Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Red Miller

Former head coach of the Denver Broncos; first to being the team to a Super Bowl -- via 9News. AKA Robert Miller. Oh, I remember him well. After the departure of long-time coach John Ralston, Miller came in and rapidly righted the team's fortunes. A perennial punching bag for the AFC/AFL teams, but Miller strung together a tenuous offense and married it to the Orange Crush, that superb collection of defensive players, guided by the great defensive coach Joe Collier, of the day.

Here are some names to conjure memories -- Craig Morton, Haven Moses, Rick Upchurch, Keyworth, Lytle. Otis Armstrong, Steve Foley, Louis Wright, Grdishar, Cahvous, Alzado. We beat the Raiders; we tore down the goalposts. The Cowboys kicked our ass in the Super Bowl, but Miller returned us to the playoffs the next two years, before he had an 8-8 season and was replaced by Dan Reeves. Miller stayed in Denver after he left the NFL; he was a nice guy, one of us. I liked him. He goes into the Broncos' Ring of Fame in a few weeks . . . a little late.