2001 Denver Broncos season

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2001 Denver Broncos season
Owner Pat Bowlen
President Pat Bowlen
General manager Neal Dahlen and Mike Shanahan
Head coach Mike Shanahan
Offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak
Defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes
Home field Invesco Field at Mile High
Results
Record8–8
Division place3rd AFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers WR Rod Smith
TE Dwayne Carswell
DT Trevor Pryce
ILB Al Wilson
CB Deltha O'Neal
K Jason Elam
ST Ian Gold

The 2001 season was the Denver Broncos' 32nd in the National Football League (NFL) and their 42nd overall. This was the Broncos' first year at the new Invesco Field at Mile High, replacing the old Mile High Stadium. The Broncos, heavily favored to be the AFC Super Bowl XXXVI representative, were aiming to head back to the Super Bowl for the first time in three years, and to win their third title in the Shanahan era. However, the season ended up as highly disappointing, as the team finished with an 8–8 record and missed the playoffs. The season was also a start of a multi-year investigation into the team cheating the salary cap during the 1996 season and both their Super Bowl-winning seasons. [1] The team was stripped of their third-round pick in the 2002 draft, and received an initial fine of $968,000.

Contents

It was also Terrell Davis' final season before various knee ailments forced him to retire in the 2002 preseason.

Offseason

NFL draft

2001 Denver Broncos draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
124 Willie Middlebrooks   Cornerback Minnesota
251 Paul Toviessi   Defensive end Marshall from Tampa Bay via Buffalo [R2 - 1]
387 Reggie Hayward   Defensive end Iowa State
4113 Ben Hamilton   Guard Minnesota from Green Bay   [R4 - 1]
4120 Nick Harris   Punter California
6190 Kevin Kasper   Wide receiver Iowa
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Draft notes

    1. ↑ #51: multiple trades:
      #51: Tampa Bay → Buffalo (D). see #14: Buffalo → Tampa Bay
      #51: Buffalo → Denver (D). Buffalo traded this pick to Denver for second-round (#58) and fourth-round (#110) selections.
    1. ↑ #113: Green Bay → Denver (PD). Green Bay traded this selection to Denver in August 2000 in exchange for linebacker Nate Wayne. [2]

    Staff

    2001 Denver Broncos staff

    Front office

    Head coaches

    Offensive coaches

    		Defensive coaches

    Special teams coaches

    Strength and conditioning


    Roster

    2001 Denver Broncos roster
    Quarterbacks (QB)

    Running backs (RB)

    Wide receivers (WR)

    Tight ends (TE)

    		 Offensive linemen (OL)

    Defensive linemen (DL)

    		 Linebackers (LB)

    Defensive backs (DB)

    Special teams

    		Practice squad

    Reserve

    Rookies in italics
    53 active, 8 reserve, 5 practice squad

    Regular season

    The Broncos opened the 2001 NFL season with a Monday Night Football win over the New York Giants on September 10, 2001, in their new stadium, Invesco Field at Mile High. Wide receiver Ed McCaffrey suffered a season-ending injury with a broken leg. The late game and location would serve a role in sparing at least two lives the following day during the September 11th attacks. [3]

    Schedule

    WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
    1September 10 New York Giants W 31–201–0 Invesco Field at Mile High 75,735
    2 [A] September 23at Arizona Cardinals W 38–172–0 Sun Devil Stadium 50,913
    3September 30 Baltimore Ravens L 13–202–1Invesco Field at Mile High75,082
    4October 7 Kansas City Chiefs W 20–63–1Invesco Field at Mile High75,037
    5October 14at Seattle Seahawks L 21–343–2 Husky Stadium 61,837
    6October 21at San Diego Chargers L 10–273–3 Qualcomm Stadium 67,521
    7October 28 New England Patriots W 31–204–3Invesco Field at Mile High74,750
    8November 5at Oakland Raiders L 28–384–4 Network Associates Coliseum 62,637
    9November 11 San Diego Chargers W 26–165–4Invesco Field at Mile High74,951
    10November 18 Washington Redskins L 10–175–5Invesco Field at Mile High74,622
    11 November 22 at Dallas Cowboys W 26–246–5 Texas Stadium 64,104
    12December 2at Miami Dolphins L 10–216–6 Pro Player Stadium 73,938
    13December 9 Seattle Seahawks W 20–77–6Invesco Field at Mile High74,524
    14December 16at Kansas City Chiefs L 23–26 (OT)7–7 Arrowhead Stadium 77,778
    15Bye
    16December 30 Oakland Raiders W 23–178–7Invesco Field at Mile High75,582
    17 [A] January 6at Indianapolis Colts L 10–298–8 RCA Dome 56,192

    Standings

    AFC West
    		WLTPCTPFPASTK
    (3) Oakland Raiders 1060.625399327L3
    Seattle Seahawks 970.563301324W2
    Denver Broncos 880.500340339L1
    Kansas City Chiefs 6100.375320344L1
    San Diego Chargers 5110.313332321L9

    Awards and records

    Notes

    1. 1 2 The Broncos were originally scheduled to play the Indianapolis Colts during Week 2 of the original NFL schedule (September 16) at RCA Dome in Indianapolis. However, due to the September 11 attacks, the game was rescheduled to Week 17.

    References

    1. ↑ "Revisiting Denver's cap penalties from the 1990s". ProFootballTalk. February 14, 2016. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
    2. ↑ "Significant Trades, 1957–2009". Green Bay Packers. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
    3. ↑ Staff (September 11, 2018). "How Invesco Field at Mile High's first-ever game saved lives on 9/11 |". Mile High Sports. Archived from the original on April 26, 2020. Retrieved April 26, 2020.


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