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Celebrating football...and dads in Broncos Country

For many of us, our fathers are the reason we like football - and if we were lucky - our fathers were Denver Broncos fans too. But no matter how we got to this team, often it is our fathers to thank.

By Laurie Lattimore-Volkmann
Amy Torres

Good morning and Happy post-Father's Day, Broncos Country!

Since it's a non-football Sunday (and now a Monday), I'm going to cheat this morning and pull an excerpt from our Father's Day post last year in which many staff writers reflected on how their dads influenced their Broncos' fandom. If you don't remember it, it's definitely worth the re-read!

For many of us - including me - our fathers were our first introduction to football ... and if we were lucky, the Broncos.

I don't remember the first time I watched a Broncos game with my dad because it always just was.

Since the beginning of my memory, Sundays were synonymous with church, flag football and then Denver Broncos at 2 p.m. (and on the occasional 11 a.m. game, we sometimes got to get out of church early, which was an extra bonus!)

Sundays were synonymous with church, flag football and then Denver Broncos at 2. On the occasional 11 a.m. game, we sometimes got to get out of church, which was a bonus.

Though my dad grew up in Texas and will probably be a lifelong - although sometimes quiet - Cowboys fan, he added the Broncos to his cheering section when I was born and we moved to Colorado. As the Orange Crush emerged, my dad became a fan, and I think he even cheered more for the Broncos in the '77 Super Bowl (at least on the outside) because more than anything, he is a family man and "we" were Broncos' fans.

I loved every Sunday afternoon during football season in our living room - everyone would be yelling at the refs, analyzing the coaching calls during commercials, or going crazy when Elway would maneuver yet another come-from-behind victory.

There is absolutely no greater feeling than the raw emotion that just happens when your team makes a surprising - and usually impossible - play to win a game. (Kids being born and weddings are special and remarkable moments, but in my mind, a whole different realm.) An interception or touchdown to save the game that inspires jump-around-like-a-crazy-person kind of joy is the most awesome feeling you can't imagine until it happens.

I live for those moments, and I have my dad to thank for the fact that I (and my whole family) can appreciate those rare but awesome times.

Once my younger sister was competing in a gymnastics meet in Denver that was taking way too long. So my dad decided on a whim to take me and my little brother over to Mile High Stadium where we bought overpriced tickets to sit in snow-covered seats in the South Stands.

But it was totally worth it when we watched Denver beat the Chiefs 14-13 in a fourth-quarter comeback. My sister and mom may never forgive us, but it was still a great memory (and as my dad likes to remind her, the game ended better!)

I love my dad for many reasons, but one of them will always be how he likes to spend his Sundays.

To this day, even though none of us lives in Denver, we try to get to Mile High for a family reunion game every year. And at the very least, we text each other non-stop during the games - still yelling at the refs, still analyzing the coaching decisions, and still jumping up and down together...just like when I was a kid at home.

Though I have a lot in common with my dad, and we can talk about education, politics, religion, media and history at any given moment, sports - and especially the Broncos - is always the great connector.

I love my dad for many reasons, but one of them will always be how he likes to spend Sundays.

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