Colorado is a relatively small state when compared to the athletic juggernauts of California, Florida, and Texas. But this is the home of the U.S. Olympic training facility.
The first American woman to win four gold medals in a single Olympics, Amy Van Dyken, is from Englewood. Byron Whizzer White, the only former NFL rushing leader to later become an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, was born in Fort Collins.
Colorado has a long list of illustrious sports figures who call the state home. And when it comes to iconic moments in sports history, it easily holds its own.
10. The UFC Begins
On Nov. 12, 1993, in front of 7,000 fans at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, a brand new event called “The Ultimate Fighting Championship” took place. The purpose of the event was to find out which martial arts style was the most effective and to see what would happen when a boxer fought a wrestler.
There were very few rules for that first event. No weight classes. And one of the fighters, cruiserweight boxer Art Jimmerson, competed wearing just one boxing glove.
Everyone was dressed to match their chosen discipline, so the fights featured one competitor in a jiu-jitsu gi against someone else wearing boxing trunks.
It looked like a video game, and a somewhat cheap game at that. But when Royce Gracie defeated Gerard Gordeau in the final round and won a $50,000 check, the fans were hooked.
It took another five months for there to be a second Ultimate Fighting Championship event. That too took place in Denver, and Gracie was again the winner. And today, more than 500 UFC events later, the company is a worldwide phenomenon worth more than $4 billion.
And it all got its start on a snowy November night in Denver nearly three decades ago.
9. Denver Hockey Wins Back-to-Back National Championships
Most sports fans are aware of Colorado’s history with the NHL. There were the Colorado Rockies from 1976 to 1982, when they left town to become the New Jersey Devils. Then in 1995, the Quebec Nordiques moved to Colorado and became the Avalanche.
But Colorado’s real hockey legacy is at the collegiate level.
The first 10 years of the NCAA men’s hockey Frozen Four (1948-57) was played at the Broadmoor Ice Palace in Colorado Springs, with Colorado College beating Michigan for the national championship in 1957. And other than those Michigan Wolverines, no other college hockey program has been as successful as the Denver Pioneers.
Between 1958 and 1969, they won five national championships, and in 2005, they regained their dominance by winning the second of consecutive championships with a 4-1 win over North Dakota.
Future U.S. Olympian Paul Stastny was on that team, as was future NHL All-Star Mathew Carle.
8. Jack Dempsey’s First Professional Fight
There is perhaps no more famous athlete to come out of Colorado than former heavyweight boxing champion Jack Dempsey. A cultural icon in the 1920s along with Babe Ruth, The Manassa Mauler (born in Manassa, Colorado) spent his younger days traveling western Colorado and Utah, working in mines, and making money on the side by challenging the men in local saloons to fights.
It went on that way for Dempsey, then fighting under the moniker Kid Blackie, for a few years. Until Aug. 18, 1914, and now fighting as Jack Dempsey (a name taken from a fighter in the 1880s), he had his very first professional fight against Young Herman in Colorado Springs.
It was an uninspiring six-round draw and did very little to showcase the legend that was about to come. But even though that fight in 1914 was unimpressive, it started the ripples of a career that would alter boxing history and how we view athletes as celebrities.
Dempsey’s next fight out was a first-round knockout, and that began a string of 32 fights in two years that saw Dempsey only lose once.
Dempsey then moved to New York, where he asked a young swimwear designer to make him headgear that could last more than 15 rounds. The owner of the company, Jack Golomb, agreed, and for the first time, his company, called Everlast, produced boxing gear.
In 1919, Jack Dempsey stopped Jess Williard to become the heavyweight champion of the world – a title he would hold until he lost to Gene Tunney in 1926. Dempsey would later star in films, own a restaurant in New York, write a book, and allegedly manage a casino in Baja, Calif., that was financed by Al Capone.
The road to Dempsey’s status as an American icon began with a six-round boxing match in Colorado Springs in 1914.
7. Denver Nuggets Upset Seattle SuperSonics
For all of the sports franchises in Colorado, it’s the Denver Nuggets with the thinnest history of accomplishments. They have had plenty of great players over the years, but they’ve yet to climb to the top of the NBA mountain, though they have done their share of spoiling the championship plans of others.
From when the NBA went to 16 playoff teams in 1984 to when the eighth-seeded Denver Nuggets faced No. 1 seed Seattle SuperSonics in 1994, no eighth seed had ever won a series. Seattle had just finished the regular season with the best record in the NBA and had Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton, and future Nuggets head coach George Karl on the bench. Seattle was not going to lose.
In Game 1 in Seattle, the Sonics won 106-82. There was no way they were going to lose.
In Game 2 in Seattle, the Sonics won 97-87. The Nuggets were outmatched in every facet of the game. Seattle was definitely not going to lose now, sitting just one win away from advancing.
But then …
Game 3 in Denver, and the Nuggets won 110-93.
Game 4 in Denver, and the Nuggets won 94-85.
Game 5 was back in Seattle, where the Sonics were 37-4 during the regular season and 2-0 in the playoffs. Karl admitted that heading into that game, the butterflies in his stomach felt like rocks, but his team was still prepared to get the job done.
Letting Denver back into the series was one thing. Losing the series was a different matter entirely.
But on May 7, 1994, the Nuggets played the most memorable game in franchise history. LaPhonso Ellis scored 19 points. Robert Pack came off the bench to score 23. Dikembe Mutombo had eight blocked shots and 15 rebounds, and the big man laying on the court and gripping the ball in jubilation after the Nuggets’ victory is the most indelible image in franchise history.
Denver 98, Seattle 94, and the upset was complete.
6. The Drive
There are certain plays or events in football that are so big, so famous, and so special, that they’ve been given names.
The Catch – Dwight Clark sending the 49ers to their first Super Bowl.
The Helmet Catch – David Tyree makes a third-down catch against his helmet on the Giants game-winning drive in Super Bowl XLVII.
The Immaculate Reception – Franco Harris catches a fourth-down ricochet and gives the Steelers their first-ever playoff victory.
And, of course, there is The Drive – John Elway’s AFC Championship march to immortality.
Prior to Jan. 11, 1987, John Elway’s playoff career was less than spectacular. He was blown out by Seattle in 1983, 31-7. In losing to Pittsburgh a year later, he threw for just 184 yards with two interceptions and a fumble.
And in the divisional round following the 1986 season, he beat New England but threw another two interceptions and completed just 40% of his passes.
With 5:32 on the clock in the 1987 AFC Championship Game, the Broncos were at their own two-yard line, trailing 20-13. The Broncos were once again headed to playoff disappointment. The Cleveland Browns were on their way to the Super Bowl.
Then a five-yard pass to Sammy Winder. An Elway scramble for 11. A 22-yard pass to Steve Sewell. Twelve more to Steve Watson.
Mark Jackson makes a 20-yard catch on a third-and-18 play. Sewell with another 14. Elway scrambles again – this time for nine yards.
And then on play 15 of the drive, with just 39 seconds left, Elway to Jackson for the five-yard touchdown that tied the game. A 33-yard field goal by barefoot kicker Rich Karlis won it in overtime.
Elway and the Broncos went on to lose the Super Bowl, but a new era was born. It was Elway as a superstar.
It was the Broncos as the cream of the AFC crop, going to three Super Bowls in four years. And it was The Drive, recognized as the greatest march down the field in the history of the NFL.
5. Peyton Manning wins Super Bowl
In 2013, Peyton Manning led the greatest offense in the history of the NFL and had the greatest season ever for an NFL quarterback. He threw for an incredible 5,477 yards and an NFL-record 55 touchdowns.
As a team, the Broncos scored 606 points, averaging 38 points a game – the most in NFL history. Then, in the Super Bowl against the Seahawks, they laid an absolute egg. The very first play from scrimmage was a safety, and the game went downhill from there.
For all of the Manning hoopla, it was another Super Bowl loss. This one was an embarrassing 43-8 setback.
By 2015, it was clear that time and injuries were catching up to Manning. He was a shell of his former self. He played in 10 games in the regular season that year and threw 17 interceptions.
In Week 9 against Kansas City, he played the worst game of his career, finishing 5-for-20 for 35 yards and throwing four interceptions.
But as Manning fell, the Broncos defense ascended. With stars like Von Miller, Brandon Marshall, Chris Harris, Jr., and Aqib Talib, the Broncos had the No. 1 defense in the NFL. It carried the team through the regular season’s ups and downs (mostly downs) of Manning, and into another Super Bowl.
Facing his opposite – a young and athletic quarterback in Cam Newton who would be named the NFL MVP that season – Manning didn’t need to do a lot. CJ Anderson ran for 90 yards.
The Broncos defense recorded six sacks, including 2.5 by Super Bowl MVP Von Miller. And defensive tackle Malik Jackson recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown.
It wasn’t the prettiest performance from Manning, who retired after the game. But it made him a Super Bowl champion for the second time in his career, and a beloved Broncos quarterback for the rest of his life.
4. Rockies Win National League Pennant
On Sept. 15, 2007, the Rockies were four games over .500 (76-72), 4.5 games out of the Wild Card, had just suffered a 10-2 loss to the Florida Marlins, and were on their way to missing the postseason for a 12th straight season.
But then …
The Rockies beat those same Marlins 13-0. They swept the Dodgers in four straight and the Padres in three straight, and then came another three-game sweep of the Dodgers. In the final series of the regular season, Colorado won two of three from Arizona, tying them with the Padres for the Wild Card and setting up a game 163.
It was a truly great game. The Rockies jumped on top in the first. San Diego was in the lead by the third. After nine innings, the game was tied 6-6, and it went to the 13th. San Diego scored twice in the top of the inning and appeared to be on its way to the playoffs as future Hall of Fame closer Trevor Hoffman took the mound.
But a double by Kazuo Matsui, a double by Troy Tulowitzki, a triple by Matt Holiday, and a game-winning sacrifice fly by Jamey Carroll completed the incredible late-season run and sent the Rockies to the playoffs.
And when you’re hot, you’re hot.
In the National League Division Series, the Rockies bulldozed the Phillies in three straight games, 4-2, 10-5, and 2-1.
In the National League Championship Series against the Diamondbacks, the good times kept going with four straight wins: 5-1, 3-2, 4-1, and 6-4. Fittingly, Tulo to Todd Helton recorded the final out and sent the Rockies to their first-ever World Series.
Ironically, the Rockies also became victims of their success. From Sept. 16 through Oct. 15, the Rockies won 22 of 23 games. And by sweeping through both postseason series, they were left waiting for the American League to crown its champion, which ended up taking a full seven games.
So, by the time the World Series started on Oct. 24, the Red Sox had been off for two days, and the Rockies had been off for nine.
A completely cooled down Colorado went on to lose to Boston in four straight games, ending the Cinderella run one series short. But no one will ever forget that September and October and the feeling of winning the National League pennant in front of the home fans at Coors Field.
In what is decidedly a football town, baseball was put on the map for good.
3. Colorado Football Wins National Championship
Colorado’s tenure in the Pac-12 has been rather forgettable. A win at the Houston Bowl in 2004 has been the highlight.
Most seasons have ended without so much as a sniff at a bowl, including the absolutely abysmal season of 2012 that ended with one victory and included a loss to FCS school Sacramento State.
But it wasn’t always like this. When Colorado was in the Big 12, and before that the Big 8, it was one of the top programs in the nation. The Buffaloes had a string of six consecutive bowl wins, including victories at the Cotton Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl.
Five times in eight years, they finished the season in the AP Top 10. And once, following the 1990 season, Colorado finished the season as the No. 1 team in the nation.
It was a season never to be forgotten, both because it remains the only football national championship for any of the Colorado universities, but also because it had some of the most controversial and memorable moments in college football history.
At 3-1-1 and beginning conference play at Missouri, the Buffaloes were about to see their national championship hopes dashed. They were behind 31-27 when Charles Johnson scored the game-winning touchdown on the final play on fifth down.
You read that correctly. Fifth down. It was confirmed on tape later that Colorado had been given two second downs, and the winning touchdown came on a play that never should have happened.
But it was too late. The win stood, and so did Colorado’s hopes for a title.
From that point on, the Buffaloes cruised through conference play, beating everyone else in the Big 8 by an average of 23 points. That set up an Orange Bowl matchup against No. 5 Notre Dame. But that too came with its share of controversy.
Clinging to a 10-9 lead with less than a minute remaining, Colorado punted to Heisman Trophy winner Raghib Ismail. Ismail fielded the ball on his own eight-yard line and took it up the right sideline for what appeared to be a 92-yard game-winning touchdown.
But instead of Notre Dame winning in dramatic fashion, a clipping penalty was called, and the return was wiped out. A few plays later, Colorado intercepted a Rick Mirer pass to seal the game.
Earlier that day, Georgia Tech handily beat Nebraska in the Citrus Bowl, 45-21, finishing the season unbeaten at 11-0-1.
But even though Colorado lost a game to Illinois and now had two very controversial wins, the voters kept the Buffs at No. 1 and Georgia Tech at No. 2.
Colorado had its first and only college football national championship.
2. Avalanche Win Stanley Cup in First Year
The road to NHL franchise stability can come with many twists and turns. For Colorado, it began in 1976, when the Kansas City Scouts, just two years after joining the NHL as an expansion franchise, were sold to new owners who moved the team to Denver. They became the Colorado Rockies.
Their fortunes, however, did not change by moving further west. The poor play on the ice and unreliable ownership – the team was sold again in 1978 – led to just six seasons in Colorado before the team was moved again. This time, they went to the East Coast and became the New Jersey Devils, where they have remained ever since.
Fortunately, Denver was still considered a viable market, even if the NHL didn’t dip its toes back into Colorado waters until the Quebec Nordiques began looking for a new home in the early 1990s. The former WHL team that moved to the NHL in 1979 was an awful team by the early 90s. It played bad enough to get the No. 1 overall pick in 1989, 1990, and 1991.
It was following the 1994-95 season that the franchise pulled the trigger on the move to Colorado and changed the name to the Avalanche.
Thanks to being such a bad team that No. 1 overall pick Eric Lindros refused to play for them, the foundation of a great team was formed. Lindros was traded to the Flyers for Peter Forsberg, Mike Ricci, Ron Hextall, Steve Duchesne, Kerry Huffman, Chris Simon, and two first-round draft picks that turned into Jocelyn Thibault and Nolan Baumgartner.
Forsberg would become a mainstay with the Avalanche and one of the best players in franchise history. Thibault was traded during that inaugural season in Colorado for goaltender Patrick Roy.
Ron Hextall went to the Islanders in exchange for a draft pick that was used on Adam Deadmarsh. Ricci scored 27 points that first year in Colorado.
Add all those players to established star Joe Sakic, who was drafted by the Nordiques in 1987, and the foundation for a great hockey team was born thanks to Lindros and the Philadelphia Flyers. So great, in fact, that in their first year in Colorado, the Avalanche won 47 games and their 104 points were good for first place in the Pacific Division.
In the conference quarterfinals, the Avs beat Vancouver 4-2, and got 11 points from Sakic and 10 points from Forsberg. In the conference semis against Chicago, the star of the 4-2 series win was Roy, allowing just seven goals in the Avs’ four wins.
And in the conference finals against Detroit, Roy shut out the Red Wings at home in Game 2, and Sakic paced all scorers with 10 points in the 4-2 series win.
The Stanley Cup Finals were almost an afterthought, as the Avalanche won 4-0 and allowed just three goals. Sakic was named the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the Avalanche, as the winners of the Cup, brought Colorado its first-ever professional sports championship.
1. Broncos Win Super Bowl XXXII
When John Elway completed The Drive in 1987, he was a 26-year-old Super Bowl novice. By the time Super Bowl XXXII rolled around, he was 37 years old, in the final throes of his Hall of Fame career, and a Super Bowl veteran.
Although not a veteran of actually winning the Lombardi Trophy. He’d lost three Super Bowls by an average score of 45-13.
When the 1997 season began, and again when it ended as the Broncos had to settle for a wild card, it seemed as though Elway’s career would come to a close without him winning a championship ring. The Broncos were a snakebit franchise and in the same league as the Minnesota Vikings on the list of all-time Super Bowl losers.
But in the wild card round, the Broncos rolled through Jacksonville, 42-17, avenging a playoff loss to the Jaguars the year before. In the divisional round, they went to Kansas City, and the defense held off a furious four plays from inside the 10-yard line in the closing seconds to preserve a 14-10 win.
In the AFC Championship Game, they went to Pittsburgh and won 24-21 after Elway converted two late first downs to keep the ball and kill the clock.
So back to the Super Bowl the Broncos went for the first time in eight years. They face the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers and another quarterback on his way to the Hall of Fame, Brett Favre.
But with all that quarterback royalty, this night belonged to Broncos running back Terrell Davis.
The San Diego native returned home and had one of the all-time great Super Bowl performances by a running back. He rushed for 157 yards and a Super Bowl-record three touchdowns, including the game-winning score with 1:57 on the clock. All of this happened with Davis battling a migraine and him sitting out most of the second quarter.
Davis was the game’s MVP, and the next year, he’d rush for 2,008 yards and punch his ticket to the Hall of Fame.
Elway finally had his Super Bowl ring and would add another the following year before walking away from his NFL career as the most beloved man in Denver.
With three Super Bowl championships, the Broncos are now one of the most successful teams in postseason history.