1968 Denver Broncos season

1968 Denver Broncos season
Owner	Gerald Phipps
General manager	Lou Saban
Head coach	Lou Saban
Home stadium	Mile High Stadium
Results
Record	5–9
Division place	4th AFL Western
Playoffs	Did not qualify
←  1967 Broncos seasons 1969  →

The 1968 Denver Broncos season was the ninth season for the team in the American Football League (AFL). Led by second-year head coach and general manager Lou Saban, the Broncos improved their record from the previous season by posting a record of five wins and nine losses. They finished fourth in the AFL's Western division for the sixth straight season; the expansion Cincinnati Bengals finished fifth, allowing Denver to escape the cellar.

There were threats of the Broncos relocating to Atlanta, Chicago, and Birmingham, Alabama. ^[1]

The 1968 season was the first in which Denver wore blue helmets with the trademark orange "D" logo; the helmets remained the same until the 1997 season. ^[2]

In 1968, Bears Stadium was sold to the city of Denver, which renamed it "Mile High Stadium" and built the upper deck along the west side, raising capacity to 50,657. ^[3]

Offseason

NFL/AFL Draft

Main article: 1968 NFL/AFL Draft

1968 Denver Broncos draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
2	31	Curley Culp  * †	Defensive tackle	Arizona State
3	58	Garrett Ford	Running back	West Virginia
3	75	Bob Vaughn	Tackle	Ole Miss
4	91	Gordon Lambert	Linebacker	Tennessee-Martins
4	102	Drake Garrett	Defensive back	Michigan State
4	111	Gus Hollomon	Defensive back	Houston
8	196	Steve Holloway	Defensive back	Weber State
9	222	Paul Smith  *	Defensive end	New Mexico
10	252	Bob Langford	Tackle	Middle Tennessee
12	304	Bobby Hendrix	Tackle	Ole Miss
13	330	Charlie Greer	Defensive back	Colorado
14	357	Marlin Briscoe  *	Quarterback	Nebraska-Omaha
15	386	Jeff Kuhman	Linebacker	Vermont
16	412	Adin Brown	Linebacker	William & Mary
17	438	Steve Grady	Running back	USC
Made roster    †    Pro Football Hall of Fame     *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff / Coaches

1968 Denver Broncos staff

Front office Team Owner / Chairman of the Board – Gerald Phipps Team President – Allan R Phipps Director of Player Personnel – Fred Gehrke Head coaches General Manager/Head Coach – Lou Saban Offensive coaches Offensive backfield – Hunter Enis Offensive receivers – Sam Rutigliano Offensive line – Whitey Dovell

Defensive coaches Defensive line – Stan Jones Defensive backfield – Dick MacPherson

Roster

1968 Denver Broncos roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 15 Marlin Briscoe 10 Jim LeClair 11 John McCormick 13 Steve Tensi Running backs (RB) 46 Terry Erwin 32 Garrett Ford, Sr. FB 44 Floyd Little 33 Hub Lindsey 22 Fran Lynch 40 Brendan McCarthy FB 48 Alex Moore Wide receivers (WR) 41 Eric Crabtree 88 Al Denson 80 Jim Jones 84 Mike Haffner 86 Bob Moten Tight ends (TE) 85 Tom Beer 81 Dave Washington

Offensive linemen (OL) 65 Jay Bachman C 72 Sam Brunelli T 74 Mike Current T 71 Wallace Dickey T 64 George Gaiser T 67 George Goeddeke G 56 Buzz Highsmith G 59 Larry Kaminski C 61 Bob Vaughn G 60 Bob Young G Defensive linemen (DL) 63 Dave Costa DT 55 Pete Duranko DE 62 Jerry Inman DT 87 Rich Jackson DE 75 Rex Mirich DT 70 Paul Smith DE

Linebackers (LB) 50 Carl Cunningham 52 Fred Forsberg 57 John Huard 76 Gordon Lambert 89 Chip Myrtle 58 Frank Richter 51 Dave Tobey Defensive backs (DB) 23 Drake Garrett CB 20 Charlie Greer SS 34 Gus Hollomon SS 43 Pete Jaquess S 28 Jake Lentz S 48 Hel Lewis 25 Tommy Luke 27 Tom Oberg Special teams (ST) 12 Joe DiVito P 3 Bobby Howfield K 2 Bob Humphreys K 42 Billy Van Heusen

Rookies in italics

Source:

Regular season

Main article: 1968 American Football League season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	Bye
2	September 15	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 10–24	0–1	Nippert Stadium	25,049	Recap
3	September 22	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 2–34	0–2	Municipal Stadium	45,821	Recap
4	September 29	Boston Patriots	L 17–20	0–3	Mile High Stadium	37,024	Recap
5	October 6	Cincinnati Bengals	W 10–7	1–3	Mile High Stadium	41,257	Recap
6	October 13	at New York Jets	W 21–13	2–3	Shea Stadium	62,052	Recap
7	October 20	at San Diego Chargers	L 24–55	2–4	San Diego Stadium	42,953	Recap
8	October 27	Miami Dolphins	W 21–14	3–4	Mile High Stadium	44,115	Recap
9	November 3	at Boston Patriots	W 35–14	4–4	Fenway Park	18,304	Recap
10	November 10	Oakland Raiders	L 7–43	4–5	Mile High Stadium	50,002	Recap
11	November 17	at Houston Oilers	L 17–38	4–6	Astrodome	36,075	Recap
12	November 24	Buffalo Bills	W 34–32	5–6	Mile High Stadium	35,201	Recap
13	December 1	San Diego Chargers	L 23–47	5–7	Mile High Stadium	35,212	Recap
14	December 8	at Oakland Raiders	L 27–33	5–8	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	47,754	Recap
15	December 14	Kansas City Chiefs	L 7–30	5–9	Mile High Stadium	38,463	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

^[4]

Standings

AFL Western Division
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
Oakland Raiders	12	2	0	.857	6–2	453	233	W8
Kansas City Chiefs	12	2	0	.857	7–1	371	170	W5
San Diego Chargers	9	5	0	.643	5–3	382	310	L2
Denver Broncos	5	9	0	.357	1–7	275	404	L3
Cincinnati Bengals	3	11	0	.214	1–7	215	329	L3

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings in the AFL.

References

1. Sports Illustrated, July 26, 2010, The Unexpected Hero by Gary Smith, p.60, Published by Time Inc.
2. Saccomano, Jim (August 7, 2022). "Sacco Sez: How the orange and blue began". DenverBroncos.com. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
4. "Chiefs top Denver, clinch Western tie". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 15, 1968. p. 2B.

External links

• Denver Broncos – 1968 media guide
• 1968 Denver Broncos season at jt-sw.com
• 1968 Denver Broncos at Pro-Football-Reference.com