see TC, and preseason to see just how all this GREAT character and EXCELLENT competition plays out. Let alone once the regular season starts…. Indianapolis is going down this year… Mark that text too. ( =
I agree PJ….. Its about time we beat the freakin Colts!
Here’s an interesting tidbit.
2009 Denver Broncos Average Age
Broken down by Team, then Offense & Defense.
Broncos Team Average age: 28.2
Defense: 27.4
Offense: 28.9
Again this numbers are for 2009. Listed below are all 32 NFL Teams. We’re not quite the “over the hill” gang – (Patriots), but we weren’t far off.
25.9 Houston Texans
26.4 Jacksonville Jaguars
26.6 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
26.6 St. Louis Rams
26.6 New York Giants
26.7 Philadelphia Eagles
26.8 Miami Dolphins
26.8 Kansas City Chiefs
26.9 Chicago Bears
26.9 San Francisco 49ers
26.9 Carolina Panthers
26.9 Detroit Lions
27.0 Cincinnati Bengals
27.1 San Diego Chargers
27.2 Tennessee Titans
27.2 Oakland Raiders
27.3 Cleveland Browns
27.3 Green Bay Packers
27.3 Atlanta Falcons
27.4 New Orleans Saints
27.4 Seattle Seahawks
27.4 Indianapolis Colts
27.5 Baltimore Ravens
27.5 Buffalo Bills
27.6 New York Jets
27.7 Dallas Cowboys
28.0 Pittsburgh Steelers
28.0 Arizona Cardinals
28.1 Washington Redskins
28.2 Denver Broncos
28.3 Minnesota Vikings
28.7 New England Patriots
It seems every year we think we’re due to beat the Colts and we’re still waiting, even snow storms haven’t slowed down Manning when we thought for sure NOW WAY he can beat us in that. Unfortunately the Colts still have Manning and we have Orton, so I’m not gonna sell the farm on us beating them this year, rather I will hope very hard that we do.
Amazing the excitement that TC has put in the air, all kinds of bloggers are coming out of nowhere telling us to mark their words, take that to the bank, guaranteeing this and that, remembering they said it first, warning us to watch for their 14-2 predictions to come through, I mean it’s mind boggling, it’s as if nearly the entire fan base has embarked onto this rainbow ride that ends up having us achieving all kinds of stuff that we all have only been dreaming about the last 4 years. YEAH, the organization has done a bang up job of marketing their team this year specifically with the drafting of Tebow and the spectacular way in which they did so, dropping back of their spots so many times that we lost count only to amass enough picks to combine them and select Tebow, WOW. And the plan is working to perfection, the fans have bought more Tebow stuff than anyone else, the thought is now nearly universal among Bronco fans that we are it and watch out football world and somehow most everyone forgets how mediocre this team has become.
Absolutely brilliant Mr. Bowlen, as a past business owner, I pull my hat off to you, you have pulled one gigantic card out of nowhere, and you knew all along exactly what you were doing, since you were the first one to tell us that yeah if there is a good QB to be had in the draft sure enough we would draft him. Here is to hope the future will show us this was not all just a magnificent marketing plot, but a giant step back to the promise land.
All that being said, none of this great treck towards greatness starts this year, we will do very well to finish with my prediction of 9-7 this year, sorry to all the ones who have vision of greater things for this year, it just is not in the cards for me yet, main reasons #1) O line and #2) QB and that my friends is enough for me to expect nothing much better than average and the D is why I raise it slightly to above average. Only one man’s opinion, but well thought out I may add, LOL.
I can’t stop marveling at how the fans have turned around this off season, just think this is a team that finishes last season 2-8 and we go through an off season where we haven’t even put pads on and the consensus among many is that we are all world and everyone better watch out! Now that’s a truly amazing feat for an organization to have accomplished, gain thousands of supporters while not playing a single game after a bitter end to last season, only in America, or only in sports, or both, WOW.
rbf1, one of the problem I see on your age chart, thanks for it btw, is Jacksonville sits there as the second youngest team and we are the third oldest and we head out there for our season opening in what will be at least 90 degree weather with major humidity. I lived in Pensacola, Florida for 16 years, same latitude as Jacksonville, and I can tell you that the first couple weeks of September over there is like the middle of July or August anywhere else, the summer does not lose it’s grip until the end of September every year, you can count on it. Which brings me to my point: I’m very worried about this first game, and I am even more worried now that I haven’t seen one single blogger having us lose this game in their predictions. This game will be terribly hard on the Denver players in the second half, now you are telling me about their ages and you make it worse, LOL. This game to me is at the very best a toss up, Shanny used to win his game openers regularly, this is not Shanny, this is McD and he won last year opener on the miracle deflection in Cinci, I just hope the team will take this game more seriously than the fans, but that may not be enough, just my opinion.
Why not have support for our team….There was been plenty of teams that made a dramatic turn around in one year. We have potential and i think we will start living up to it.
Blaze, I didn’t say it was bad to support our team I said it was amazing to see the turn around in support after last year’s collapse. I always support my team, just because I think they will be slightly better than average doesn’t make me a lesser fan than the guy who thinks we will go 14-2 and guarantees it! I’m already a game or two better than the mass media in my predictions so I do my part, just within reason. Since I’ve been at this for over 35 years I keep the expectations on the reasonable end of things and if by the goodness of the Gods we exceed my expectations, I am truly a blessed Bronco fan, but if we don’t I don’t suffer a heart attack or a severe depression because at my age both could be fatal, LOL.
Baylinorcrush – Its not different for any other year. We end it down in the dumps but come the new year we so excited for football that all we can see is Bronco victories and start claiming high numbers. If we get 9-7 or better, I personally will be AMAZED…. especially with Orton at the helm. But i am always hopeful that everything will just fall our way, maybe not the best team but just the team that just had one of those years….
RBF1 – Thats not fair to the Vikings… Farve alone raised screwed them lmao.
BTW, I happened to predict 8-8 last year, and it was a good thing because otherwise the way we ended up getting to that 8-8 record would of been enough to kill me had I not expected it in the first place, just saying, it works for me. If it works better for some to think we will go 14-2, more power to them, it just doesn’t work for me when I don’t see the pieces assembled to do that, that’s all, boy my fingers are almost getting sore, haha.
TRB, remember how by year end bloggers let the team have it big time on here and in droves, and the way it has now all be forgotten is not like every year to me, this one sticks out as going from the lowest expectations to the highest ones in record time, and Tebow is the foundation of that, maybe it’s just me.
Hey guy’s, who ever wants to see our beloved Broncos rating for Madden 11 just click here
http://gomadden.com/news/footballgame/madden-11-broncos-ratings-stampede-in/
Can’t wait to watch and play me some Broncos football!
Baylin – yea i do remember and you are right. Oh how quick we forget. I almost exploded for example after Marshall got traded but now (while still pissed off) I just cant wait for Broncos football and while I would like us to lose to prove how much Marshall was worth, I cant help but yell, win win win lol. But every year I predict 10-6 cuz thats the most optimistic I can go because its been a while since the broncos made me feel like they could do better. This year however, I think 9-7 is the best we can hope for, which more than likely means we will end 7-9. Cuz the most we can draw from is how horrible we played in the 2-8 stretch. the 6-0 feels like years ago. But every year Im optimistic, but when I look at the big picture, I feel like we are worse than last year. But who knows, maybe we got the right mix of players this year, not the best, but the right one….
Last year I predicted we would go 7-9 thru 9-7. We ended smack dab in the middle at 8-8. I feel that we are better this year and that the schedule is slightly easier. We have a spark offensively (KM coming into his second year, the drafting of offensive players and a revamped oline) We have fixed our problems at defending the run by picking up solid vets. So I think 9-7 thru 11-5 is possible. Our biggest challenges will be in the beginning of the season, Colts, Ravens and Jets. If we can beat at least 2 of them we will be in good shape.
I honestly don’t see a win there and you are hoping for two, well of course since I say 9-7 I see where you get your 11-5.
Indianapolis and Baltimore would be our best bet. But i wouldn’t put your money on anything.
Didn’t think about the elements bay, but you’re right, about humidity being a constant down in Florida at that time. Those elements can be difficult to overcome, especially coming down from the Rockies. (We’ll be rotating the D- lineman as much as possible).
Last time we beat JAX down there, Jake Plummer was our QB. JAX played us twice at Invesco in ’08 & ’07 and we lost both times. Del Rio now in his 8th yr as HC…. (57-55). The word is out he will be feeling a different type of heat from CEO Wayne Weaver. One man wrecking crew-Maurice Jone-Drew is key for them.
I’m not going to make any predictions but I’m glad to see we’ve got our bye week after the first 8 games. Of course we all know what happened last year after the bye week. At any rate it’s a good time to have it halfway thru the season.
TRB- If Favre doesn’t play this year, Vikings will be in the top 5 !!… lol
Just heard an Eric Decker interview on 850 KOA. He had a metal plate and screw taken out of his ankle in April. Eric said ankle feels fine and on the field in practice, It`s mostly mental. I think he`s gonna be good to go come week one. The interview sure sounded refreshing and he sounded very confident. I`m excited thats for sure.
baylin – you sure got a funny way of ‘hoping very hard’ that We do good. I’m not pointing out what I think will happen so I can say ‘see I told you so’…..
The only time I will boast about ANYTHING to another Bronco fan, is when they’re the ones saying ‘off with his head’ and then We kick supreme amounts of a$$ – those are what I consider bandwagon fans. And I have been on this blog for a while. I just have more to do than come here to blog. If I’m going to blog about the Broncos, it’s on MHR man. There is where you will find well-educated and well thought out and reasoned Broncos discussion and debate (of course there are always idiots everywhere, but it’s nothing like the DP where everyone acts like they’ve run NFL franchises and claim McDaniels is a loser and to fire him with ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to back their claims).
I love the Broncos and always will. Even if We went 0-16, I would be just as much of a fan (though not nearly as optimistic). It’s funny, in life I am more pessimistic, because it’s best to expect/anticipate the worst, then you’re prepared for it…. But with the Broncos, I expect/anticipate the best, because I don’t mind them letting me down. I grew up being let down quite a bit by the Broncos, and am not one of the MANY spoiled fans, who became fans around or after We won 2 SB’s, they are the ones that seem to EXPECT greatness, and oh, McDaniels didn’t get Us to the playoffs in his first season, so he needs to be fired…. Those types are not worth the time to respond to. Anyway, just wanted a little feedback for ya baylin. I read your blog responses on here quite often and for the most part, you seem pretty level headed so I appreciate the time you take to record your thoughts here (except for when you’re all like “We’re not going to be perfect” and crap… ;p jk). Good times and Go Broncos!
PJ, we’re all different, that’s what makes the world go round, appreciate your well thought out posts, for some reason I don’t recognize your handle, probably because you don’t post very often but I do have a good memory, I now know you as the MHR guy. Keep posting, I will, haha.
#7 NUFF SAID!!!!!!!!!!
No disrespect to the 1st. of the 2 Broncos to go into the HOF in blue & orange but the best QB I got to watch wear # 7 for the Denver franchise was Mr. Morton. I never forget Bradshaw correctly saying John could not read an NFL defense. He motivated John to get with his backup Gary and watch a ton of game film & the rest as they say is HOF history. Being a Cowboys fan before I moved to Denver, I was thrilled when the Broncos traded for Craig & then for Tony. My best memory of following the ’77 Broncos was the playoffs up to the SB and hearing that Craig spent the week in the hospital recovering and then he would go out and kill teams. Dallas was just too good but it was the best of the 1st. 4 super bowl losses by far and Craig had a good game. I am glad but also sad that Mr. Morton allowed Mr. Kaiser to give John # 7.
Tommy/Denver by way of Virginia
Nice to see everyone is entitled to his opinion. While I respect what Morton did for us, putting us in the limelight, and making us believe for the first time ever, there is no way that I can say that a guy who QB’d us for just a few years qualifies as our best #7 since the other one guided us to 5 superbowls including two wins and lasted 16 years, obviously wtcraft is a Cowboy fan first and foremost and the Morton days in Dallas have helped cloud his judgement of who is the better #7, it’s not even a contest, regardless of what Bradshaw or you say, no disrespect.