1972 Denver Broncos season

NFL team season

1972 Denver Broncos season

Owner| Gerald Phipps
General manager| John Ralston
Head coach| John Ralston
Home field| Mile High Stadium
Results
Record| 5–9
Division place| 3rd AFC West
Playoff finish| Did not qualify

* <- 1971
* Broncos seasons
* 1973 ->

The 1972 Denver Broncos season was the team's 13th season in professional football and third in the National Football League (NFL). Under first-year head coach and general manager John Ralston, the Broncos finished with five wins and nine losses, third in the AFC West Division.[1]

Hired in early January, Ralston was previously the head coach for nine years at Stanford University; in his final two seasons, he led the Indians to consecutive Pac-8 titles and upset victories in the Rose Bowl.[2][3]

## Offseason[edit]

### NFL draft[edit]

Main article: 1972 NFL Draft

1972 Denver Broncos draft

Round  | Pick  | Player  | Position  | College  | Notes
1  | 5  | Riley Odoms * | Tight end | Houston |
3  | 58  | Bill Phillips | LB | Arkansas State |
4  | 102  | Tom Graham | LB | Oregon |
5  | 118  | Jim Krieg | WR | Washington |
8  | 186  | Ron Estay | DT | LSU |
9  | 214  | Floyd Priester | DB | Boston University |
10  | 239  | Richard Wilkins | DE | Maryland State |
11  | 263  | Larry Brunson | WR | Colorado |
12  | 292  | Randy McDougall | DB | Weber State |
13  | 317  | Bob Warner | RB | Bloomsburg (PA)  |
14  | 342  | Jerome Kundich | G | Texas-El Paso |
15  | 370  | Harold Parmenter | DT | Massachusetts  |
16  | 395  | Tom Bougus | RB | Boston College |
17  | 420  | Lou Harris | RB | USC |
Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

## Personnel[edit]

### Staff[edit]

1972 Denver Broncos staff

| Ownership

{{{ownership}}}

Front office

* Chairman of the Board – Gerald Phipps
* President – Allan Phipps
* Assistant General Manager/Director of Player Personnel – Fred Gehrke
* Director of Scouting – Carroll Hardy

Head coaches

* Vice President/General Manager/Head Coach – John Ralston

Offensive coaches

* Offensive Coordinator/Backfield – Max Coley
* Wide Receivers – Dick Coury
* Offensive Line – Jerry Frei

|  |  | Defensive coaches

* Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs – Joe Collier
* Defensive Line – Doc Urich
* Linebackers – Bob Gambold

Special teams coaches

* Special Teams – Myrel Moore

Source[4]

### Roster[edit]

1972 Denver Broncos roster

| Quarterbacks

* 16 Mike Ernst
* 13 Don Horn
* 12 Charley Johnson
* 10 Steve Ramsey

Running backs

* 11 Bobby Anderson
* 33 Joe Dawkins
* 44 Floyd Little
* 35 Clem Turner

Wide receivers

* 86 Jim Krieg
* 25 Haven Moses
* 84 Rod Sherman
* 80 Jerry Simmons

Tight ends

* 81 Billy Masters
* 88 Riley Odoms

|  | Offensive linemen

* 74 Mike Current T
* 67 George Goeddeke G
* 68 Larron Jackson G
* 59 Larry Kaminski C
* 61 Tommy Lyons G
* 78 Marv Montgomery T
* 50 Bobby Maples C
* 64 Mike Schnitker G
* 75 Rick Sharp T

Defensive linemen

* 77 Lyle Alzado DE
* 76 Tom Domres DT
* 55 Pete Duranko DE
* 70 Paul Smith DT
* 65 Lloyd Voss DE

|  | Linebackers

* 53 Ken Criter
* 52 Fred Forsberg
* 58 Bill McKoy
* 54 Chip Myrtle
* 51 Mike Simone

Defensive backs

* 28 Cornell Gordon
* 41 Leroy Mitchell CB
* 21 Randy Montgomery
* 23 Steve Preece S
* 26 George Saimes S
* 36 Bill Thompson CB

Special teams

* 15 Jim Turner K
* 42 Billy Van Heusen P/WR

|  | Reserve lists

Practice squad

Rookies in italics

## Regular season[edit]

### Schedule[edit]

The Broncos' last three home games kicked off at noon MST instead of the standard 2 p.m.

Week  | Date  | Opponent  | Result  | Record  | Venue  | Attendance

|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | September 17  | Houston Oilers | W 30–17  | 1–0  | Mile High Stadium | 51,656
2  | September 24  | at San Diego Chargers | L 14–37  | 1–1  | San Diego Stadium | 49,048
3  | October 1  | Kansas City Chiefs | L 24–45  | 1–2  | Mile High Stadium  | 51,656
4  | October 8  | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 10–21  | 1–3  | Riverfront Stadium | 55,812
5  | October 15  | Minnesota Vikings | L 20–23  | 1–4  | Mile High Stadium  | 51,656
6  | October 22  | at Oakland Raiders | W 30–23  | 2–4  | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 53,551
7  | October 29  | Cleveland Browns | L 20–27  | 2–5  | Mile High Stadium  | 51,656
8  | November 5  | at New York Giants | L 17–29  | 2–6  | Yankee Stadium | 62,689
9  | November 12  | at Los Angeles Rams | W 16–10  | 3–6  | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 65,398
10  | November 19  | Oakland Raiders | L 20–37  | 3–7  | Mile High Stadium  | 51,656
11  | November 26  | at Atlanta Falcons | L 20–23  | 3–8  | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 58,850
12  | December 3  | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 21–24  | 3–9  | Arrowhead Stadium | 66,725
13  | December 10  | San Diego Chargers | W 38–13  | 4–9  | Mile High Stadium  | 51,478
14  | December 17  | New England Patriots | W 45–21  | 5–9  | Mile High Stadium  | 51,656
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

### Standings[edit]

AFC West

* view
* talk
* edit

| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK
Oakland Raiders | 10  | 3  | 1  | .750  | 3–2–1  | 7–3–1  | 365  | 248  | W6
Kansas City Chiefs | 8  | 6  | 0  | .571  | 4–2  | 6–5  | 287  | 254  | W3
Denver Broncos | 5  | 9  | 0  | .357  | 2–4  | 4–6  | 325  | 350  | W2
San Diego Chargers | 4  | 9  | 1  | .321  | 2–3–1  | 4–6–1  | 264  | 344  | L3

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Pro football statistics". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). December 18, 1972. p. 14.
2. ^ "Five-year pro deal to Ralston". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 6, 1972. p. 23.
3. ^ King, Errol (January 6, 1972). "Ralston's talking Super Bowl". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). UPI. p. C1.
4. ^ 1972 Denver Broncos Press Guide. p. 4. Retrieved July 19, 2012.

## External links[edit]

* Denver Broncos – 1972 media guide
* 1972 Denver Broncos at Pro-Football-Reference.com

* v
* t
* e

Denver Broncos

* Founded in 1960
* Based in Denver, Colorado
* Headquartered in Dove Valley, Colorado

Franchise|

* History
* Players
* Starting quarterbacks
* Coaches
* Seasons
* First-round draft picks
* Broadcasters

Stadiums|

* Mile High Stadium
* Empower Field at Mile High

Key personnel|

Owners
Rob Walton
Greg Penner (CEO)
Carrie Walton Penner
Mellody Hobson
Condoleezza Rice
Lewis Hamilton
General manager
George Paton
Head coach
Sean Payton
Consultant
John Elway

Culture|

* A Few Seconds of Panic
* Alan Roach
* Barrel Man
* Bucky the Bronco
* Cheerleaders
* Elway to Marino
* Everybody's All-American
* Hold That Mork ("Mork & Mindy" episode)
* "Joy to the World"
* Miles
* No Fly Zone
* Orange Crush Defense
* "Rocky Mountain Way"
* South Park
* Thunder
* "You Only Move Twice" (The Simpsons episode)

Lore|

* Snowball Game
* The Drive
* The Fumble
* Tebowmania
* Mile High Miracle

Rivalries|

* Kansas City Chiefs
* Las Vegas Raiders
* Los Angeles Chargers
* New England Patriots
* Brady–Manning rivalry
* Pittsburgh Steelers
* Seattle Seahawks

Retired numbers|

* 7
* 18
* 44

Division championships (15)|

* 1977
* 1978
* 1984
* 1986
* 1987
* 1989
* 1991
* 1996
* 1998
* 2005
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015

Conference championships (8)|

* 1977
* 1986
* 1987
* 1989
* 1997
* 1998
* 2013
* 2015

League championships (3)|

* 1997 (XXXII)
* 1998 (XXXIII)
* 2015 (50)

Media|

* Radio network
* Dave Logan
* Brian Griese
* Scott Hastings
* Ed McCaffrey
* Alan Roach
* TV: KUSA 9News
* Radio: 850 KOA (AM)

Current league affiliations|

* League: National Football League (1970–present)
* Conference: American Football Conference
* Division: West Division

Former league affiliation|

* League: American Football League (1960–1969)

* v
* t
* e

Denver Broncos seasons

* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023

Bold indicates Super Bowl victory
Italics indicates Super Bowl appearance

* v
* t
* e

1972 NFL season

| AFC| East | Central| West| East| Central| West | NFC

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Baltimore | Cincinnati| Denver| Dallas| Chicago| Atlanta
Buffalo | Cleveland| Kansas City| NY Giants| Detroit| Los Angeles
Miami | Houston| Oakland| Philadelphia| Green Bay| New Orleans
New England | Pittsburgh| San Diego| St. Louis| Minnesota| San Francisco
NY Jets | | | Washington| |

* 1972 NFL Draft
* NFL playoffs
* Pro Bowl
* Super Bowl VII

This article relating to an American football season is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[T]: Ties
*[PCT]: Winning percentage
*[DIV]: Win–Loss record within their division
*[CONF]: Win–Loss record within their conference
*[PF]: Points For (Total points scored)
*[PA]: Points Against (Total points allowed)
*[STK]: Current Winning or Losing Streak
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template