MHR Radio: Nostalgia, Bronco style

The push to help put Terrell Davis over the top was a monumental effort here at MHR. The best part? It was like taking a walk through the late 90s, and witnessing a great era of Broncos football all over again.

As Ian St. Clair and I discussed on the MHR Radio podcast, writing the stories that went into the 30 in 30 series was nostalgic euphoria. Reading the contributions of every writer helped to transport me back to a time when being a Bronco fan was best for so many.

I was raised on Sunday afternoons with my dad and uncle on the phone complaining about everything that the Broncos did. Even during the Super Bowl runs in the 80s it was hard for them to be less than cynical. These were folks who lived through the hard years of the 60s and 70s. They experienced the crushing defeat in the Super Bowl against the Cowboys. Being cynical about Bronco success was far more mainstream.

After the 80s, when John Elway and the Broncos were always in the mix as Super Bowl contenders, there was a short period when Denver was not nearly as relevant. By the time the Broncos were back to fighting for a spot in the Super Bowl, I was in high school. This was a time when those phone calls were often jovial, and light hearted. Each game was met with far more enthusiasm than when I was little.

But John Elway had become old, and time got short. It looked like he would never get that elusive Lombardi trophy. Not until the arrival of Terrell Davis, and the return of Mike Shanahan as the head coach, did it feel like John would finally get his ring. So, the love for Davis is two fold.

Davis helped put the Broncos over the top. Without him, Denver never wins those back to back championships. But Davis also gave Broncos Country something that many older fans thought would never happen. He got John Elway his ring.

It seems corny. It seems a little bit too sentimental, but there was a feeling that Elway would go down as the greatest to never win the big one. A dubious honor to say the least, and one that fans in Denver knew he did not deserve. He had earned a Super Bowl in the minds of many. It was Davis who made sure that would happen.

John Elway had come to mean so much to Bronco fans. He still reigns supreme in the minds of most. However, the thanks goes to Terrell Davis. It was his skill and determination that propelled Denver in the late 90s.

The trip down memory lane was more fun than I thought it would be. It ended with TD finally getting the call. He earned it.