Twenty-one thousand fans gathered at Boston University’s Nickerson Field in 1960 to watch the New England Patriots play the Denver Broncos. There was no televised broadcast. No tweeting. No Internet. Just Friday night football. According to The New York Times, tickets were $5. Receipts went to the bank in a shoebox.
On Sunday, 54 years later, the two teams went head-to-head, for the 15th time, in a lengthy rivalry, only this time in front of an estimated 50 million viewers and in the Mile High city’s state-of-the-art stadium, covered by every form of media under the blazing Colorado sun.
And with the 26-16 win over the Patriots in the AFC championship game, the Broncos are headed to the Super Bowl to play the Seattle Seahawks, who beat the San Francisco 49ers 23-17 later in the day in the NFC title game. At least two Durangoans will be in New Jersey to watch.
At Bent Urban Sports Bar, Broncos fans filled every seat while the room’s 10 flat-screen TVs were showing the game.
“Having us go to the AFC game is a dream in and of itself,” bar owner and Broncos fan Amber Pedigo said during the third quarter with the Broncos looking to be Super Bowl bound.
The bartenders were whipping up blue-and-orange shooters for patrons attired in blue and orange themselves.
Sitting at the bar, Tiffany Phillips was so sure her beloved Broncos would win the game, she bought tickets to the Super Bowl, which is in two weeks.
“It was on our bucket list,” she said for her and husband, Craig. “I just knew. We already bought them, and now I’m going to get to see Manning play in the Super Bowl.”
Downtown, outside a packed Derailed Pour House, Michael Mullins wasn’t so cheerful. As a Patriots fan in Broncos country, he called it a tough day.
“I haven’t been able to sleep,” he said. “I’m in there,” he said, motioning to the sea of blue and orange inside the pub as echoes of sports announcers drifted out onto Main Avenue. “It’s not easy being me today.”
At Cuckoo’s Chicken House & Waterin’ Hole, another Patriot fan and New England native, Jim Riley, was tending bar, serving drinks to a band in Denver jerseys.
“These guys are getting hosed a little bit,” Riley said about thirsty Bronco maniacs.
Riley, who has been in Durango just 12 weeks, said he was hoping for one more win in the big game. “I just need one more Super Bowl victory to fulfill the legacy for Brady and Belichick,” he said.
At a table in Cuckoo’s, Kylene Jones of Bayfield was decked out head to toe – and fingernails – in Broncos shades, her team jersey read “Manning” across the back.
“I bleed blue and orange,” she said. “This is my life.”
Jones, a die-hard Broncos fan since Aug. 5, 1983, called it her passion.
“Since the very first game that John Elway ever played in Mile High Stadium, that was the day I became a Broncos fan,” she said. “And I live and breathe Broncos, and I have raised my child, at least this one, to be the same.”
Her daughter, Tabitha Nickerson, also dressed in blue and orange, said she felt sorry for her siblings when mom is charged with team spirit.
“They’re glad we’re not home right now,” she said. “So they can keep their hearing. My mom cheers a lot.”
Jones said Manning signed with Denver on her daughter’s 21st birthday, calling it the greatest birthday present ever.
“I just can’t believe he’s with us now, and I love him so much,” she said. “He and John have brought us out of the dark years.”
Back at Bent Urban, longtime supporter Lon Fernandez called Durango good Broncos territory.
“It’s a good vibe here,” he said. “It’d be nice to see Colorado get that Super Bowl ring back.”
At El Rancho, some fans used billiard tables as bleachers as the clock closed in on the Patriots. A few whistles and hoots grew into a deafening roar in the final seconds of the game. Then Broncos fans cheered, high-fived, hugged and raised a glass.
Charles Rand got up on a pool table and danced.
“It’s about redemption,” he said. “It’s about love. We got a ring coming. Just one more game. One more game.”
bmathis@durangoherald.com
