1968 Denver Broncos season (original) (raw)

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NFL team season

1968 Denver Broncos season
Owner Gerald Phipps
General manager Lou Saban
Head coach Lou Saban
Home field Mile High Stadium
Results
Record 5–9
Division place 4th AFL Western
Playoff finish Did not qualify
← 1967 Broncos seasons 1969 →

The 1968 Denver Broncos season was the ninth season for the team in the American Football League (AFL). Led by second-year head coach and general manager Lou Saban, the Broncos improved their record from the previous season by posting a record of five wins and nine losses. They finished fourth in the AFL's Western division for the sixth straight season; the expansion Cincinnati Bengals finished fifth, allowing Denver to escape the cellar.

There were threats of the Broncos relocating to Atlanta, Chicago, and Birmingham, Alabama.[1]

The 1968 season was the first in which Denver wore blue helmets with the trademark orange "D" logo; the helmets remained the same until the 1997 season.[2]

In 1968, Bears Stadium was sold to the city of Denver, which renamed it "Mile High Stadium" and built the upper deck along the west side, raising capacity to 50,657.[3]

1968 Denver Broncos draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
2 31 Curley Culp * † Defensive tackle Arizona State
3 58 Garrett Ford Running back West Virginia
3 75 Bob Vaughn Tackle Ole Miss
4 91 Gordon Lambert Linebacker Tennessee-Martins
4 102 Drake Garrett Defensive back Michigan State
4 111 Gus Hollomon Defensive back Houston
8 196 Steve Holloway Defensive back Weber State
9 222 Paul Smith * Defensive end New Mexico
10 252 Bob Langford Tackle Middle Tennessee
12 304 Bobby Hendrix Tackle Ole Miss
13 330 Charlie Greer Defensive back Colorado
14 357 Marlin Briscoe * Quarterback Nebraska-Omaha
15 386 Jeff Kuhman Linebacker Vermont
16 412 Adin Brown Linebacker William & Mary
17 438 Steve Grady Running back USC
Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

1968 Denver Broncos staff | | Front office Chairman of the Board – Gerald Phipps President – Allan R Phipps Director of Player Personnel – Fred Gehrke Head coaches General Manager/Head Coach – Lou Saban Offensive coaches Offensive backfield – Hunter Enis Offensive receivers – Sam Rutigliano Offensive line – Whitey Dovell | | | Defensive coaches Defensive line – Stan Jones Defensive backfield – Dick MacPherson | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |

1968 Denver Broncos roster | Quarterbacks (QB) 15 Marlin Briscoe 10 Jim LeClair 11 John McCormick 13 Steve Tensi Running backs (RB) 46 Terry Erwin 32 Garrett Ford, Sr. FB 44 Floyd Little 33 Hub Lindsey 22 Fran Lynch 40 Brendan McCarthy FB 48 Alex Moore Wide receivers (WR) 41 Eric Crabtree 88 Al Denson 80 Jim Jones 84 Mike Haffner 86 Bob Moten Tight ends (TE) 85 Tom Beer 81 Dave Washington | | Offensive linemen (OL) 65 Jay Bachman C 72 Sam Brunelli T 74 Mike Current T 71 Wallace Dickey T 64 George Gaiser T 67 George Goeddeke G 56 Buzz Highsmith G 59 Larry Kaminski C 61 Bob Vaughn G 60 Bob Young G Defensive linemen (DL) 63 Dave Costa DT 55 Pete Duranko DE 62 Jerry Inman DT 87 Rich Jackson DE 75 Rex Mirich DT 70 Paul Smith DE | | Linebackers (LB) 50 Carl Cunningham 52 Fred Forsberg 57 John Huard 76 Gordon Lambert 89 Chip Myrtle 58 Frank Richter 51 Dave Tobey Defensive backs (DB) 23 Drake Garrett CB 20 Charlie Greer SS 34 Gus Hollomon SS 43 Pete Jaquess S 28 Jake Lentz S 48 Hel Lewis 25 Tommy Luke 27 Tom Oberg Special teams 12 Joe DiVito P 3 Bobby Howfield K 2 Bob Humphreys K 42 Billy Van Heusen | | | | Rookies in italics | | 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Source:

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 Bye
2 September 15 at Cincinnati Bengals L 10–24 0–1 Nippert Stadium 25,049 Recap
3 September 22 at Kansas City Chiefs L 2–34 0–2 Municipal Stadium 45,821 Recap
4 September 29 Boston Patriots L 17–20 0–3 Mile High Stadium 37,024 Recap
5 October 6 Cincinnati Bengals W 10–7 1–3 Mile High Stadium 41,257 Recap
6 October 13 at New York Jets W 21–13 2–3 Shea Stadium 62,052 Recap
7 October 20 at San Diego Chargers L 24–55 2–4 San Diego Stadium 42,953 Recap
8 October 27 Miami Dolphins W 21–14 3–4 Mile High Stadium 44,115 Recap
9 November 3 at Boston Patriots W 35–14 4–4 Fenway Park 18,304 Recap
10 November 10 Oakland Raiders L 7–43 4–5 Mile High Stadium 50,002 Recap
11 November 17 at Houston Oilers L 17–38 4–6 Astrodome 36,075 Recap
12 November 24 Buffalo Bills W 34–32 5–6 Mile High Stadium 35,201 Recap
13 December 1 San Diego Chargers L 23–47 5–7 Mile High Stadium 35,212 Recap
14 December 8 at Oakland Raiders L 27–33 5–8 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 47,754 Recap
15 December 14 Kansas City Chiefs L 7–30 5–9 Mile High Stadium 38,463 Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

[4]

AFL Western Division
viewtalkedit W L T PCT DIV PF PA STK
Oakland Raiders 12 2 0 .857 6–2 453 233 W8
Kansas City Chiefs 12 2 0 .857 7–1 371 170 W5
San Diego Chargers 9 5 0 .643 5–3 382 310 L2
Denver Broncos 5 9 0 .357 1–7 275 404 L3
Cincinnati Bengals 3 11 0 .214 1–7 215 329 L3

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings in the AFL.

  1. ^ Sports Illustrated, July 26, 2010, The Unexpected Hero by Gary Smith, p.60, Published by Time Inc.
  2. ^ Saccomano, Jim (August 7, 2022). "Sacco Sez: How the orange and blue began". DenverBroncos.com. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  3. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2014.{{[cite web](/wiki/Template:Cite%5Fweb "Template:Cite web")}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ "Chiefs top Denver, clinch Western tie". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 15, 1968. p. 2B.

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