All-time Broncos team: Heavy hitters and Hall of Famers star on 25-man squad (2025)

In early July, the Broncos announced their all-time top 100 team, a list voted upon by some 5,000 fans and a pair of team historians in commemoration of the NFL’s 100th season. The top 100 is the team’s third distinguished set of players, along with the Ring of Fame established in 1984, and the 50th Anniversary Team that was unveiled in 2009.

The Athletic Denver is adding one of our own groups to the conversation.

This week, every beat writer has chosen an all-time starting lineup for the respective teams they cover — Avs, Nuggets and Rockies — so here goes it: An all-time Broncos team chosen by yours truly.

There are some no-brainers here, some pretty obvious candidates, some Hall of Famers, some should-be Hall of Famers, many Ring of Famers and then some close calls, despite days of mulling and researching.

Someone somewhere is gonna be mad. That much I’ve accepted.

Some notes before reviewing: I went with a 3-4 defense after originally planning to go with a 4-3, mainly because Elvis Dumervil was more an edge rusher. The lines were chosen based on general positions, not the side on which they played. So, yes, technically, my offensive line is comprised of a center and four guys who all played on the left when they were with the Broncos. And the “also notables” are not necessarily players I thought were worthy of selection to the all-time team, but ones deserving of recognition. Liken them to second- or third-team players.

Now, onto the 25-man all-time Broncos team:

Quarterback: John Elway

Also notable: Peyton Manning, Jake Plummer

There can’t be any debate over this one. John Elway is the Denver Broncos. Still.

In his 16 years with the team as a quarterback, he generated 4,771 of its 5,806 points (82.2 percent) and remains far and away its all-time leader in regular-season total offense (54,882 yards), career passing yards (51,475), career completions (4,123) and touchdown passes (300). The back-to-back Super Bowl winner was also was voted to a franchise-record nine Pro Bowls; named the NFL’s MVP in 1987; led the league in fourth-quarter, game-winning or game-saving drives (47); recorded 36 300-yard regular-season games, and retired as the all-time winningest starting quarterback in NFL history with a career mark of 148-82-1 (.643).

Elway was inducted into the Broncos’ Ring of Fame in 1999, becoming the first and only player to have the customary five-year wait waived. In 2004, he became the franchise’s first Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee.

Sixteen years after he was selected No. 1 overall in the 1983 draft, Elway’s No. 7 jersey was retired by the Broncos and is still one of only three to hang from the stadium.

Running backs: Terrell Davis, Floyd Little

Also notable: Otis Armstrong, Clinton Portis

Terrell Davis’ career was cut short at eight years because of a knee injury, but he squeezed as much out of that span as any back could. The former sixth-round pick out of Georgia famously earned a roster spot in 1995 with a special teams tackle in preseason that Gary Kubiak would later show to rookies during training camp as an example of how to make the team. Davis went on to become the Broncos’ all-time leader in rushing yards (7,607 yards), rushing touchdowns (60), rushing attempts (1,655) and 100-yard rushing games (41).

The Pro Football Hall of Famer and Ring of Famer ran for at least 1,000 yards in each of his first four seasons, including 1998, when he totaled a franchise-record 2,008 rushing yards (fourth-most in a season in NFL history). That year, Davis earned league MVP honors, set another team record with 21 rushing touchdowns and helped the Broncos to their second consecutive Super Bowl victory.

In the postseason, Davis’ played his finest, totaling at least 100 rushing yards in seven of his eight career playoff appearances, including his MVP performance in Super Bowl XXXII against Green Bay. Davis played through migraines to amass 157 rushing yards and three touchdowns in the victory. Davis’ career rushing average, including the postseason, was 101.7 per game, second-most in NFL history behind Jim Brown.

Little, the third Bronco inducted into the Hall of Fame (2010), was a part of the inaugural class of Ring of Famers in 1984. “The Franchise,” as he was known, spent his entire career with the franchise (1967-75) and ended it atop the team’s record books in carries (1,641), rushing yards (6,323) and rushing touchdowns (43), and now sits second in all three categories behind Davis. He also held the team records of 12,173 all-purpose yards and 2,523 kickoff return yards, but now sits second in both categories as well. One record that is still his: the longest streak as the team’s leading rusher. Little led the way for the Broncos seven seasons, from 1967-73.

His No. 44 is one of the three retired jerseys, along with Elway’s No. 7 and Frank Tripucka’s/Peyton Manning’s No. 18.

Wide receivers: Rod Smith, Demaryius Thomas

Also notable: Lionel Taylor, Ed McCaffrey, Vance Johnson, Haven Moses, Brandon Marshall, Emmanuel Sanders

Although some have come close, no player in Broncos history had the unlikely undrafted-to-Pro Bowler rise of Rod Smith. Despite setting numerous records as a receiver at Division II Missouri Southern State, Smith went undrafted in 1994 and signed with Denver, where he spent a season on the practice squad before he became a favored target of Elway and, eventually, the team’s all-time leading receiver. His first catch as a Bronco was a 43-yard, game-winning touchdown over the Redskins in 1995. By his third season on the active roster, he was a full-time starter, taking over for Anthony Miller. Smith’s career (1994-2007) with the Broncos include a laundry list of accomplishments and honors that are simply astounding:

He was the first undrafted player to reach 10,000 receiving yards, and his 11,389 career receiving yards still ranks second among undrafted players in league history. His receiving yards total, plus his 849 career receptions and 68 touchdown catches are all franchise records still. Smith, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, also set a Broncos record of 124 consecutive games with at least one catch (1999-2006), totaled at least 70 catches for nine consecutive seasons (1997-2005), and holds a team-record eight seasons (including six straight from 1997-2002) with at least 1,000 receiving yards.

The Broncos drafted Demaryius Thomas three years after Smith retired and, after a string of injuries to start his career, Thomas climbed the ranks to sit behind Smith in many major receiving categories in Broncos history including career receiving yards (9,055) and touchdown catches (60). Thomas also has the most single-season receiving yards (1,619 in 2014) and single-game receiving yards (226 vs. Arizona in 2014) in Broncos history.

It’s arguable that Thomas may have been one of the most under-appreciated stars by the Broncos’ fan base, who often criticized him for dropped passes. But his production, especially in his prime, cannot be denied. Nor can his “ironman” streak with myriad injuries. From Week 7 in 2011 through his final game as a Bronco in October 2018, Thomas played 125 consecutive games (including the postseason). He started 114 consecutive games within that span, fittingly starting with 2011 AFC wild-card game against Pittsburgh, when Tim Tebow found him for an 80-yard, game-winning touchdown in overtime.

Thomas is now battling for a roster spot in New England after recovering from an Achilles injury he suffered in his brief stint in Houston. But in years to come, his name will be added to the Ring of Fame too, if not more.

“As I told him, he’ll always be a Bronco,” Elway said, moments after trading Thomas last year. “It ends his career here, but not his career in the NFL. … Eventually, the Broncos will be reunited with Demaryius.”

Tight end: Shannon Sharpe

Also notable: Riley Odoms

In his 12 seasons for the Broncos in separate stints (1990-99 and 2002-03), Sharpe became the franchise’s all-time leader in nearly every receiving category by a tight end, including receptions (675), receiving yards (8,439), receiving touchdowns (55), Pro Bowl selections (seven) — more than enough to validate his spot on this all-time team.

Including his two years with the Ravens, Sharpe totaled 815 catches, 10,060 receiving yards, 62 touchdowns, eight Pro Bowls and three Super Bowl victories in his career.

Despite a close call in 2018, when the Broncos’ defense came unglued and allowed 210 yards to 49ers tight end George Kittle, Sharpe’s 214 yards against the Chiefs in 2002 still stands as the most ever in a game by a tight end. Sharpe is still the only tight end in Broncos history to record at least 1,000 receiving yards in a season (and he did it three times, in 1994 and 1996-97), and the only one to have as many as 17 100-yard games with the team.

A seventh-round pick (No. 192) in the 1990 draft out of Savannah State, Sharpe helped the Broncos to their first two Super Bowl titles before he won a third with the Ravens. He was the fourth Bronco to be inducted into the Hall of Fame (2011) and is the only tight end in the Broncos Ring of Fame (2009).

Offensive line: Gary Zimmerman, Ryan Clady, Tom Nalen, Mark Schlereth, Keith Bishop

Zimmerman played five seasons (1993-97) on Denver’s offensive line after a trade from Minnesota and started all 76 games played with the franchise. He helped the Broncos lead the lead the league twice in total yards (1996-97) and rank among its top five in rushing yards for three consecutive seasons (1995-97), including a No. 1 ranking in 1996. A three-time Pro Bowler as a Bronco (seven in his career), Zimmerman was the first offensive lineman inducted into the Ring of Fame and is among a limited group of players named to two NFL All-Decade teams (1980s and ‘90s).

Clady, the Broncos’ 12th overall pick in 2008, was a force from Day 1, starting every game his rookie season in 2008, giving up only a half a sack and committing only three penalties. Clady was selected to four Pro Bowls and voted first-team All-Pro twice in his eight years with the Broncos. But his career was riddled with injuries that sidelined him for two Super Bowls (XLVIII and 50) and eventually led to his trade to the Jets in 2016.

Nalen, a seventh-round draft pick (No. 218) in 1994, was yet another late-round pick that exceeded expectations for the Broncos. He played 14 seasons for the Broncos, starting 188 games that rank as the second-most in team history behind Elway. The 11 single-season 1,000-yard rushers (achieved by six different backs) and the 93 single-game 100-yard rushers (12 different backs) he blocked for from 1995-2007 are the most by an NFL team in that span. The Broncos’ 395 sacks allowed in those years were also the third-fewest in the league.

Nalen was selected to five Pro Bowls, the most ever by a Broncos offensive lineman; voted All-Pro three times, and helped the Broncos to their first two Super Bowl wins.

Schlereth, or “Stink” as many know him, was drafted by the Redskins in the 10th round of the 1989 draft out of Idaho. After playing six seasons at right guard in Washington, he signed with the Broncos and spent his final six seasons at left guard. In Denver, he was a part of the line that helped Davis reach 2,008 rushing yards in 1998 and the franchise win back-to-back Super Bowl titles (he won a third with the Redskins). As notable as his play were his myriad surgeries — an estimated 29 — that ultimately led him to retirement in 2001. He has since been a staple in local and national media.

Bishop, one of the most unheralded Bronco greats, played 10 seasons at guard for the Broncos after they drafted him in the sixth round of the 1980 draft. Bishop picked up a pair of Pro Bowl selections in his career but is perhaps best known for one of the greatest lines in Broncos history, uttered late in the AFC Championship Game against the Browns in 1987. With the Broncos trailing by a touchdown and fewer than six minutes remaining on the clock, the Broncos awaited their historic march upfield when Bishop said: “We have them right where we want them.” And thus began “The Drive.”

Shortly after retiring, Bishop embarked on a 20-year career as a DEA agent and was named one America’s top police officers by Parade magazine. He rejoined the Broncos in 2012 as their Vice President of Security, again assuming the role of Elway’s protector.

Defensive line: Rubin Carter, Trevor Pryce, Rich Jackson

A part of Joe Collier’s “Orange Crush” defense, Carter (not that Rubin Carter) played 12 seasons in Denver (1975-86) and was named to the franchise’s 50th Anniversary Team and their recent top 100 list. Carter started his career at defensive tackle, but moved inside to nose tackle, becoming the prototype for the position in Collier’s 3-4 scheme and guiding the Broncos’ to their first Super Bowl in 1978. Carter retired after the 1986 season because of injuries but parlayed his playing career into one as a coach, starting out as an assistant on Dan Reeves’ staff.

Defensive tackle Trevor Pryce was a first-round pick by the Broncos in 1997 and played nine years in Denver before signing with Baltimore as a free agent. His 64 career sacks and 12 multisack games as a Bronco both rank seventh in team history. Pryce was a part of the Broncos’ back-to-back Super Bowl-winning teams in the late 1990s and was voted to four Pro Bowls.

Defensive end Rich “Tombstone” Jackson, a member of the first Ring of Fame class in 1984, played six seasons with the Broncos (1967-72), earning a pair of Pro Bowl selections and becoming the first player in franchise history to be named to the All-NFL first team in 1970.

Although sacks didn’t become an official statistic in the NFL until 1982, Jackson’s unofficial 43 career quarterback takedowns were the most in franchise history when he retired.

I toyed with having four linemen on my all-time team, but Elvis Dumervil forced a change. His career was too good to leave off, so he joins Von Miller as my top edge rushers.

Edge rushers: Von Miller, Elvis Dumervil

Also notable: DeMarcus Ware

Super Bowl 50 MVP, all-time Broncos sack leader (98.5), seven-time Pro Bowl selection, three-time first-team All-Pro honoree, No. 3 in NFL history in sacks per game (0.82), the fifth-fastest player to reach 100 overall sacks (121 games, including postseason), the most seasons (seven) with double-digit sack totals in Broncos history, the league’s leader in sacks and forced fumbles (25) since 2011, the NFL defensive rookie of the year in 2011, twice the runner-up for NFL defensive player of the year (2002, 15) — you get the idea.

Miller is a future Hall of Famer and Ring of Famer, and undoubtedly the finest pass rusher to come through Denver. And Denver has seen plenty of great pass rushers. The scariest part: He’s still playing like a player in his prime and has his sights set on Bruce Smith’s 200-sack record.

“Having 98 sacks going into Year 9, it’s a good place to be,” Miller said in April. “It’s just one of my lofty goals that I have for my career. The goal this year is just to hit that 20-sack mark. If I can get that, it’ll put me way ahead of the pace.”

Dumervil, a fourth-round pick by the Broncos in 2006, was the shortest DE/LB the Broncos have ever had at 5-foot-11, but also one of the most productive. He and Miller, known as “Doom and Gloom,” combined for 29.5 sacks in 2012 (18.5 by Miller), the most by a Broncos pass-rushing duo in team history. Dumervil’s 63.5 career sacks with the Broncos is eighth in team history, while his 17-sack season in 2009 ranks second behind Miller’s 18.5 in 2012. Dumervil also had 20 multisack games as a Bronco, tying Simon Fletcher for second-most behind Miller’s 22.

A three-time Pro Bowler and first-team All-Pro in his seven years with the Broncos, Dumervil’s time in Denver was infamously cut short by a fax-machine gaffe that forced the team to release him in 2013. He went on to play four seasons with the Ravens and another with the 49ers before calling it a career in 2018. A spot in the Ring of Fame is all but guaranteed for Dumervil.

Linebackers: Randy Gradishar, Karl Mecklenburg

Also notable: Simon Fletcher, Al Wilson, Tom Jackson, Bill Romanowski

Gradishar was selected in the first round (14th overall) in 1974 out of Ohio State and quickly lived up to his draft status — and more. In his 10-season career, he set a franchise record with 2,049 career tackles, to go with 19.5 sacks and 33 takeaways and four defensive touchdowns (three interceptions and one fumble returned for touchdowns). For nine consecutive seasons (1975-83), he led the team in tackles and recorded more than 200 in six of those seasons. No other player in Broncos history has come close to topping 200 a season even once. Granted, NFL teams’ stat-keeping for tackles has long been unscientific and spotty. But Gradishar’s 286 tackles in 1978 is likely one of the safest records in franchise history.

Gradishar never missed a game (145 played) in his career and was selected to seven Pro Bowls and named defensive player of the year in 1978. The lone Ring of Fame inductee in 1989, Gradishar was also a Hall of Fame finalist twice and a semifinalist four times.

Mecklenburg went from being the 310th pick in the 1983 draft — 12th round! — to one of the Broncos’ finest defensive players history. After starting his career at defensive end, he moved to linebacker in 1984 and became a starter the next season. Over the course of his 12-year career in Denver, he amassed 1,145 tackles, 79 sacks, six Pro Bowl selections, six seasons of at least 100 tackles, 11 multiple-sack games and a record as the only Broncos player in history to have four sacks in a game twice.

Both Mecklenburg and Gradishar were denied election to the Hall of Fame as modern-era players, but with a 2020 class that could feature up to 10 senior inductees, the two could (and probably should) be among the top candidates.

Cornerbacks: Champ Bailey, Louis Wright

Also notable: Chris Harris Jr., Aqib Talib, Ray Crockett

“There are a few guys in the league over the years I believe that are really the word ‘shutdown.’ Champ was that guy,” Steve Smith Sr. has said. “Champ was that guy who would really eliminate you from the game.”

As part of the most surprising trades in NFL history, Bailey arrived in Denver in 2004 after five seasons in Washington, where he was a first-round pick out of Georgia. Bailey spent 10 seasons with the Broncos, and led the team in interceptions for five of those, including 2006, when he recorded the second-highest single-season total (10) in Broncos history. Bailey’s 52 career interceptions were the most among cornerbacks in his 15 years in the NFL, while his 12 Pro Bowl selections (eight as a Bronco) were tied for the third-most in history among defensive players.

Bailey became the first Broncos defensive player inducted into the Hall of Fame this year (first-ballot, no less) and will be only the second cornerback in the Ring of Fame when he is inducted in October.

The first? Louis Wright.

Before there was Champ or Deion or Green, there was Wright, a former first-round pick who spent his entire 12-season career (1975-86) with the Broncos.

“They use a term today of shutdown cornerback,” Joe Collier, the Broncos’ former defensive coordinator and architect of the famed Orange Crush, once told The Denver Post. “We didn’t have that term back then, but Louie Wright was a shutdown cornerback. He was a great run defender. He played the left side and in those days most teams were right-handed and their running plays usually went to our left side.”

A five-time Pro Bowler, Wright was instrumental in helping the franchise to their first Super Bowl appearance (XII) in 1977, then its second (XXI) in 1986 and a total of six playoff berths during his tenure. In 166 games (163 starts), Wright totaled 26 interceptions that were returned for 360 yards and one touchdown, three sacks, 11 fumble recoveries and two that were returned for touchdowns. The 1983 season was Wright’s finest, as he recorded a career-high six interceptions. A decade later, he became the first cornerback inducted into the Broncos’ Ring of Fame.

Safeties: Steve Atwater, Dennis Smith

Also notable: “Goose” Gonsoulin, Tyrone Braxton, Billy Thompson, John Lynch

Nicknamed the Smiling Assassin, Atwater’s play belied his character. Still regarded as one of — if not the — hardest-hitting safety to play the game, Atwater spent 10 years with the Broncos and was selected to eight Pro Bowls, tied with Bailey for the second-most in franchise history. A first-round pick (No. 20 overall) out of Arkansas, Atwater was an all-rookie selection in 1989 and key the Broncos’ two Super Bowl-winning teams from 1997-98.

He led the Broncos in tackles in 1993 and ’95, and finished his time in Denver with 24 interceptions (ninth in team history) and 408 interception return yards (eighth).

His most famous play, however, was a bruising hit on Kansas City’s outsized running back Christian Okoye on “Monday Night Football” in 1990.

“I could hardly ever forget that one. But leading up to that week of practice, Dennis Smith and I were talking and he was like, ‘Hey man, one of us, we have to hit him,’” Atwater said in a Q&A for The Denver Post. “‘We can’t go low on him.’ And you know me, I’m like, ‘Yeah, yeah OK. I got you.’ And the opportunity — the hole opened and, hey, you’re up. I just went in and fortunately, it went the way that it went because it could have just as easily gone the other way.”

In Super Bowl XXXII, Atwater turned in another memorable performance with six tackles, one sack, a forced fumble and two pass breakups.

Atwater was inducted into the Ring of Fame in 2005 and has twice been a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, making it as far as the final 10 candidates in 2019.

Seven years after his retirement from the NFL, Atwater returned to the Broncos in 2017 as a fan development manager and unofficial mentor to many current players.

Atwater’s mentor as a rookie was also his partner in crime.

“I looked up to a lot of the guys when I played,” he said. “Dennis Smith was in his ninth year when I came in and he just took me under his wing. Coming in an environment where I had a bunch of older guys on the team, you don’t see that as much anymore, but I got a chance to learn from those guys.”

Also a tenacious hitter, Smith played 14 years for the Broncos and established a reputation as one of the most feared and fearless safeties in the league. Voted to six Pro Bowls and a part of seven playoff teams, five division champs and three Super Bowl teams, the former first-round pick totaled 30 interceptions and 431 interception return yards in his career, along with 1,171 tackles, 15 sacks and 17 fumble recoveries.

Kicker: Jason Elam

Also notable: Jim Turner, Matt Prater

Matt Prater is the most accurate kicker in Broncos history (82.9 field-goal percentage), but Jason Elam (80.6 percent) sits a close second and was the most prolific kicker in team, as their all-time leader in field goals (395) and points (1,786) — both of which are the second-highest totals in NFL history for a single team.

Elam finished his 15 seasons with the Broncos with 37 50-yard field goals, and his 63-yard field goal against Jacksonville in 1998 stood as the franchise’s longest in history until Prater booted his 64-yarder in 2013.

But one of the most incredible statistics is Elam’s scoring streak. He scored in all 236 games he was a Bronco, a run that was the second-longest in the NFL when he retired.

Elam, a three-time Pro Bowler, was inducted into the Broncos’ Ring of Fame in 2016 as only the second kicker, alongside Turner.

Punter: Tom Rouen

Also notable: Britton Colquitt, Bill Van Heusen

Rouen is part of the small class of Broncos to play football at every level in Colorado, starting at Heritage High in Littleton, continuing at Colorado State before he transferred to Colorado, and then onto the Broncos after brief stints with the Giants and Rams.

Rouen signed with the Broncos in 1993 and played eight seasons, appearing in every game and helping them to their first two Super Bowl titles. His 641 career punts are tops in Broncos history and his 43.9 gross average per punt ranks sixth.

Returner: Rick Upchurch

Also notable: Billy Thompson, Darrien Gordon, Vaughn Hebron

Receiver/returner Rick Upchurch holds the Broncos’ records for most career punt returns (248), punt return yards (3,008) and punts returned for touchdowns (eight), to go with his 95 career kickoff returns (fifth-most) for 2,355 yards (third) in his nine-year career with the Broncos. He was named to the 1980s NFL all-decade second-team as a kick returner and inducted into the Ring of Fame in 2014.

(Top photo of John Elway after the Broncos won Super Bowl XXXIII over Atlanta: Allen Kee / Getty Images)