Miles is one of two official mascots of the Denver Broncos, [1] an American football team in the National Football League (NFL).
Miles was preceded as the Broncos' mascot by Huddles, "a horse on his hind legs, with a big helmet.” [2] (Huddles was performed during the Broncos' 1986 Super Bowl season, by a then-teenage Michael Hancock, later mayor of Denver). [2]
Miles was developed in the early 1990s and made his first public appearance at the 1995 Pro Bowl [3] as a Team NFL Hero. Team NFL Heroes were a line of mascot-like characters created by NFL Properties for every team in the league; most of the characters only lasted a season or two but a handful ended up being adopted as official mascots by their respective teams, either immediately after the Team NFL Heroes project was canceled or years later with Miles being an example of the latter. Before the Broncos unveiled him as their official team mascot some changes to his appearance were made, such as changing his fur from orange to white and switching his jersey number from 0 to 00.
According to Miles' official backstory, he was born on January 31, 1999, the same day that the Broncos became Super Bowl champions for the second time at Hard Rock Stadium, then known as Pro Player Stadium, near Miami, Florida. However, he did not appear in person as a mascot until two years later. [4] Now Miles resides at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado. He appears at Broncos' home games and community promotions such as the Broncos' reading program.
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquartered in Dove Valley, Colorado.
The Super Bowl is the annual league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game has been played on the second Sunday in February. Prior Super Bowls were played on Sundays in early to mid-January from 1967 to 1978, late January from 1979 to 2003, and the first Sunday of February from 2004 to 2021. Winning teams are awarded the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named after the eponymous coach who won the first two Super Bowls. Because the NFL restricts the use of its "Super Bowl" trademark, it is frequently referred to as the "big game" or other generic terms by non-sponsoring corporations. The day the game is held is commonly referred to as "Super Bowl Sunday" or simply "Super Sunday".
Super Bowl XII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1977 season. The Cowboys defeated the Broncos 27–10 to win their second Super Bowl. The game was played on January 15, 1978, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. This was the first Super Bowl in a domed stadium, and the first time that the game was played in prime time in the Eastern United States.
Super Bowl XXI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1986 season. It was the 21st Super Bowl and was played on January 25, 1987, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The Giants defeated the Broncos, 39–20, for their first Super Bowl and first NFL title since 1956. It was the first of consecutive Super Bowl losses for the Broncos, who lost the Super Bowl a year later 42–10 to the Washington Redskins.
Super Bowl XXII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins and American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1987 season. The Redskins defeated the Broncos by the score of 42–10, winning their second Super Bowl. The game was played on January 31, 1988, at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, California, which was the first time that the Super Bowl was played there. It was the second consecutive Super Bowl loss for the Broncos, who had lost to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl the year before.
Super Bowl XXXII was an American football game played between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion and defending Super Bowl XXXI champion Green Bay Packers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1997 season. The Broncos defeated the Packers by the score of 31–24. The game was played on January 25, 1998, at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California, the second time that the Super Bowl was held in that city. Super Bowl XXXII also made Qualcomm Stadium the only stadium in history to host both the Super Bowl and the World Series in the same year.
Super Bowl XXXIII was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion and defending Super Bowl XXXII champion Denver Broncos and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Atlanta Falcons to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1998 season. The Broncos defeated the Falcons by the score of 34–19, winning their second consecutive Super Bowl. The game was played on January 31, 1999, at Pro Player Stadium in Miami, Florida.
Terrell Lamar Davis is an American former professional football player who was a running back for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1995 to 2001. He is the Broncos all-time leading rusher and still holds the record for most postseason single-season touchdowns (eight), which he achieved in 1997. He is also credited with starting the "Mile High Salute", a celebratory tradition among Denver Broncos players after scoring a touchdown. Davis was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017. Despite his short seven-year tenure, Davis is often regarded as one of the greatest running backs of all time.
The American Football Conference – Western Division or AFC West is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division comprises the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, and Los Angeles Chargers.
The 1998 season was the Denver Broncos' 29th in the National Football League (NFL) and their 39th overall. The Broncos entered the season as the defending Super Bowl champions and looked to become only the fifth team in league history to win consecutive Super Bowls.
Super Bowl XLVIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos and National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2013 season. The Seahawks defeated the Broncos 43–8, the largest margin of victory for an underdog and tied with Super Bowl XXVII (1993) for the third largest point differential overall (35) in Super Bowl history. It was the first time the winning team scored over 40 points while holding their opponent to under 10. This became the first Super Bowl victory for the Seahawks and the fifth Super Bowl loss for the Broncos, at the time a league record for the most of any team. The game was played on February 2, 2014, at MetLife Stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the first Super Bowl played outdoors in a cold-weather city and the first Super Bowl to be played on February 2.
Blue is the official mascot of the Indianapolis Colts professional American football team of the National Football League. He is an anthropomorphic blue horse who wears a white Colts jersey with a horseshoe on the front. He was first introduced on September 17, 2006, in the Colts' first home regular season game against the Houston Texans at the RCA Dome, in which they won 43–24. Indianapolis would go on to win Super Bowl XLI at the end of Blue's first season, defeating the Chicago Bears and winning their first Super Bowl since arriving in Indianapolis.
The history of the Denver Broncos American football club began when the team was chartered a member of the American Football League in 1960. The Broncos have played in the city of Denver, Colorado throughout their entire history. The Broncos did not win any titles as members of the AFL. Since the 1970 AFL–NFL merger, the Broncos have won 15 division titles, and played in eight Super Bowls, following the 1977, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1997, 1998, 2013, and 2015 seasons. They won Super Bowl XXXII, Super Bowl XXXIII and Super Bowl 50. Their most famous player is former quarterback John Elway, starting quarterback in five Super Bowls and holder of many NFL records. The Broncos currently play in the National Football League's AFC West division.
Michael David Young is a former professional American football player. He was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons, playing for the Los Angeles Rams, the Denver Broncos, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Kansas City Chiefs. Michael Young’s career in professional sports has spanned over 33 years as he is one of the very few NFL players to occupy senior level executive positions for multiple professional sports franchises.
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. The team was stripped of their third-round pick in the 2002 draft, and received an initial fine of $968,000.
Kelly James Burnham, known professionally as Alan Roach, is an American sports announcer and radio personality. He currently is the public address announcer for the Minnesota Vikings, Colorado Avalanche, and Colorado Rapids. Roach is also the official public address announcer of the Super Bowl, the voice of NFL events worldwide, and a public address announcer at 5 Olympic Games. He is one of the current voices of the underground train system in Denver International Airport. His announcing credits include 13 Super Bowls, 5 Olympic gold medal hockey games, and multiple All-Star games for the National Football League, National Hockey League, and Major League Baseball. He also serves as the announcer in EA Sports' since Madden NFL 21, as well as the FIFA series.
National Football League Properties, also known as NFL Properties, is the merchandising and licensing arm of the National Football League (NFL). The subsidiary of the league was founded in 1963 to maintain control of the brands of the league and its franchises and to license and negotiate with vendors to create official NFL merchandise. The NFL Properties head office is located in New York City.
Thunder is the stage name for the horse who is the official live animal mascot for the Denver Broncos football team. Thunder shares mascot duties with Miles, a human who wears a horse head mask atop a Broncos uniform.
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