The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado.

They are currently a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) Western Division in the National Football League (NFL).

The Broncos began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League and joined the NFL as part of the AFL-NFL Merger.

On August 5, 1967, they became the first ever AFL team to defeat an NFL team after beating the Detroit Lions, 13-7, in a preseason game.

Except for the incomparable "Franchise" Floyd Little, the Broncos first superstar who, due to his signing in 1967 and his Pro Bowl efforts on and off the field, was instrumental in keeping the team in Denver, the team struggled without a top-flight quarterback.

As such, they were the only original AFL team never to have played in the title game during the upstart league's 10-year history.

Rookie coach Red Miller, along with the Orange Crush Defense (a nickname originating in the early '70's, also the name of a popular soda pop) and aging quarterback Craig Morton, promptly took the Broncos to their first playoff appearance in 1977 (and ultimately first Super Bowl, where they were defeated by the Dallas Cowboys, 27-10).

Originally drafted by the Baltimore Colts as the first pick of the draft, Elway proclaimed that he would shun football in favor of baseball (he was drafted by the New York Yankees to play center field and was also a pitching prospect), unless he was traded to a selected list of other teams, which the included Denver Broncos.

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