As the Denver Broncos head to Minnesota this week for the fourth and final preseason game of the 2010 campaign, this game marks the 11th time that these two franchises have met in the preseason. This preseason series goes back the farthest of any that Denver has against non-American Football League teams.
That is just about as many meetings as they have had in regular season play, having clashed 12 times for real since the Broncos became members of the National Football League in the 1970 season.
I was looking at some old stats recently and that first ever meeting caught my eye.
The merger between the NFL and AFL had taken place and while the two leagues would not become one until 1970, the teams began to play preseason (then still called Exhibition) games against each other in 1967.
The first two Super Bowls were won handily by the Green Bay Packers, so no AFL team had ever beaten an NFL team as they headed into 1967 exhibition play.
Denver had to contend with the fact that Bears Stadium was set up for baseball and thus was unavailable for exhibition games, so the Broncos would face their first two home opponents, the NFL Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings, at cozy University of Denver Stadium.
The Broncos had a new coach in 1967, with the Phipps brothers having signed Lou Saban to a ten-year contract as general manager and head coach of the team, finally establishing the Broncos’ desire to actually work toward being an actual competitive franchise.
For the first time, the front office of the team was generating respect.
Saban kept 11 rookies that year, trimming the roster of all vets whom he thought had no chance to make the Broncos better.
They played their first exhibition at the Rubber Bowl in Akron, Ohio, before a smattering of fans, announced as 7,000, losing to the Miami Dolphins by an ignominious 19-2 score.
Then Denver truly shocked the pro football world the following week, defeating the Detroit Lions by a 13-7 score before 21,228 crazed Bronco fans who really formed the Neanderthal version of what would become Broncomania. After the win the fans rushed onto the field and carried Saban off on their shoulders — this was just an exhibition game, but Denver fans had their glimpse of a possible future that offered hope.
The Vikings came to Denver the following week.
It was a Friday night, August 18, again at DU’s historic Hilltop Stadium, this time before a standing room sellout crowd of 31,850 (the stadium only had seating capacity for 30,000) on a pleasant 64 degree summer night.
The Broncos roster was so young that their starting quarterback was a free agent from San Fernando Valley Teachers College, Max Choboian. Interestingly, he wore number 15, and the current player in that number, Tim Tebow, certainly has a far more illustrious background than Choboian brought to the field that night. Rose Bowl hero Ron VanderKellen started for the Vikings.
Of course, the game meant far more to the Broncos than to the Vikings, and Detroit had already been fitted for the NFL’s goat horns as the first established team to lose to an AFL club, but it was still very meaningful for Denver’s young fandom to again beat an NFL team, this time by a 14-3 margin. Denver wins over NFL teams were becoming commonplace!
Saban was a hero once more and it seemed certain the Broncos had turned the corner. But once reality replaced enthusiasm and the real season came, a Denver team with 22 rookies played like that, and the Broncos finished Saban’s first year 3-11, giving up 409 points in a 14-game season.
The groundwork of respectability was being established, but it would be a while before the Broncos would sit at the adult table for NFL dinners.
Nevertheless, on that August night in 1967 the Broncos became the first AFL team ever to post two wins against NFL teams, and that will forever be a piece of AFL lore and a memorable beginning to the Broncos’ preseason history against the Minnesota Vikings.
Tags: 2010, Denver Broncos, Jim Saccomano, Lou Saban
Mr. Saccomano, are all these old stats and memorabilias stored in computers now or are some of them actually old clippings and articles kept all those years by the organization that you have the pleasure to go through and share these stories with us, because you actually didn’t have any position with the Broncos in 1967, correct? you came in at the end of the seventies I believe, please correct me if I’m wrong. Those sort of things interest me since I read so many of your articles and I would appreciate if you could give me some insights as to how the history of the Broncos is preserved these days, documents wise. Thanks in advance if you have the time to respond.
Good post jim
Always glad to read up on some Broncos history,thanks Jim.
Hope Minnesota’s backups don’t kill ours Thursday,LOL
Thanks Jim – interesting read on AFL lore as our Broncos won two “exhibition” games vs. NFL Teams.
Is that former Denver Broncos CB #21 Randy Montgomery in above photo?
I was at Hilltop, standing on the goal line.
1 of my greatest memories was when Pat Matson scramble blocked Alex
Karras. Karras jumped up and kicked Matson in the head [Karras played with squretoed kicking shoes]. Cookie Ghilcrest ran over and picked Karras
over his head and threw him into the goal post. Cookie stood over him and
was shaking his finger. Karras was carried off the field, once on the sideline
he went nuts throwing his helmet and whatever else. But he never came
back on the field.
Another thing that was the first time I saw Floyd Little, I don’t recall him playing.
Wow! ooofda! you are truely a longitme Broncos fan!!!
Jim, I respect you with all my Bronco heart!!!
I LOVE ME SOME DENVER BRONCOS!!!!!
FEEL THE MILE HIGH MAGIC AT INVESCO FIELD!!!!
Jim
Great read! Keep on teaching and giving to the new Bronco fans the history and tradition they need to know! As always keep it up!!
“When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished by
how much he’d learned in seven years.”
– Mark Twain.
FTR
I felt bad right after I posted that im just feed up with everyone praising a guy that I cheered when he got knocked out in the Kentucky game.I go to chruch as well but Tebow just has that creepy cereal killer feel to him like he is not really being honest(just my thoughts)not trying to piss anyone off ive been a broncos fan all my life and you guys are awesome just everything has been falling apart lately in my life,and I don’t have faith in Tebow.just because I don’t like one player doesn’t mean I won’t be sad when he looses which hopefully he doesn’t
but ive got so much love for my team I will try,it’s just hard to root for someone you don’t like.anyways I didn’t mean to offend anyone and I really am sorry…….
That was a big thing to do steveatwater5, apologies accepted, hope your life takes a better turn, it’s always up and down for everyone, if you’ve been down long enough, it’s bound to go up.
Jim,
Thanks for the memories and for the many years you have taken good care of the Bronco’s historical legacy. As luck would have it, I was at both of those pre-season games! I was only 13 at the time, and my pals and I were able to crawl under the flimsy fence at Hilltop Stadium. (we lived nearby) I guess the statue of limitations has long run out on trespassing. My memory of those games involves Steve Tensi, not Max Choboian. I remember he was acquired for two first round draft choices a few days prior to the Detroit game. I’m also fairly certain he played the entire Minnesota game although I’m bit hazy on how much he played in the Detroit game. I’d love it if someone would be kind enough to fill in the details.
Thanks!