In honor of the preseason start last week, and the Broncos v. Bears smack down; here are some Broncos facts you most likely already knew
Forever Winners The Broncos were founded as an American Football League club August 14, 1959. The team participated in the AFLs first regular season game, and beat the Boston Patriots 13-10 in 1960. The Resurrection of 18 The number 18 was actually retired by the Broncos in 1963 in honor of the football club's OG quarterback, Frank Tripucka. When Peyton Manning came to town in 2012, the number was resurrected - with Tripucka's blessing. 
The First in Most Gene Mingo was professional football’s first African-American placekicker – he was also a Bronco from 1960-1964. Mascot Mayor Back in the 80s the NFL chose to create a series of characters, called Huddles, to represent each team. Denver's current mayor, Michael Hancock, played the Bronco's version when he was 17. Hancock held this role for only $25 a game. 
Mile High Advantage Playing football so high above sea level has a pretty neat effect on the ball itself. At the high altitude, kickoffs usually go about 10 percent farther compared to other cities. Three out of the four longest field goals in NFL history took place in Denver. Hate for the Horse Head Apparently, when the current horse-head logo came out, fans weren’t all too pleased. When the emblem was reviled in 1997, there was an uproar of disapproval. Not to mention someone drove past the Bronco’s training facilities and fired paintballs at it. 
Birmingham Broncos? Has a strange ring to it huh? When Colorado taxpayers voted against a proposal to grant $250,000 for a stadium expansion in the late 60s. As a result, the teams owners considered moving the franchise to Alabama. In the end a grassroots campaign raised the needed funds to keep the Broncos where they belong. Manning and his Movies Manning is a huge movie fan. He even assigned movies to younger and newer teammates so they would “get” him and his jokes. He would also give teammates names based off of old movies and used those nicknames to call plays. Offensive tackle Ryan Diem, confirms “Because I’m from Chicago, my nickname was Abe Froman, Sausage King of Chicago. We can an audible called ‘Sausage.’” If you don’t get the reference… here ya go… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HNd3qz68Zw&w=560&h=315 From Rags to Riches The Broncos faced a substantial amount of financial woes when they were starting out. The team spent its first two seasons wearing hand-me-down uniforms from an All-Star college game. The uniforms were yellow and brown with vertical striped socks. In the end, the unattractive duds were promptly destroyed in an organized bonfire during the 1962 off-season. After all, we needed to make major improvements to get to the iconic uniforms they have today. 
