He was the first of the Dirty Dozen to get cut, when ownership thought they were gonna keep Ralston. If there ever was one Bad thing the Phipps did it was cutting him. Maybe he would not have made the 77 team, but to cut him to appease Ralston always bothered me. Plus Ralston was gone by 2/1/77. I think by that time the horse was out of the barn.

Back in 69 thru the early 70’s, my family would drive down to visit my Gr Grandmother in Colo. Springs. We usually went down two or three times a year, but it was always on Sunday. I hated it because I had to wear Church clothes all day plus the drive from Denver. The worse part was after visiting Gr Grandma, we usually visited my Great Aunt at her Beauty Parlor that she owned near Manitou Springs. She lived at the back of the shop, so when we visited, it was always in the parlor. Of course my sisters and I had to sit in the big pink chairs with the hair dryers on top.
Anyhow, her name was Dot, and she was probably the toughest and meanest old Woman I ever knew. My Dad always made the mistake of visiting in Sept. when the Broncos were on TV. She was never happy that we stopped by during the game, but I liked it because I got to see the game. I always knew it would be on at her shop. Dot was probably the first real Bronco nut that I ever met. She would yell at the tv and throw fits when the Broncos had a bad play. Ok, long story short:

We were at the beauty shop during a game, probably 1970, and she was more interested in the game than family dropping by. I’m sitting in the hair dryer chair when she starts screaming “Go Billy Go!” Scared the hell out of me. Billy Van Heusen caught a pass and was running up the left sideline. It was a long run, and I think he scored. She started jumping up and down and going crazy. (She was about 60 years old at the time, and I was about 10) I asked Aunt Dot, “who was that?” She said Billy Van Heusen my favorite player. Then I said with all intent of showing her my football sav vy “But isn’t he the punter?” Dot stopped in her tracks, turned around, and with a grit on her face walked up to me, bent down (face snarling) and put her finger in my face and said “Boy, don’t you get smart”.

I never really knew what she meant by that, but it scared the hell out of me, and I practically climbed up into the hair dryer. Anyhow, I learned real quick that Billy was a receiver too. Thats my first recollection of BVH, and thats the truth!