Strike 1: The fanatical exuberance for the start of football practice for a team that hasn’t been any good for almost a decade remains a head scratcher.
Diehard fans of the Denver Broncos – long suffering fans now by today’s standards – don’t care that it’s 100 degrees outside, or that their heroes aren’t wearing pads, or that the team’s coach would rather they not be there at all. They’d move the Rocky Mountains just to get a glimpse of football players wearing predominantly orange, regardless of whether or not those players are just going through the motions.
It’s Broncos football, that’s all that matters.
This remains a wonderful thing for the Broncos franchise. Their fan base remains as devoted as it was during the last Super Bowl parade back in February of 2016. Things like tickets and merchandise sales don’t seem to be adversely impacted by seven straight losing seasons. Can’t beat that if you’re a business person.
But you have to believe at some point, eventually, Broncos Country will have had enough of losing, don’t you?
It’s not going to get a lot better any time soon. Expectations for the upcoming season are modest, at best. This is very clearly a rebuilding project now, and few outside of Dove Valley will argue with that assertion. Denver’s playoff drought is almost certain to reach nine straight seasons. The national pundits expect this year’s Broncos to be a last place team once again, and predictions of a four win season are common. Closer to home, most expect another six, seven or optimistically, an eight win campaign – which still equates to yet another losing season.
And what if the national folks are right, and the Broncos go 4-13 in Sean Payton’s second year after winning eight games a year ago? How will that regression in the win-loss column sit deep inside Broncos Country?
We’ve seen glimpses. There have been a few instances during this postseason drought when the orange and blue got drubbed in front of the home crowd and the stadium emptied out before the second half kickoff. Bronco fans have occasionally shown their displeasure with the on-field product, and there have been times when tickets – while technically sold out – were easy to come by.
When that type of thing becomes the rule rather than the exception, the franchise is in trouble.
So the question is, will Broncos Country’s patience and loyalty ever be rewarded?
It’s very possible for this year’s Broncos to win fewer games than last year’s squad and still have made forward progress in the rebuilding process. For instance, regardless of who starts the season at quarterback, there will be growing pains at the position. The schedule is daunting. The roster is thin at key spots. Payton and his staff have a lot of work to do, and they know it. But you have to start the rebuild sometime, and with what’s happened for most of the past decade, there’s no better sometime than now.
Broncos Country needs to be prepared for – and accepting of – a 4-13 record this season. It’s not about what happens this year that matters, it’s how everyone handles it.
