studbucket
01-16-2009, 02:21 PM
I found this article in SI's vault, thought it was a great read, and offers some insight for me considering I was 9 months old when it was published. It was a really entertaining read, and I recommend all of you guys check out the SI vault. We all understand how Elway and company are viewed in retrospect, but things are often different when they are happening, and this is no different. Here is an except and a link.
"Dee-fense!" yelled the crowd. And why not? It has been a way of life in Denver for nearly 10 years. It's what got the Broncos into their only Super Bowl in January 1978. Five Broncos made the Pro Bowl that year, all of them on defense. Four of them made it last season, and not an offensive player among them. Quick now, who's the last Bronco quarterback to be selected for the Pro Bowl? The answer is nobody. Denver quarterbacks have been the guys to hold 'em until the defense can get back on the field and force a turnover.
And out of this lopsided setup a tradition was built. Bronco defense. The Orange Crush. The crowd got into it. The town was flooded with waves of orange. Red Miller, the coach of the '77-78 Super Bowl team, was even sent an orange toilet seat. Veteran players remember the orange car that used to cruise the practice field, the orange truck that picked up the garbage, the cement truck with the orange mixer. Defensive teams stir the emotions. The spectacular offensive shows are pretty to watch, but there's something elemental about the struggle to stop the other guys, about great defensive players flying around the field like maniacs while your offense is running a carefully controlled, we-won't-screw-it-up-fellows operation.
"Our offense in the Super Bowl year," says free safety Steve Foley, one of the four current Denver defensive players who started on that '77-78 team, "was first down, run; second down, run; third down, play-action pass—the waiting game. Wait for us to get 'em good field position on a turnover and then go for the quick strike. And that's the way we went to the Super Bowl."
"Craig Morton would take a sack, but he wouldn't throw an interception," says Joe Collier, who has coached the Denver defense for 18 seasons. "There were very few games that we were in bad field position."
LINK TO ARTICLE (http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1065326/index.htm)
"Dee-fense!" yelled the crowd. And why not? It has been a way of life in Denver for nearly 10 years. It's what got the Broncos into their only Super Bowl in January 1978. Five Broncos made the Pro Bowl that year, all of them on defense. Four of them made it last season, and not an offensive player among them. Quick now, who's the last Bronco quarterback to be selected for the Pro Bowl? The answer is nobody. Denver quarterbacks have been the guys to hold 'em until the defense can get back on the field and force a turnover.
And out of this lopsided setup a tradition was built. Bronco defense. The Orange Crush. The crowd got into it. The town was flooded with waves of orange. Red Miller, the coach of the '77-78 Super Bowl team, was even sent an orange toilet seat. Veteran players remember the orange car that used to cruise the practice field, the orange truck that picked up the garbage, the cement truck with the orange mixer. Defensive teams stir the emotions. The spectacular offensive shows are pretty to watch, but there's something elemental about the struggle to stop the other guys, about great defensive players flying around the field like maniacs while your offense is running a carefully controlled, we-won't-screw-it-up-fellows operation.
"Our offense in the Super Bowl year," says free safety Steve Foley, one of the four current Denver defensive players who started on that '77-78 team, "was first down, run; second down, run; third down, play-action pass—the waiting game. Wait for us to get 'em good field position on a turnover and then go for the quick strike. And that's the way we went to the Super Bowl."
"Craig Morton would take a sack, but he wouldn't throw an interception," says Joe Collier, who has coached the Denver defense for 18 seasons. "There were very few games that we were in bad field position."
LINK TO ARTICLE (http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1065326/index.htm)