The Denver Broncos have some of the most loyal and rowdy fans of any NFL team. Games played on the road against the Broncos at Mile High Stadium have always been looked at as some of the tougher contests to win. Quarterback John Elway put the team on the map and remains a fan favorite to this day. Here are seven things you don’t know about the Denver Broncos.

1. Though the Broncos’ first season in the league was 1960, they would not experience their first winning year until 1973.

2. The Denver Broncos were the only original AFL team to have not played in an AFL Championship Game.

3. The original Broncos uniforms included mustard yellow jerseys, brown pants, and verticaly striped socks. These were so hated by fans that two years later when the team changed their uniforms there was a public bonfire featuring the burning of the socks.

4. The first two former Denver Broncos to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame were more closely associated with other franchises; Willie Brown with the Raiders and Tony Dorsett with the Cowboys.

5. The original starting quarterback for the Broncos in their first year of play in 1960 was Frank Tripucka. Tripucka had an interesting career in that before playing for the Broncos he had pro football head coaching experience in the Canadian Football League.

6. In the Broncos first twenty one years in pro football they went through eight different head coaches, in the twenty eight seasons from 1981-2008 they only went through three.

7. In a 1983 game against the Seattle Seahawks, legendary Broncos linebacker Randy Gradishar had one of the statistically best all around games of his career when he recorded an interception, a fumble recover, a sack and a tackle for a loss.

When it comes to teams that began in the AFL and have made the transition to the NFL, few can measure up to the success that the Broncos have had. This is really interesting in the fact that while in the AFL, they were one of the least successful teams in the league. The Broncos strength is in their fans and the stability of their coaching staff, and that shouldn’t be changing any time soon.

John Elway is the legendary quarterback of the Denver Broncos that led them to two Super Bowl victories just before retiring and then later entering the Professional Football Hall of Fame. He is one of the most popular players in Denver Broncos history, but here are 7 Things You Don’t Know About: John Elway.

1. John Elway’s last game of college football is famous for a reason completely unrelated to him. His last game was the now famous Cal-Stanford game in which the Cal Bears returned the final kickoff of the game, with the help of five laterals, for the winning touchdown.

2. John and Janet Elway have four children and their names also start with the letter “J”. Their names are Jessica, Jordan and Juliana, and Jack.

3. In his one season of minor league baseball in 1982, John Elway batted .318 and led the team in RBI.

4. At the age of 38, John Elway became the oldest player to score a touchdown in a Super Bowl.

5. There are two number sevens that have been inducted into the Denver Broncos Ring of Fame, John Elway and also the quarterback that preceded him, Craig Morton.

6. During his son’s senior year of high school, John Elway served as his and his team’s quarterback coach.

7. John Elway was the number one overall pick in the 1983 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Colts who later famously traded him to the Broncos after he threatened not to play for them. The players he was traded for were Quarterback Mark Herrmann, Offensive Lineman Chris Hinton, and a first round draft pick that ended up being Offensive Lineman Ron Solt.

John Elway will go down in history as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. He will be remembered fondly, and not just in Denver, as football fans in many cities took a liking to him based on his hard nosed play and successful results.