Thanks firstfan. I got to see these guys play, and they were amazing. Goose was a bright light to the play of that era – I hope he gets all the credit that he so richly deserves. They talk about players who changed the game – Goose changed every game he was ever in. Take the time and vote!

those were really a bunch of tough guys in those days.

He’s also a friend of MHR, incidentally. Goose gets my vote, and this FanPost gets my Rec

Goose definitely needs to get a nod.

…recd. Also, the chart shows off Billy T too…one of the semi-unsung from his day!!!

Nice post!!

That should remind all of us that we needn’t settle for questionable character men on this football team. Solid post and worth of Front Page status!

One of my pet peeves about honors like the Broncos 50 year team is that older players get a short shrift. There are a lot of reaons. Lets face it. A lot of the people who were around to see the Goose play, just aren’t around anymore, and those who are might not be techno-savy enough to even be on this site, much less vote for the older players. Add to that the overwhelmig number of younger fans on this site and players like him are bound to be overlooked. Not that I blame younger fans. They never saw him play and so they don’t have a reasonable method of measuring his abilities. It’s only natural to vote for the players they have seen with their own eyes.

So I guess it’s up to us older fans to make the history come alive. Only that brings up another point. I have my Bowlen moments when I try to remember the oldest games.

What I can still do is reason and speculate. One thing I find remarkable is that his interception per season record still stands fifty years later. Now that is something amazing, especially in a age when records seem to die every week. Another thing I find kind of amazing is that these early Broncos teams were, well, not the best teams. It was easy for an opposing team to just avoid Goose. As sterling as his numbers look, can you imagine what those numbers could have been like if the rest of the defense was strong enough so that the opposition couldn’t avoid him?

I know that’s probably not enough to get him onto the fifty year team but he is worth a closer look. Too bad we couldn’t pick “All the above”.

I guess Goose saw the post on the MHR and he sent me an email. This is in typical Goose style. I didn’ty get his permission to publish it, but we are all pretty much family here on the MHR.

DON, I JUST READ YOUR LETTER AND YOU SAID IT BEST >>I, GOOSE, AM PROUD TO HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE BEST DB SAFETY ON THE BRONCOS >> WE HAVE HAD MANY GOOD ONES> AND MY RECORDS STAND UP TO THEIRS > BUT IT’S HARD TO BRAG ON YOURSELF. DON , THANK YOU FOR SPEAKING FOR ME >> I DO NOT WANT TO LET DENVER DOWN WITHOUT TRYING TO MAKE THE 50YR TEAM . I WOULD LOVE TO BE CALLED> WE PLAYED AT DIFFERENT TIMES, ON DIFFERENT TEAMS SO ITS HARD FOR FANS WHO MIGHT NOT HAVE SEEM ME PLAY TO VOTE BUT LOOK AT THE STATS YEARS PLAYED>> I AM THE ORGINAL BRONCO. I WAS IN TRAINING CAMP IN GOLDEN 1960 AND THE LAST PLAYER TO LEAVE AND I WENT TO THE NFL AND THE FIRST AFL’er TO START FOR A NFL TEAM . THE LAST GAME I PLAYED IN, WE BEAT THE COWBOYS >> 1960 I PLAYED FOR THE BRONCOS , THEY NEEDED A DB, I WAS THE FIRST PLAYER TO INTERCEPT A PASS IN THE AFL> I GOT 7 IN 3 GAMES AND FINISH WITH 11, STILL A RECORD> THINGS THAT TOOK PLACE IN THAT FIRST YEAR>> I WENT INTO THE ARMY RESERVES FOR SIX MONTHS> THE NEXT YEAR, I GOT CALL BACK FOR THE BERLIN CRISES, FOR 7 MONTHS< MY FIRST YEAR AT DENVER< I WAS PAID $8’500.00. MY MOM AND DAD NEVER OWNED A HOUSE SO I PUT UP MONEY TO BUY THEIR FIRST HOUSE AND PAID THE NOTES AND THAT MADE ME SO PROUD> I NEVER MADE MORE THAN $18,000 WITH DENVER BUT IT GIVES ME GOOSE BUMPS WHEN FANS LIKE DON STAND UP FOR ME> I LOVE THE BRONCOS AND PAT BOWLIN IS SUCH A GREAT MAN FOR KEEPING US IN THE BRONCO FAMILY>> THANKS DON AND YOU BRONCO FANS. I WAS A PLAYER COACH MY LAST FEW YEARS THERE AND MY GREATEST WISH WAS TO STAY WITH THE BRONCO FAMILY AS A COACH!

Like I said in my post. Goose has my vote. And we have had a whole bunch of really good Safeties.

But it helped create the delima when it came to altime safties. We have had Gonsoulin, Steve Atwater, Bille Thompson and of course Dennis Smith. How do you ever come up with only two from that group without dissing the other two underservadly?

was a pretty crazy guy out there. I’ve been trying to remember the story behind the nickname Goose but I can’t bring it up.

….‘Goose’ was a hero of mine as a kid and my favorite all-time defensive player. I have also been trying to get members to vote for Goose.

Thanks again.

Were who I had to narrow it down to. That’s a tough call, but….

Thanks for the post, rec’d
 - And rec’d the letter from Goose too, thanks for sharing that as well.