Denver Broncos Milestones

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Order these Denver Broncos franchise moments by the year they happened. Drag or tap it onto the line

Denver Broncos

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How the Denver Broncos history timeline works

The Broncos deck holds franchise milestones, each with a brief description, and you put them in order by year. One card starts on the line with its year in view. You place each new card into the gap you think is right. If you're correct, the year appears; if not, the card lands where it really belongs and you're down one of your three lives.

Super Bowl appearances are spread across this deck, and the Broncos have both won and lost plenty of them, so the description is often the only way to tell them apart. Quarterback cards matter too, since the franchise has built several eras around famous passers. Cards from the team's original league are full of odd moments, and they're easier to place than the trades and hires of the modern game.

Want a longer game? On the deck tree you can tick this deck alongside any other one measured in release years and dates, and they shuffle into a single timeline together.

What's in the deck

Here are 28 of the 30 cards you might be dealt, with 2 more in the deck. Their values stay hidden until you place them.

Founded as an AFL charter franchise Bob Howsam's team joined the upstart league before it ever played a down
Won the first game in AFL history Beat the Boston Patriots 13-10 in the new league's opening game
Burned the infamous striped socks New coach Jack Faulkner held a public bonfire for the mustard-and-brown vertically striped hosiery
Drafted Floyd Little The Syracuse star nicknamed 'The Franchise' became the team's first first-round pick to actually sign
Posted the franchise's first winning season John Ralston's club finally broke through at 7-5-2 in year fourteen
The Orange Crush defense delivered a 12-2 season Red Miller's first year ended with the franchise's first AFC crown
Lost Super Bowl XII to the Cowboys Craig Morton faced his old team in New Orleans and was intercepted four times
Hired Dan Reeves as head coach A young Cowboys assistant took over and would eventually lead three Super Bowl trips
Traded for John Elway Acquired the Stanford quarterback's rights from the Colts after he refused to play in Baltimore
The Drive Elway marched 98 yards in Cleveland to force overtime in the AFC Championship Game
Lost Super Bowl XXII to Washington Doug Williams' 35-point second quarter buried Denver in San Diego
Lost Super Bowl XXIV 55-10 The most lopsided Super Bowl ever, against Joe Montana's 49ers
Hired Mike Shanahan The 'Mastermind' returned from San Francisco and drafted Terrell Davis in the sixth round that spring
Top-seeded Broncos stunned by the Jaguars A 13-3 team lost at home in the divisional round to a second-year expansion club
Won Super Bowl XXXIII, then Elway retired The quarterback was named MVP against Atlanta in the final game of his career
Opened a new Mile High stadium Left the original Mile High for a new home, debuting on Monday night against the Giants
Traded Clinton Portis for Champ Bailey Swapped a star running back to Washington for a shutdown corner plus a second-round pick
Hosted and lost an AFC title game to the Steelers Jake Plummer's turnovers doomed a 13-3 season at home
Drafted Tim Tebow in the first round Josh McDaniels traded up for the Florida Heisman winner at pick 25
Drafted Von Miller second overall John Elway's first draft running the front office landed a Texas A&M pass rusher
Signed Peyton Manning Won the free-agency sweepstakes for the released Colts legend, then traded Tebow to the Jets
Peyton Manning set single-season passing records 55 touchdown passes and 5,477 yards powered a record 606-point offense
Lost Super Bowl XLVIII to the Seahawks A safety on the first snap set the tone for a 43-8 rout
Won Super Bowl 50 Von Miller's strip sacks beat Carolina in Peyton Manning's final game
Traded Von Miller to the Rams Dealt the franchise's sack leader at midseason; he won a ring months later
Traded a haul to Seattle for Russell Wilson Two firsts, two seconds and three players brought in the veteran quarterback; the Walton-Penner group bought the team months later
Hired Sean Payton Sent first-round draft compensation to New Orleans for the Super Bowl-winning coach
Drafted Bo Nix Took the Oregon quarterback 12th overall weeks after absorbing a record dead-cap hit to release Russell Wilson