Happy 8th birthday Mile High Report

I started blogging Broncos in November of 2006. Mile High Report's founder, John Bena, started three months before me.

A lot has happened since then and now, and it is an extreme, still-surprising honor to be running this site today. Furthermore, it's a privilege to wish it a very happy eighth birthday.

MileHighReport.com opened its virtual doors on August 24, 2006, and through Jake Plummer, Jay Cutler, Kyle Orton, Tim Tebow, and Peyton Manning, here we are. The early days were slow growing, as you might expect. It took years for MHR to reach its first million visitors; now, we received nearly double that in the three weeks of training camp alone.

The growth of this website is a sign of this fantastic community. You keep the staff honest, and you make us strive to give you the best content possible. This website would be an empty shell without you. You are its heart, and you are its soul.

I love hearing from Broncos Country.  I love talking Broncos. MHR does that for me unlike any other website, ever.  I don't like talking about MHR itself too often, but I will definitely wish it - and by extension, all of you - a very happy eighth birthday and wishes for many more to come!

Here's what MHR has meant to other staffers.

Tim Lynch

I found Mile High Report back in the summer of 2007 from a post by TheSportsGuru (John Bena) on a Broncos forum I lurked on. Back then the FanPosts section was called the "Diary" section and when I realized I could write my own opinions into actual blog posts, I was hooked. By the end of that year, I was part of the first official group of "staff contributors" on the website. Before that, it was John Bena all day every day. It was a fun time as the Internet was wild back then, but things have gotten more refined over the last couple of years with the improvements SB Nation has made to this platform starting in early 2008 with their 2.0 platform. So with that said, please do not go look at or read any of my posts from back in those early days. haha

Having been here from the beginning, I can note that the early days were some of my fondest as a staff contributor here, but when MHR and Bronco Talk merged last year I think it created a perfect combination of various writer styles we have ever seen here. The future definitely looks exciting from this bloggers standpoint. What keeps me coming back every day, however, is the kick ass community of users Mile High Report has developed over the years. All of my motivation to contribute at the blog posting level comes from you who read and comment on this website, so thank you for being a part of this. You all are the primary reason I have 26,000+ comments on this website since that 2.0 platform was rolled out. Happy birthday to the greatest Broncos community on the planet.

Go Broncos!

Bronco Mike

I joined the site way back in 2011 at the very beginning of what would become the Tim Tebow/Kyle Orton saga in John Fox's 1st year.  Before then I had spent my discussion days over at the awful Denver Post threads.  When I first found this place it was like a breath of fresh air.  I remember lurking before I had the courage to post, but this was my go-to place for Broncos News.

My very first post was about Fox's refusal to insert Tim Tebow into the Green Bay blowout game, and people were fed up with Kyle Orton at that point.  My article was front-paged and rec'd up the wazoo and I was hooked.  From there I went on to write a lot of statistical posts that folks didn't bother to read, as well as some other things.

In September of 2012, John Bena sent an invitation to join the staff and I was so shocked that I didn't get back to him for a week.  I finally joined the masthead and got to learn about blogging under Kirk Davis.  John encouraged my very first film study post and Jeremy Bolander gave me the advice to go full steam ahead even though I was still learning about the game.

Mile High Report is the best Broncos blog out there.  It has always been known as the cream of the crop due to the fantastic community that fosters so much great football talk.  We have so many great writers here though that it has also grown a reputation for top-notch Broncos analysis and reporting.  This is my home and will always be my home.  GO BRONCOS!!!

Laurie Lattimore-Volkmann

I didn't "find" Mike High Report so much as it (aka Kyle) found me when he referenced on MHR a commentary I had written in the Denver Post after that awful Super Bowl.

When Kyle asked if I'd be interested in writing more about the Broncos, I checked out MHR in-depth and almost said no. Not because the site wasn't good but because it was awesome! I was sure I would have little to contribute to the great stuff that already existed and figured I should actually learn the X's and O's of football before hanging with this crowd. :)

Thankfully Kyle convinced me I didn't have to do "football analysis" only to work at MHR! I absolutely love writing for this site, working with the other awesome writers who make me laugh and help me learn even more about the game on a daily basis, and interacting with all the awesome (and hilarious...looking at you, Whorfin) community members. Thanks to all of you!

My only regret is not having done this blogging thing sooner and been able to contribute during last year's incredible season. But I'm really looking forward to doing it during this year's incredible season and doing it with you.

Thanks and Go Broncos!

Jacob Dearlove

I'm still relatively new to the Mile High Report community, especially as a contributor. I've spent time on numerous blogging sites, mainly sports blog start-up sites, and personal blogs that were never being read. When I found the Mile High Report community as an outlet to write about the Broncos, where it would actually be read and responded to by people, I was immediately hooked.

After a bunch of fan posts and interactions with the MHR staffers on Twitter, Jon mentioned my name to Kyle as a potential contributor. After a successful tryout process, I started my work with the team here and began more interactions with the MHR community. This site is the absolute pinnacle for Broncos information that is available on the web, and the news and information is only topped by the great community that resides on MHR. Every single one of the staffers has a unique view and opinion on different Broncos-related topics, which brings in a wide variety of angles to the website, and often creates some interesting behind-the-scenes discussion. Every one of the staffers on Mile High Report give up a huge chunk of their free time to make sure that this site is the best Broncos site on the web, and Kyle somehow makes it all run smoothly.

Happy Birthday MHR, here's to many more years of such a great Broncos and football community!

Brian Shrout

I came across MHR during the infamous McDaniels/Cutler "he said-she said" fiasco. I was looking for a place to talk about that whole affair without getting flamed for not immediately buying into Cutler's version.

I started posting as a member, more to find out more than from any sense that I had a unique perspective. After he left, Doc Smith urged me to throw my name out to John Bena for consideration as a staff contributor and I've been hanging around ever since.

MHR is still the best site for level-headed discussions of all things Broncos and more general discussions on the state of the NFL.

We would love to hear what Mile High Report has meant to you in the comments. Happy birthday Mile High Report, and go Broncos!