2012年9月5日 星期三

Denver Broncos - From Laughingstock to Champions

Nike Pro Combat Uniforms NFL, Few teams in the National Football League have benefited from the 1970 merger between the old American Football League (AFL) and the well-established and successful National Football League (NFL) as much as the Denver Broncos. Not only have they maintained almost sell-out attendance at every home game since the merger, but they have also managed to parley their membership in the larger League into world championship status. For anyone familiar with the franchise\'s miserable history within the now-defunct AFL, the team\'s rise to prominence is something spectacular indeed.

The team\'s origins

The Denver Broncos were the subject of jokes and scorn almost from the moment the franchise was awarded to Bob Howsam back in 1959. Howsam operated the team on something akin to a shoestring budget, and was unable and unwilling to make any serious investment in the team\'s infrastructure. As a result, they were outfitted in uniforms that had previously been worn in prior Arizona Copper Bowls - uniforms that were so gaudy that they would have made Cindy Lauper\'s attire in the 1980s look stylish in comparison. Thankfully, the team was Nike Pro Combat Uniforms NFL at least provided the opportunity to burn their striped socks a few years later in what turned out to be a very cathartic experience for all involved!

Early history

The team\'s performance during those early years was as laughable as their uniforms. Though they did manage in 1967to score the AFL\'s first win over any NFL opponent, that victory turned out to be one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dismal existence. Things were so bad over the first team\'s time in the AFL that by the time the merger took place Denver had succeeded in compiling the worst team record in the history of the American Football League: 39 wins, 97 losses, and 4 ties. The most that could be said for the franchise was that their threatened move to Atlanta Nike Pro Combat Uniforms NFL in 1965 resulted in the team\'s fans purchasing almost the entire allotment of season tickets for every year thereafter - in an attempt to demonstrate enough support to keep the team in the city.

A change in fortunes

Three years after the 1970 merger, the Broncos finally managed to complete a winning season - the first in the team\'s history. Over the course of the next two decades, the team would only experience three total losing seasons, would win their division seven times, and win the AFC on four separate occasions. At the end of the 1997 season, the Broncos achieved what would have been all but unthinkable a mere three decades before as the now-retired and legendary quarterback John Elway led them to their first Super Bowl victory. What\'s more, they proved in the very next season that they were not merely a fluke, as they joined an exclusive six-team club of teams that have won Super Nike Pro Combat Uniforms NFL Bowls in consecutive years. One thing is for certain; when fans now think of the Denver Broncos, laughter and derision is the last thing that comes to mind.

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