Big day for lifelong Bronco fan

My fandom for the Denver Broncos dates before my birth.

In the early days of my late father's medical career, he and the family made several stops before settling down in Jonesboro. My oldest brother was born in Houston, where we developed a close bond with another family, and while my other brother was born in Jonesboro, it was while Dad was in private practice in Manila.

Between that brother's birth and mine six years later, the family lived in two places: North Little Rock and Denver. It was while in the latter that the Earnest Saunders clan became earnest Broncos fans.

John Elway was drafted in 1983 while the family lived there. He instantly became an idol in our household, even though the rest of my family members are old enough to remember the Super Bowl beatdowns of the 1980s (my opportunity would come).

Elway was the one constant as my Broncos fanaticism began to bloom. There were other players I started to really like, such as Shannon Sharpe, Simon Fletcher and, of course, former Razorback star Steve Atwater (Woo Pig).

But during my formative years of the early 1990s, Wade Phillips, now doing unheard-of things with the Denver defense, was simply not getting it done as a head coach (Dallas Cowboys fans can relate). There were only so many times I could watch the Broncos reach goal-to-go at the one and not score.

So I watched intently as the San Francisco 49ers steamrolled the San Diego Chargers 49-26 in Super Bowl XXIX, just waiting for owner Pat Bowlen to offer San Francisco offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, a Denver assistant for two different stints, the head-coaching job. Shanahan's hiring proved the first of two major turning points in my life as a Denver fan.

Shanahan's first year was an injury-riddled 8-8. Even after he led Denver to the best record in the AFC in 1996, I still had to go through one of my sickest feelings as a fan -- losing to the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars in the divisional round of the playoffs.

That loss scarred me so much that when the Broncos made the playoffs as a wild-card team the following season, I locked myself in the basement and refused to watch for fear of bringing bad luck. When I found out they won, superstition took over and I didn't watch the remaining playoff games, including Denver's first Super Bowl victory in the famous Elway helicopter play against the defending champion Green Bay Packers.

I only know what happened in the game courtesy of replays, though I can still hear some of my family cheering and screaming from upstairs. Luckily, they called me up to celebrate once the game was decided.

My aunt has promised me and my brothers one piece of memorabilia for every time the Broncos win the Super Bowl. From Super Bowl XXXII, I received a stadium blanket including the logo and the final score: Denver 31, Green Bay 24.

The championship had me at a fever pitch for the next season. My only jersey until then was an Elway No. 7 I got in '92 (It went down to my knees at the time, so I can still wear it today), but I got my Terrell Davis No. 30 for the '98 campaign, which didn't disappoint at all.

As I constantly wore his number, Davis rushed for more than 2,000 yards. Denver took an undefeated record into December, and I was actually content when they suffered their first loss at the New York Giants.

My nerves were turned up during the playoffs again, hoping they didn't blow another one after a first-round bye. The New York Jets also put up more of a fight than expected in the AFC championship game.

But when the Atlanta Falcons upset the 15-1 Minnesota Vikings, with the unstoppable receiving duo of Cris Carter and Randy Moss, in the NFC title game, I was sure the Broncos had a second-straight Super Bowl in the bag. The result went as expected, even if it was one of the happiest moments of my sporting life: Denver 34, Atlanta 19 (Memorabilia: Hat).

My friends thought I got too smug during that run, so they were delighted when the Broncos went into the tank after Elway retired following Super Bowl XXXIII. The '99 season was rough, but I never gave up on them. They're the No. 1 professional sports love of my life, after all.

I suffered through several attempts to replace Elway until my expectations lowered enough to enjoy Jake Plummer. There were plenty of other players to interest me even if the quarterback position was subpar, such as Clinton Portis (and Champ Bailey in the best Denver trade of my lifetime), Al Wilson and the latter years of Ed McCaffrey and Rod Smith.

Plummer gave the fans one thrilling year in 2005, going 13-3 with an exciting 27-13 victory over the defending champion New England Patriots in the divisional playoffs (highlighted by Bailey's 99-yard interception return). But "The Snake" was never good enough to be a Super Bowl QB as the Broncos fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers at home in the AFC title game.

Plummer was eventually replaced by drafted Jay Cutler, and Shanahan's time ran its course in 2008. Thus began my two-year nightmare known as the Josh McDaniels era.

One of the first moves McDaniels made was trading Cutler to the Chicago Bears, one that looks brilliant in hindsight but left the Broncos with Kyle Orton at quarterback. Orton started his Denver career 6-0, but the Broncos finished the season 8-8.

Then McDaniels furthered my dislike for him when he traded up to the first round of the 2010 draft to select unproven quarterback prospect Tim Tebow. McDaniels was thankfully fired after the ensuing season, but Tebow remained to haunt me for one more year.

New coach John Fox needed a midseason spark trying to go with Orton, so he subbed in Tebow to make me conflicted the rest of 2011. I dreaded every time the Florida Heisman Trophy winner led comeback victory, even if he threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas to defeat the Steelers in overtime in the wild-card round (dubbed Tebow 3:16 to reflect his religious fervor and passing yardage for the game).

But my most memorable exclamation from that season was, "I just want a quarterback." I got my wish in March 2012 when Peyton Manning, released from the Indianapolis Colts following multiple neck surgeries, signed as a free agent with the Broncos (the other major turning point of my NFL life).

Manning lit my soul on fire with every touchdown pass. His 2013 campaign of 55 TD tosses rivaled the joy I felt in '98, but it unfortunately led to a 43-8 beating from the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII.

Now the Broncos are back in the Super Bowl, and I'll be hoping for a third NFL championship for the franchise. They face another mobile quarterback in Cam Newton for the Carolina Panthers like Russell Wilson for the Seahawks, but I hope Denver plays Carolina like it did against division mate Atlanta in the last Super Bowl win (when the Panthers and Falcons were in the NFC West during a geographically challenged era).

And my sports-writing side is salivating over Manning potentially capping his Hall of Fame career with a victory in Super Bowl 50. I'll be wearing the No. 18 in support.

Sports on 02/07/2016

Upcoming Events