NFL CHRISTMAS MEMORIES
The Broncos First Playoff Game
(My dad slugs it out with Mean Joe
Greene)
For me sports have always
provided a frame of reference of sorts for events in my life. Big games, seasons, trades serve as memory
stakes in the ground. I think back to a
particular sports episode and remember not just a time in my life, but the
emotions, the highs and lows that went with that time. In some ways sports nuanced those emotions. Perhaps providing a little salve in a tough
stretch, or providing an extra rush of excitement when everything seemed to be
going well. On this Christmas Eve I
revisit one of those stakes in the ground.
The 1976 Denver Broncos went
9-5, the best record in the team's history.
Bronco fans will remember that the team missed the playoffs yet again
and the 9-5 masked a disappointing season.
The Broncos fired their coach John Ralston and replaced him with a
former New England assistant, Red Miller.
The Broncos also traded journeyman quarterback Steve Ramsey to the New
York Giants for a relic named Craig Morton.
I won't rehash the entire
1977 season. Let's just say the 1977
Broncos exceeded expectations. The team
started out 6-0. The six-game winning
streak included a 33-14 win over the hated Raiders in week four. The Raiders avenged that loss in week seven
in Denver to end the Broncos winning streak.
The Broncos, behind Morton's veteran leadership and the stingy
"Orange Crush" defense, would then win another six in a row before
losing a meaningless game to Dallas in the last game of the season. The Broncos won the AFC West with a 12-2
record. They were headed to the playoffs
for the first time and had the number one seed in the AFC.
In 1977 each conference had
three divisions. The three division
winners made the playoffs along with one wild card entry. The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore
Colts joined the Broncos as division winners.
The Raiders claimed the wild card spot.
The Broncos played the Steelers in round one since the wild card team
came from Denver's division and the Steelers had the poorest record of the
three division winners. In 1977 the NFL
season was still fourteen games long with the first round of the playoffs
falling at Christmas time. The Broncos
had given their fans the gift of a playoff game in Denver on Christmas Eve.
There is no way to exaggerate
the level of excitement for the first playoff game in Bronco history. The Broncos dominated the sports landscape in
Denver in 1977. Long-suffering Bronco
fans really didn't know how to handle the feeling of cheering on a Super Bowl
contender. We were afraid the dream
would end and the miracle bubble would burst.
Yet we were willing to plunge in heart and soul because this was the
first time, and for all we knew the last time we might pass this way. When the dream died it would hurt bad. So we immersed ourselves in the joy of the
moment and waited for the pain to come.
I was a sophomore in high
school in 1977. My family, mom, dad and
two sisters lived comfortably in a slightly above middle class kind of
way. We were a very close family but
that closeness was unraveling. For
several years my parents had been arguing more and clearly drifting apart. In a prophetic kind of way I sensed that this
could well be the last Christmas we would all spend together. The Broncos and the miracle of that 1977
season gave me hope for my family.
Sports fans look for omens and meanings in silly charms and
superstitions. Don't ask me why, we just
do. I thought that as long as the
Broncos kept the dream alive, that magic would keep our family intact. That is a lot of burden to put on a team that
has never won a playoff game.
And finally game time
arrived. Denver games kick off at 2:00
local time. A December game starts in
daylight and ends in darkness. I
remember thinking to myself that people would either be dancing in the parking
lot or depressed in the blackness. I had
my needs, and every other Bronco fan brought their own pain to the Bronco drugstore. Cure us for one more week, please. The day was chilly, but clear: Perfect weather for a little Christmas
playoff football.
The 1977 Pittsburgh Steelers
were in the midst of winning four Super Bowls in Six years. The 1977 version was the least formidable of
the Steeler teams during that run. They
were still the Steelers of Bradshaw, Harris, Greene, Swann, and Lambert, but
they were not operating with full mojo in 1977.
The Broncos had defeated the Steelers 21-7 in week eight. I can remember feeling unreasonably giddy
that the playoff virgin Broncos would take down the team that had won two of
the last three Super Bowls.
The Broncos scored first
after a blocked punt. I can still hear
the roar of the crowd as Rob Lytle scored the Broncos maiden playoff touchdown
on a seven-yard run. The Steelers
answered to tie the score. The Broncos
could not move the ball against the Steelers and the crowd was beginning to
loose its fizz. Then, presto, the
defense forced a fumble. Tom Jackson
scooped it up and returned it 30 yards to set up another short touchdown
drive. The Steelers answered again with
a long, been there done that drive to tie the score at 14 late in the second
quarter. Though the game was tied the
Steelers were dominating. Were it not
for the blocked punt and the fumble recovery the Broncos would not have scored
at all. The Orange faithful were
starting to lose the faith.
This is when my dad goes
after Mean Joe Greene. At the end of the
second quarter the Steeler defensive tackle sucker punches Bronco guard Paul
Howard right above the man zone. A few
plays later he lays the same treatment on Bronco Center Mike Montler. A near rumble breaks out on the field and in
our den. My father, a mild-mannered man,
had seen enough. Maybe it was the
frustration of sensing the game slipping away.
Maybe it was deeper than that.
Maybe it was the pain of our family slipping apart. But there he was -- throwing tight jabs at
the television image of Mean Joe. I didn't
know whether to laugh, cry, or try and break it up. My mom
was not amused. She sighed and left the
room to get ready for mass. My dad
watched the game until halftime and then he too went to get properly attired for
church.
In the pre DVR days, the wait
in between halves of a game gave the mind plenty of time to wander. If the Broncos trailed I thought about the
scenarios that could unfold to produce a win.
If the Broncos led I tinkered with what level of collapse they would
need to avoid to hold the lead. But
whatever the scenario the time passed too slowly. Let's just get on with it! I would not be
going to mass tonight. I needed to watch
the second half unfold to see how long the miracle could live.
The Broncos came out and
competed more evenly with the Steelers after halftime. The venom injected by Mean Joe restored life
to the crowd. The second half would
produce a lasting memory in Bronco football - -win or lose.
The Broncos reclaimed the
lead midway through the third quarter when Morton hit veteran tight end Riley
Odoms with a thirty-yard scoring pass. At
that moment I thought for the first time that the Broncos were destined to win
the game. Momentum was now wearing an
obnoxious shade of orange.
It still amazes me how one
gets a certain sense watching a game that doesn't necessarily translate to the
energy passing across the line of scrimmage on the field. For the third time in the game the Steelers
answered a Bronco score with a tying score of their own. There was less than a quarter to go. 21-21.
So much for momentum wearing orange.
Then the Magic returned. First Denver kicker Jim Turner kicked a
44-yard field goal to give the Broncos a 24-21 lead. If you have ever been to old Mile High
Stadium, you know how the stands literally rock when the loyalists reach high
gear. The camera crews were shaking with the stands as the energy passed across the airwaves. You could see the cloud of hopeful
angst rising over the crowd. Please let
them hang on.
The Steelers sought to answer
on the next drive with roughly half a quarter to go. The images still flash in my mind. Tom Jackson makes a leaping interception and
returns it deep into Steeler territory.
The Broncos score a touchdown -- no, it is called off. Bad call, terrible call. We settle for a field goal and a 27-21
lead. Five minutes to play. Do the math.
The Steelers have plenty of time and a touchdown beats us by one point.
Then he flashes again. Near midfield Bradshaw throws a gift
interception to Jackson. Instead of
working the clock, The Broncos cross the Steelers up and Morton throws deep to Jack
Dolbin for the clinching touchdown. It
is 34-21. You can see and feel real joy
when it rolls across a team. You can see
redemption and pride in the eyes of Craig Morton, the castoff leading his new
team where it has never been. You can see it in the faces of the fans, some
crying like children at the emotion of the moment. You hear the chants of "WE WANT
OAKLAND"
rise through the stands. Pinch yourself. The Broncos will play the Raiders next week
in Denver for the right to do the unthinkable
- play in the Super Bowl. For one
more week the miracle lived in me that anything was possible and teams and
families could prevail because some times good things just happen. It had to be an omen.
The Broncos have played in
six Super Bowls, winning twice. For me,
though, the most magic moments in Bronco history occurred during
the fourth quarter on Christmas Eve thirty-five years ago. Merry Christmas to Tom Jackson and the 1977
Broncos. Thank you for the present that
I really needed, a little salve for the wound.
