Since the merger between the AFL and the NFL in 1970, the Denver Broncos have been one of football's most consistent winners. Before the merger . . . that's another question entirely. In the early 1960's, the AFL was the target of numerous jokes and endless jeers by the NFL, and the Broncos were the most derided team of all.

On August 14, 1959, Bob Howsam was awarded an AFL charter franchise. Although Howsam had been the successful owner of a minor league baseball team, he was severely limited financially—he was forced to clothe his first team in old uniforms which he got from the defunct Copper Bowl in Tucson, Arizona. Making the uniforms particularly joke-worthy were the vertically-striped socks. When Jack Faulkner took over as head coach and general manager two years later, the socks were destroyed in a public burning ceremony.

While Denver's AFL experience was almost entirely bleak, Super Bowl tickets there were a few bright moments. On September 9, 1960, they won the first-ever AFL game over the Boston Patriots, 13-10. On August 5, 1967, they became the first AFL team ever to beat an NFL team such as the San Diego Chargers ticket when they beat the Detroit Lions, 13-7. Nevertheless, at the end of the AFL's decade, the Broncos' 39-97-4 record was the worst of any of the original eight AFL teams' records.We also provide cheap concert tickets .

The Broncos might have been a bad team in the 1960's, but they were still popular. In 1965, several minority partners formed a majority voting bloc and decided to sell the Broncos to a group that wanted to move the team to Atlanta. At the last minute, the Phipps brothers, Gerald and Allan, who had been left out of the voting block, bought the team. Excited fans showed their appreciation by purchasing almost 23,000 season tickets, compared to fewer than 8,000 the year before.

Superbowl Appearances

1978 - XII Lost to Dallas Cowboys, 27-10
1987 - XXI Lost to New York Giants, 39-20
1988 - XXII Lost to Washington Redskins, 42-10
1990 - XXIV Lost to San Francisco 49ers, 55-10
1998 - XXXII Defeated Green Bay Packers, 31-24
1999 - XXXIII Defeated Atlanta Falcons, 34-19

In 1973, their 14th season, coach John Ralston led the Broncos to a 7-5-2 record. It was their first winning season ever. Thus started a trend that saw the Broncos fall below the .500 mark only three times in the next 20 seasons. In the 14-year period between 1977 and 1991, the Broncos won seven AFC Western Division titles and four AFC championships. It was the kind of success the Broncos' founders could not possibly have imagined.

The Broncos reached the pinnacle of the pro football world, as the team captured its first world championship with a victory over the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXII. With a victory over the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl XXXIII, Denver accomplished what only five other teams have achieved — back-to-back Super Bowl championships.