Horse Tracks: The good, the bad, and the ugly Broncos holiday gifts

The Good

I'm usually thrilled with unique Broncos gear. My Seattle-based mother-in-law has been absolutely amazing year-after-year with her Broncos stuff that finds its way under the tree. From a  Broncos barbeque spatula to salt shakers, toothbrushes (plural), pens, pencils, the Broncos team calendar that's comically out of date by year's end (every year), Mr. Potato Head, and countless t-shirts, it's always amazing to see what she comes up. Simply put, the best Broncos holiday gifts are generic Broncos gifts. They never go out of style and you can usually use them all year long. Even the smallest of items are welcomed. Who would get exited about pens? Are they orange? That's the freakin' hookup, holiday-style! What'd you get?

The Bad

Then there are the family members who think they're funny (fans of other teams). Last year my newborn infant son received a Seattle Seahawks bib from another Seattle-based family member. Within minutes of its unwrapping, it went 'missing.' Sure, my wife was mad that "I embarrassed her in front of her family" by not being thrilled to receive the gaudy neon green monstrosity, but let's be honest here folks, it was the right thing to do. Later that night, during Christmas dinner, they asked to put the bib on my son for photos. If it hadn't gone miraculously missing, there would be photographic evidence of my youngest son wearing Seahawks gear from the year that we lost the Super Bowl to them. Needless to say, the bib hasn't been seen since and the search party has been called off. Funny how that works...

The Ugly

A few years ago, my buddy came over with a brand new jersey to watch the Broncos play the Kansas City Chiefs on New Years Day. It wasn't one of those silk-screened jerseys, it was an orange (remember we were wearing the blue ones then) one with stitched on numbers and letters. I was so jealous of the Christmas gift my friend had received from his father. It was awful. Not because my buddy was rocking some sweet new gear, it was awful because the Broncos lost, 7-3. Why is that important? Because it was the last regular season game Tim Tebow ever played for the Broncos and that happened to be the player who's name and number was emblazoned on my friend's jersey.

My friend was so excited to wear his Tebow jersey. After so many last minute comebacks, he was sure to be the future of the Broncos. Or so he thought. Especially when he wore it the following week when the Broncos beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wildcard Round. Don't pretend like you weren't excited... and that you weren't wearing a Tebow jersey of your own.

...and then Denver got crushed against the New England Patriots the week later. Tebow was traded to the Jets shortly thereafter and the Peyton Manning era began. For two weeks, my buddy got to wear his fancy-pants (not to mention expensive) Tebow jersey. Now it sits in his closet, too nice to donate to charity and too... Yeah, he's not going to wear it either. Just about every year this happens to someone in Broncos Country, it's just how football season and the holidays fall. I know there are many of you out there who got Ashley Lelie, Javon Walker, and/or Travis Henry jerseys and are in the same boat. Heck, in a couple months you may be putting a jersey away that you received today for the last time...

So what did you get today? Was it good? Bad? Ugly? Awesome? A gag gift? Raiders gear? Tell us all about it!

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas, everyone!