Six decades of professional football have given Denver some of its most intense moments of civic pride and pain, and you have reached the home of the team responsible, the Denver Broncos. The Denver Broncos were founded in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League, the upstart league that merged with the NFL in 1970. For their first two decades the Broncos were a modestly talented team; the arrival of quarterback John Elway in 1983 transformed both the team and its relationship with the city.
Elway led Denver to five Super Bowl appearances over fifteen years, winning the last two before retiring in 1999. The stadium here today, opened in 2001, replaced the original Mile High Stadium that had stood on this site since 1948. With a capacity of more than 76,000, it generates an atmosphere amplified by Denver's altitude — the thin air seems to carry sound differently, and Broncos fans have consistently produced some of the loudest crowd noise measured in professional sports.
The views from the upper deck extend to the entire Front Range of the Rockies, a backdrop no other NFL city can match.