Remembering the Broncos’ First Super Bowl Victory

If you are a Denver Broncos fan over the age of 30, you probably will never forget the night John Elway finally raised the Vince Lombardi trophy.  After this year's team clinched their first trip to the Super Bowl in 15 seasons, I couldn't help but think back to that night, January 25, 1998.

It was the first time I had ever been drunk on the radio.  At the time, I was hosting the overnight shift (back when radio DJ's were actually LIVE in the studio) at a legendary rock station in Colorado Springs called KILO.  I tried to pace myself that day, but after an epic game and an amazing finish, I had no other choice.  I actually ripped my shirt off and joined a group of friends running through the streets.  We weren't alone.  The entire neighborhood was partying like there was no tomorrow.  I remembering giving high fives and sharing beers with total strangers who were just walking down the middle of the street.

Luckily, I stopped drinking about an hour before I was scheduled to be at work.  Much to my surprise, nobody noticed I was drunk.  Because they were all drunk.  And way drunker than me.  It seemed like everyone in the state of Colorado stayed up through the wee hours.  I must have taken a thousand phone calls that night.  Half of them wanted to hear "We Are the Champions" and the other half just wanted to scream and holler.  I heard several grown men cry.  None of them were going to work the next day.  It was the one time that you didn't need an excuse to call in sick on Monday morning.  The Broncos just won the Super Bowl.  Your boss wasn't going to work either.

It was one of the most memorable moments of my radio career.  I wish I could say it was the last time I was ever drunk on the air.  That would be a lie.  But it's a moment in time that I will always look back on fondly.  Hands down, the best graveyard shift ever.