Recollections of a Fan- 1986 AFC Championship

When I started this blog, I wanted a forum to write about whatever I wanted to that related to the Denver Broncos and the NFL. I didn't want to start a blog that just pumped out daily news information on the Broncos. There are many other sites that do that and do that very well. If information and updates are what you are looking for, then go to Orangemane.com, MileHighReport.com, DenverPost.com, and DenverBroncos.com. Those sites fulfill all of those needs. One of the best aspects of being a Denver Broncos' fan is that the franchise has had some amazing and memorable moments throughout my lifetime. Since it is late June, and training camps won't get going until the end of July, I wanted to share some of my favorite personal memories from my years of being a Bronco fanatic. I even came up with a cheesy title-"Recollections of a Fan." This installment is none other then the 1986 AFC Championship. Denver at Cleveland. The Drive.


I was born in 1979, so I was seven years old during the 1986 season. I became a Denver fan in 1985. My father and I watched football every Sunday in my parents' basement, and 1986 Broncos were having a dream season. Living in New York, I didn't get a chance to see every game, but the Broncos started 6-0, and finished 11-5 and were crowned AFC West Champs. The Broncos were on a lot of national television, primetime, or main doubleheader games that year. One major attraction in favor of the Broncos was star QB John Elway. The Broncos defeated the Patriots 22-17 in the AFC Divisional Playoff, and headed into Cleveland as the underdog to the top-seeded Browns. I remember getting ready to watch the game in my parents' basement with my father and my mother. I sported my brand new Elway jersey, and my replica NFL game ball. I had a penchant for getting very upset when things were going Denver's way. I would almost cry when another team would get a first down. Things didn't change as I watched the first quarter unfold in the Dawg Pound. Cleveland's Herman Fontenot scored on a swing pass from Bernie Kosar to put the Browns up 7-0. I remember seeing Fontenot scoot into the end zone, and I immediately burst into tears. My dad tried to calm me down and kept saying that "I shouldn't worry" and "Christ, it's only the first quarter!" The rest of the game was like tennis match stuck at "Deuce." I remember each team gaining the advantage, then the other team coming back to even it out. At 13-13 with just over five minutes left in the fourth quarter, Bernie Kosar hit Brian Brennan with a 48 yard touchdown pass. Denver safety Dennis Smith completely misplayed the ball and Brennan, and if it wasn't for John Elway, Dennis Smith would be one of the biggest goats of all time. I remember the Dawg Pound going crazy, but for some reason I was able to hold back the tears. All that changed on the ensuing Cleveland kickoff. Mark Moseley squibbed the kick that was mishandled by Gene Lang and Ken Bell. I can still see Bell having to cover the ball and turtle down as he was swarmed by various Browns at the Denver two yard line. Here came the tears. Maybe I was too young to really understand the severity of the situation that Denver was in, but my father's words summed it up: "Oh no! It doesn't look good Mike. Sorry!" With my dad's words of encouragment ringing in my head, I didn't realize that I was about to watch the greatest drive in NFL history. The moments that were about to transpire vaulted John Elway into a legend, and the Broncos into Super Bowl XXI. I remember the first play of "The Drive." Elway hit Sammy Winder on a pass in the flat to give Denver some breathing room. The next play that stood out was a bullet from Elway to Steve Sewell for a 22 yard gain to the Denver 48. After a completion to Steve Watson, an incomplete pass, and a sack, Denver faced 3rd and 18 at Cleveland's 48 yard line with 1:47 remaining in the game. When Elway zipped an abosolute rocket to Mark Jackson for a gain of 20 and a first down, my dad blurted "Wow! What a throw. What a play!" Right there I could see sense Elway morphing into a full-fledged superhero. A series of plays put Denver at a 3rd and 1 from Cleveland's 5 yard line with 39 seconds remaining. To this day, I can still see Elway’s arm cocked back and aiming a low heater down and in to Mark Jackson for the touchdown that completed the epic drive. As Jackson stood up to celebrate, I jumped in the air simultaneously and screamed at the top of my lungs. My dad even stood up out of his recliner and threw his own touchdown signal up in the air. Although I didn’t comprehend the significance of “The Drive” at that time, I knew that John Elway had just pulled Denver back from the depths of defeat and rescued them. This is where Elway became a god to me. Rich Karlis nailed the extra point, the game was headed to overtime. As I was ready to settle in for the extra period, there was a big problem brewing, and it had nothing to do with Bernie Kosar and the Browns winning the coin toss. The NFC Championship game between the Washington Redskins and New York Giants from Giants Stadium was scheduled to kickoff at 4:oo pm. By going to overtime, the Bronco game was going to overlap with the start of the Giant game. Back then, the networks didn’t wait for the early game to end, they always started their broadcast on time. My dad was lifelong Giant fan. He watched the 1958 NFL Championship, witnessed those great Giant teams in the 1960s, and suffered through the ticket burning era in the 70s. When Bill Parcells took over and rebuilt the Giants into a playoff team, my dad loved it because Parcells was the same kind of coach that my dad was. Parcells was a take-no-shit disciplinarian, who loved ball control, field position, and great defense. My father had waited 23 years for the Giants to make it to another Championship game. He was not going to let his seven year old son stop him from watching his team play in the NFC Title game. Instead of watching the Broncos and Browns battle in overtime in front of my parents’ big television in the comfortable family room, I was banished to my parents’ bedroom and a little 13 inch box television. My dad’s explanation was pretty simple: “Son, I waited a long time to see my Giants play for a title. You’re gonna have to watch the end of the Denver game upstairs. Sorry, kid.” So that is where I watched the conclusion of one of the greatest games in Denver and NFL history. I stood on my parents’ bed as Rich Karlis nailed a 33 yard field goal to beat the Browns 23-20 and send the Broncos to the Super Bowl. I was jumping up and down on the bed and began to run downstairs. For a kid my age, this was perfect. Your favorite team just won a great game to go to the Super Bowl, and your favorite player was the guy to deliver it. Every kid needs a great moment to get them going with their obsession for their team-A moment that stands out above all other games. For me that was the 1986 AFC Championship Game. I remember I really started to grasp the significance of that game the following summer. I was at a card store looking for a magazine to read. My mother was letting me pick any one I wanted. I finally settled on an “NFL ‘87” magazine that previewed the 1987 season. The reason I picked it was because there was a special section of the magazine devoted solely to Elway, the ’86 AFC Title, and “The Drive.” After reading that, I finally realized how special that game and that drive were. That game put Elway on the map. It also put Denver on the map, and for a seven year old kid from Long Island, it officially made the Broncos and Elway a major part of my life.