One thing that you may not know about me is that I am a huge NFL football fan. And specifically, I am a huge Denver Broncos football fan.
I've been watching football and following the Broncos since I was 9 years old. Every year when August and September roll around I get very excited for a new football season.
This 2024 Broncos season was especially fun. We finished 10-7 for our first winning record since the 2016 season when we went 9-7. The Broncos also made the playoffs for the first time since 2015, the year they won Super Bowl 50 and the last season with Peyton Manning as the team's quarterback.
This season was also special because my son started to get really into football too and we were able to share a lot of memories watching the games, talking about the games and, more importantly, going to some games together! I coach my son's flag football team and we had a great past 2 seasons, we made the playoffs each of the past 2 seasons and won a playoff game each of those seasons as well. It's been a lot of fun! I think that might have sparked his love for the game.
I wanted to share a little about the games my son and I went to and a short recap of the Denver Broncos season.
The NFL season starts in July with training camp and then come August the teams start playing games known as Preseason games. These games don't count towards teams' records and chance to make the playoffs, but they are still important and fun games. Preseason games are a chance to see some of the younger, newer players play as they fight for a chance to make the team.
The first game of the season that my son and I went to was the second Preseason game, although it was the first game home, vs. the Green Bay Packers. It was my son's first ever Broncos games which made it especially exciting and memorable. This was also my first Broncos game in 8 years, so I was pretty excited.
Most people don't care much for the Preseason games because a lot of the teams' starters and stars typically don't play. And if they do play they don't play very much. And, the Preseason games don't count as far as a team's record or getting into the playoffs.
But I actually like the Preseason games because of the chance to see the new roster and a lot of the new players, like rookies right out of college or new players signed as free agents during the offseason.
This game did not disappoint! My son had a blast, and so did I! And the Broncos won so that's always nice, even if it is a Preseason game.
. 
After the Preseason, the regular season started and the Broncos actually did pretty well throughout the season eventually being 8-5 leading into a pretty important regular season game against the 6-8 Colts.
We had some pretty tough losses along the way, mainly the Chiefs game where we were in a position to kick a game-winning last-second field goal but the kick was unfortunately blocked and we lost the game. Devastating.
My son's birthday was right around the Broncos-Colts game and my wife and I thought it would be cool for him to choose a friend to go to a game with him and then we'd take him, his friend and his friend's dad to the game for his birthday. It just worked out great because the Broncos game against the Colts was the most important late season game we'd had in a while (we were playing for a playoff spot and the Colts needed to win just to stay alive in the playoff race so both teams had a lot to play for) so it was an awesome game to go to for his birthday.
We went to the Broncos-Colts game and man did it not disappoint either!
One thing my son and I love to do is to get the game really early, when the stadium gates open, which is typically about 90 minutes before kickoff. Because when you get there early you can watch the players warm-up and practice. It's honestly a really relaxing time just being in a stadium, admiring the beauty of the field and the atmosphere and watching the players on the field. So we got to the stadium early and had a chance to watch the Broncos players get ready for the game.
The game started bad. The Broncos were turning the ball over a lot and found themselves down heading into the 4th quarter. But once the 4th quarter came the game turned around. The Broncos eventually won by a score of 33-13, improving to 9-5 and getting one step closer to a playoff birth 😀.
I felt so fortunate to be able to celebrate such an amazing game and season so far with my son.
. 
After the Broncos-Colts game, we didn't plan on going to any other games.
And the Broncos had a tough stretch of games leading into the end of the season.
After the Colts game the Broncos were 9-5. If they won one more game, with only 3 games to go in the season, they would lock up a playoff spot. But they ended up losing the next 2 games and sat at 9-7 heading into the final game of the season. They were faced with a "win and get in" situation, meaning if they won their last game of the year they would make the playoffs. And the last game of the year was against none other than the Kansas City Chiefs, at home in Denver. Not a bad way to end the year!
But like I said, I didn't plan on going to that final Bronco game. My plan was to watch it at home with some green chili in the crock pot. But my wife surprised me and my son with tickets to the final game of the year!
My son and I were so stoked!
At the game, the Broncos were wearing their orange crush throwback uniforms. These are the uniforms that they wore from the 1970s to the late 1990s. I absolutely love those uniforms. My son and I wanted to match so both wore our orange crush style Terrell Davis jerseys to the game!
At the game...it was freezing!
It was humid in the air that day and about 20 degrees. We dressed as warm as I thought we would need to but it was still pretty cold. But we didn't mind too much because the game was incredible.
The Broncos came out and took care of business from the first play. They knew what was at stake; a playoff birth for the first time since 2015. The Broncos ended up winning the game and beating the Chiefs 38-0. Not too bad. 😀
It felt really cool to be at the game to see the team achieve something that we hadn't done in 9 years. And my son and I got to make another memory together doing what we love. Watching and cheering on the Denver Broncos.
. 
. 
The Broncos made the playoffs and played the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the playoffs, the Wild Card Round. We were ranked #7, the lowest ranked team to make the playoffs in the AFC, and the Bills were #2. The Broncos had to travel to Buffalo for that game and ended up getting beat pretty badly by a score of 31-7. And with that loss the season was over.
Not the most ideal way to perform in the playoffs and end the season but all in all it was an unbelievable season.
I was blessed to be able to watch the team I love and spend a lot of quality time with my son making some memories that we will never forget.
I can NOT wait for next season.
Go Broncos!