The 1982 Broncos were a sad excuse for a team. Luckily, they played only nine games due to player strike. Weeks 3-9 ceased to exist league wide. The Broncos finished 2-7 that year and finished 0-6 in the division. Here are some of the lowlights from 1982:
3 QB's |
Started for the Broncos that season. Steve DeBerg started 5 games, Mark Herrmann started once, and Craig "don't call me Orton" Morton started 3 games. The Broncos QB's managed a craptacular 8 TD's and 19 INT's to go along with a 60.8 QBR. |
3 RB's |
Saw at least 65 carries that year. Rick Parros, Gerald Willhite, and Sammy Winder all failed to eclipse 350 yards individually. |
2x2 |
The leading receiver that year was a RB. In fact Rick Parros and Gerald Wilhite both had 37 and 26 receptions respectively. WR Steve Watson and Rick Upchurch had 36 and 26. |
O/D'ed |
Offense scored only 16 points per game while the defense gave up 25. |
Sack-less |
The team had no sack....err I mean no Bronco defender registered more than 5 sacks. |
Vance Johnson
I can't leave you hanging with only misery however. Vance Johnson was one of the players I remember growing up and whenever I think of #82 I think of him. He wasn't a great receiver but he was good and served as John Elway's #1 for a lot of years.
Over the course of his 10 year career, Vance Johnson caught 415 passes for 5695 yards and 37 TD's. His best seaso as a pro would have been in 1989 when he caught 76 balls for 1095 yards and 7 TD's. It was the only season he managed to gain more than 1000 yards in his career.
Cool 82 Factoid
The lone bright spot for the Denver Broncos in 1982 was KR/PR/WR Rick Upchurch. Upchurch was a 1st team all pro and pro bowler that season. He led the Broncos with a 15.7 receiving average and scored 2 TD's on punt returns.
Notable Bronco to wear #82
Vance Johnson 1985-1993, 1985
Current Bronco Wearing #82
Lucas Reed