NO!I said the 48 year gap – between the merger and Mahomes first start – KC won just four playoff games in that gap, as opposed to our 8-2 AFCCGs, 3-5 SBs, etc.
And remember: I posted all that in defense of the massive incoming ordnance raining down on me. I theorized (and still believe) that a good chunk of the more virulent Broncos-hatred in here are efforts to purge the effects of this long term resentment…..
And NO DOUBT: These eight years of yours are verging on the greatest eight years in the history of the sport. But, even if we get there, the celebrations won’t be enough to purge what’s already happened! It never is, not in sports, not in anything.
Ok, so … it was a drought, but it was a playoff-specific drought. When I ran across it I was surprised cuz it seemed like Chiefs were racking up good records in the 80s and 90s – Bill Kenney, Carlos Carson, Derrick Thomas, Dale Carter, etc … I keep meaning to add up KC’s reg sea record over those 48 years.
Wow, interesting you think that. Maybe we’re fooling people into thinking we’re not bothered by SB blowouts… but we definitely are. They pop up everywhere: When we went B2B in 97-98, it broke an NFC 13 game Super Bowl winning streak.
YAY!
No, NOT “yay,” Broncos lost 3 of those 13 in a row …..
Sure, we TRY to keep our chins up, but whotf wants to glorify an 8-2 championship game record? (
and one loss was to Buffalo by only three points! Yay! ��) There’s a kind of logic to that … Conference Ch’ships measure 16 teams, and neither the AFL nor the NFL had 16 teams until a year before the merger. But no. We live in America, not France.
Well, actually …. a lot more than you might think, but that answer requires some explanation, so read on:
As I’ve mentioned (
and mentioned and mentioned), the Broncos survived the AFL decade despite being severely-cash-poor, despite having to invest large sums to bring the stadium up to NFL specs, and despite putting a very sub-par product on the field. When the decade ended, our win% was third-worst, barely edging out the expansion Dolphins and Bengals:
Broncos .291
Dolphins.268
Bengals .255
Usually when teams are that bad, the fans won’t come – and you can’t stop ‘em. But folks were different then ….
In the 1950s and 60s, Denver was still just a dusty Western cowtown really, probably a lot like Kansas City.
The only sports teams were AAA baseball and minor league hockey. The Broncos were an exciting
a-l-m-o-s-t major league team, and the fans loved ‘em. “Dynasty” was still 20+ years away, but all these folks wanted was to be "Major League." For now, Rodeo Bucking Bronco chutes built as entryways to the locker rooms would suffice.
Careful, your Wild West Is showing!
Mile High Stadium, 1967
Denver Broncos Floyd Little and Marlin Briscoe head for the rodeo chute and through into the locker room. Briscoe became the first African-American quarterback ever to start an American pro football game, and Little was later enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
________________________
I remember John Elway telling a story couple weeks before the 49ers-Broncos SB. The whole city, the whole state picked up on it, and people started repeating it like a quasi-mantra: John asked his mom, “Hey mom, you excited about heading to New Orleans, another Super Bowl?” She responded, “Oh John, do we have to play the Super Bowl?”
There is one last thing I’m sure of: Visiting fans should NOT have to surrender the pride they have in the accomplishments of their team when they’re here. I never will.
.