1970 Denver Broncos season

The 1970 Denver Broncos season was the team's 11th season in professional football and first in the National Football League (NFL) after the merger. Led by fourth-year head coach and general manager Lou Saban, the Broncos posted a record of five wins, eight losses, and one tie, the same as the previous season, and were last in the new four-team AFC West division.

1970 Denver Broncos season
OwnerGerald Phipps
General managerLou Saban
Head coachLou Saban
Home fieldMile High Stadium
Results
Record5–8–1
Division place4th AFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify

Denver won four of its first five games,[1] but then had only one win and one tie in the final nine games. Running back Floyd Little became the first player to lead his conference in rushing for a last place team.[2]

Offseason

NFL draft
Main article: 1970 NFL draft
1970 Denver Broncos draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 11 Bobby Anderson  RB Colorado
2 37 Alden Roche  DE Southern
3 63 John Kohler  OT South Dakota
4 89 Jerry Hendren  WR Idaho
5 115 Bill McKoy  LB Purdue
6 141 John Mosier  TE Kansas
7 167 Randy Montgomery  CB Weber State
8 208 Louis Porter  RB Southern
9 219 Dave Washington *  LB Alcorn State
10 245 Maurice Fullerton  DT Tuskegee
11 271 Cleve Bryant  QB Ohio
12 297 Greg Jones  RB Wisconsin-Whitewater
13 323 Jim McKoy  DB Parsons
14 349 Jeff Slipp  LB BYU
15 375 Maher Barakat  K South Dakota Tech
16 401 Bob Stewart  QB Northern Arizona
17 427 Frank Kalfoss  K Montana State
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff
1970 Denver Broncos staff

Front office

  • Chairman of the Board – Gerald Phipps
  • President – Allan Phipps
  • Director of Player Personnel – Fred Gehrke
  • Director of Scouting – Carroll Hardy

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

  • Offensive Backfield – Hunter Enis
  • Receivers – Sam Rutigliano
  • Offensive Line – Whitey Dovell
 Defensive coaches



Roster
1970 Denver Broncos roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

  • 88 Al Denson
  • 89 John Embree
  • 84 Mike Haffner
  • 86 Jerry Hendren

Tight ends

  • 81 Billy Masters
  • 83 Jim Whalen
 Offensive linemen
  • 68 Steve Alexakos G
  • 56 Jay Bachman C
  • 72 Sam Brunelli T
  • 74 Mike Current T
  • 67 George Goeddeke G
  • 59 Larry Kaminski C
  • 64 Mike Schnitker G
  • 60 Bob Young G

Defensive linemen

  • 73 Walt Barnes DT
  • 63 Dave Costa DT
  • 55 Pete Duranko DE
  • 62 Jerry Inman DT
  • 87 Rich Jackson DE
  • 77 Alden Roche DE
  • 70 Paul Smith DT
 Linebackers
  • 78 Ken Criter
  • 50 Carl Cunningham
  • 52 Fred Forsberg
  • 58 Bill McKoy
  • 54 Chip Myrtle
  • 56 Dave Washington

Defensive backs

  • 24 Booker Edgerson CB
  • 23 Drake Garrett CB
  • 28 Cornell Gordon
  • 20 Charlie Greer SS
  • 43 Pete Jaquess S
  • 47 Paul Martha FS
  • 26 George Saimes S
  • 36 Bill Thompson CB

Special teams

  • 3 Bobby Howfield K
  • 42 Billy Van Heusen P/WR
 Reserve lists
  • 21 Randy Montgomery DB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)


Practice squad

  • 85 John Mosier TE


Rookies in italics

Source:

Regular season
Main article: 1970 NFL season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 20 at Buffalo Bills W 25–10 1–0 War Memorial Stadium 34,882 Recap
2 September 27 Pittsburgh Steelers W 16–13 2–0 Mile High Stadium 50,705 Recap
3 October 4 Kansas City Chiefs W 26–13 3–0 Mile High Stadium 50,705 Recap
4 October 11 at Oakland Raiders L 23–35 3–1 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 54,436 Recap
5 October 18 Atlanta Falcons W 24–10 4–1 Mile High Stadium 50,705 Recap
6 October 25 at San Francisco 49ers L 14–19 4–2 Kezar Stadium 39,515 Recap
7 November 1 Washington Redskins L 3–19 4–3 Mile High Stadium 50,705 Recap
8 November 8 at San Diego Chargers L 21–24 4–4 San Diego Stadium 48,327 Recap
9 November 15 Oakland Raiders L 19–24 4–5 Mile High Stadium 50,959 Recap
10 November 22 at New Orleans Saints W 31–6 5–5 Tulane Stadium 66,837 Recap
11 November 29 at Houston Oilers L 21–31 5–6 Astrodome 35,733 Recap
12 December 6 at Kansas City Chiefs L 0–16 5–7 Municipal Stadium 50,454 Recap
13 December 13 San Diego Chargers T 17–17 5–7–1 Mile High Stadium 50,959 Recap
14 December 20 Cleveland Browns L 13–27 5–8–1 Mile High Stadium 51,001 Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings
AFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Oakland Raiders 8 4 2 .667 4–0–2 7–2–2 300 293 L1
Kansas City Chiefs 7 5 2 .583 2–3–1 7–3–1 272 244 L2
San Diego Chargers 5 6 3 .455 2–2–2 4–4–3 282 278 W1
Denver Broncos 5 8 1 .385 1–4–1 3–6–1 253 264 L1
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Awards and honors
  • Floyd Little, AFC Rushing champion

References
  1. "Broncs kick Falcons by 24 to 10". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. October 19, 1970. p. 29.
  2. Sports Illustrated, July 26, 2010, The Unexpected Hero by Gary Smith, p.60, Published by Time Inc.
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