1983 Denver Broncos season

The 1983 Denver Broncos season was its 24th in professional football and 14th in the National Football League (NFL). Led by third-year head coach Dan Reeves, the Broncos were 9–7, third in the AFC West, and made their first playoff appearance in four seasons.

Before the season, the Broncos traded with the Baltimore Colts for the rights to first overall pick in the 1983 draft, quarterback John Elway. He started ten games for the Broncos as a rookie, and the team won four of them.^[1] In his first two starts, both road wins, Elway left the game trailing, relieved by veteran Steve DeBerg.^[2][3]

After three straight losses, Elway was benched by Reeves in early October;^[4] and DeBerg led the team to four consecutive victories and a 6–3 record. A shoulder injury in a loss in Seattle sidelined him and Elway again became the starter.^[5][6] In the rematch with Seattle two weeks later in Denver, Elway was out with the flu and third-string rookie Gary Kubiak led the Broncos to a win.^[7][8]

Elway's finest game as a rookie came in week 15, the Broncos' second game against Baltimore, the team that drafted him. Denver trailed 19–0 at the start of the fourth quarter, until Elway threw for three touchdowns in the final period to win 21–19 and kept their playoff hopes alive.^[9][10] The following week was a lopsided road loss at Kansas City in −30 °F (−34 °C) wind chill, but the Broncos made the playoffs, gaining the final AFC berth over Cleveland, also at 9–7, whom they defeated in week 14.^[11]

DeBerg started the wild card playoff loss in Seattle,^[8][12] and was relieved by Elway in the fourth quarter.^[13]

The Broncos' wild-card playoff loss to the Seahawks marked their only playoff appearance during the three-year ownership of Edgar Kaiser Jr.; Pat Bowlen bought the team the following spring.

NFL Draft

1983 Denver Broncos draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	4	Chris Hinton	Guard	Northwestern	traded to the Baltimore Colts along with Quarterback Mark Herrmann and the Broncos' first round pick in the 1984 NFL Draft for John Elway
2	31	Mark Cooper	Tackle	Miami (FL)	1983-1987 (5 seasons) then Tampa Bay from 1987-1989
3	60	Clint Sampson	Wide Receiver	San Diego State	1983-1986 (4 seasons)
5	116	George "Weedy" Harris	Linebacker	Houston
5	125	Bruce Baldwin	Defensive Back	Harding
6	143	Victor Heflin	Defensive Back	Delaware State	not signed by the Broncos, but went on to play for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1983-1984
7	172	Myron Dupree	Defensive Back	North Carolina Central	1983
8	197	Gary Kubiak	Quarterback	Texas A&M	1983-1991 (9 seasons)
9	228	Brian Hawkins	Defensive Back	San Jose State
10	254	Walt Bowyer	Defensive End	Arizona State	1983-1984, 1987-1988 (4 seasons)
11	283	Don Bailey	Center	Miami (FL)	not signed by the Broncos, but went on to play for the Indianapolis Colts from 1984-1985
12	310	Karl Mecklenburg *	Linebacker	Minnesota	1983-1994 (12 seasons), 6x Pro Bowl, 4x First Team All-Pro, Denver Broncos Ring of Fame
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[14]

Personnel

Staff

1983 Denver Broncos staff

Front office Owner – Edgar Kaiser Vice President/General Manager – Hein Poulus Director of Football Operations – John Beake Coordinator of College Scouting – Reed Johnson Head coaches Head Coach – Dan Reeves Assistant Head Coach/Defense – Joe Collier Special Assistant – Marvin Bass Offensive coaches Quarterbacks/Wide Receivers – John Hadl Running Backs – Nick Nicolau Offensive Line – Dan Radakovich

Defensive coaches Defensive Line – Stan Jones Linebackers – Myrel Moore Defensive Backs – Charlie West Special teams coaches Special Teams/Tight Ends – Fran Polsfoot Strength and conditioning Strength/Conditioning – IJ Gorman

Source:^[15]

Roster

1983 Denver Broncos roster

	Quarterbacks  7 John Elway 17 Steve DeBerg  8 Gary Kubiak Running backs 23 Sammy Winder RB 34 Nathan Poole FB 46 Dave Preston RB 47 Gerald Willhite RB 41 Rob Lytle RB 39 Jesse Myles RB 24 Rick Parros FB Wide receivers 80 Rick Upchurch 81 Steve Watson 84 Clint Sampson 82 Zach Thomas Tight ends 85 Ron Egloff 87 James Wright 83 John Sawyer 88 Riley Odoms 89 Clay Brown 86 Dean Barnett		Offensive linemen 70 Dave Studdard LT 54 Keith Bishop LG 64 Billy Bryan C 60 Paul Howard RG 63 Ken Lanier RT 62 Tom Glassic G 67 Keith Uecker G-T 63 Mark Cooper G-T 73 Shawn Hollingsworth T Defensive linemen 79 Barney Chavous LDE 68 Rubin Carter NT 75 Rulon Jones RDE 66 Brison Manor DE 65 Walt Bowyer DE 72 Don Latimer NT 78 Rich Stachowski NT 74 Jerry Baker NT		Linebackers 50 Jim Ryan LOLB 53 Randy Gradishar LILB 58 Steve Busick RILB 57 Tom Jackson ROLB 52 Ken Woodard 55 Rick Dennison 51 Bob Swenson 59 Darren Comeaux 77 Karl Mecklenburg Defensive backs 20 Louis Wright LCB 49 Dennis Smith SS 43 Steve Foley FS 31 Mike Harden RCB 28 Roger Jackson 45 Steve Wilson 37 Steve Trimble 21 Myron Dupree 29 Wilbur Myers Special teams  3 Rich Karlis K 11 Luke Prestridge P		Reserve lists Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 4	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 14–10	1–0	Three Rivers Stadium	58,233
2	September 11	at Baltimore Colts	W 17–10	2–0	Memorial Stadium	52,613
3	September 18	Philadelphia Eagles	L 10–13	2–1	Mile High Stadium	74,202
4	September 25	Los Angeles Raiders	L 7–22	2–2	Mile High Stadium	74,289
5	October 2	at Chicago Bears	L 14–31	2–3	Soldier Field	58,210
6	October 9	at Houston Oilers	W 26–14	3–3	Astrodome	44,209
7	October 16	Cincinnati Bengals	W 24–17	4–3	Mile High Stadium	74,305
8	October 23	San Diego Chargers	W 14–6	5–3	Mile High Stadium	74,581
9	October 30	Kansas City Chiefs	W 27–24	6–3	Mile High Stadium	74,640
10	November 6	at Seattle Seahawks	L 19–27	6–4	Kingdome	61,189
11	November 13	at Los Angeles Raiders	L 20–22	6–5	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	51,945
12	November 20	Seattle Seahawks	W 38–27	7–5	Mile High Stadium	74,710
13	November 27	at San Diego Chargers	L 7–31	7–6	Jack Murphy Stadium	43,650
14	December 4	Cleveland Browns	W 27–6	8–6	Mile High Stadium	70,912
15	December 11	Baltimore Colts	W 21–19	9–6	Mile High Stadium	74,864
16	December 18	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 17–48	9–7	Arrowhead Stadium	11,377
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total • Broncos 0 7 0 7 14 Steelers 0 7 3 0 10 Date: September 4 Location: Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 73 °F (23 °C), wind 5 mph (8 km/h) Referee: Jerry Seeman TV announcers (NBC): Bob Costas and Bob Trumpy

Scoring summary 2 DEN Sammy Winder 1 yard run (Rich Karlis kick) Broncos 7–0 2 PIT Franco Harris 4 yard run (Gary Anderson kick) Tie 7–7 3 PIT Gary Anderson 31 yard field goal Steelers 10–7 4 DEN Ron Egloff 2 yard pass from Steve DeBerg (Rich Karlis kick) Broncos 14–10

Source:^[2][16]

Week 2

Denver Broncos (1–0) at Baltimore Colts (0–1)

1 2 3 4 Total • Broncos 0 3 0 14 17 Colts 3 0 0 7 10 Date: September 11 Location: Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland Game start: 3:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 84 °F (29 °C), wind 10 mph (16 km/h) Referee: Gene Barth TV announcers (NBC): Marv Albert and John Brodie Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

Scoring summary 1 Colts Raul Allegre 32-yard field goal Colts 3–0 2 Broncos Rich Karlis 42-yard field goal Tie 3–3 4 Colts Larry Anderson 41-yard fumble return (Raul Allegre kick) Colts 10–3 4 Broncos Steve Watson 24-yard pass from Steve DeBerg (Rich Karlis kick) Tie 10–10 4 Broncos Steve Watson 2-yard run (Rich Karlis kick) Broncos 17–10

Source:^[3]

Week 15 vs Colts

Standings

AFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Los Angeles Raiders(1)	12	4	0	.750	6–2	10–2	442	338	W1
Seattle Seahawks(4)	9	7	0	.563	5–3	8–4	403	397	W2
Denver Broncos(5)	9	7	0	.563	3–5	9–5	302	327	L1
San Diego Chargers	6	10	0	.375	4–4	4–8	358	462	L1
Kansas City Chiefs	6	10	0	.375	2–6	4–8	386	367	W1

Playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent (seed)	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
Wild Card	December 24	at Seattle Seahawks (4)	L 7–31	0–1	Kingdome	60,752

Source:^[8][12][13]

References

External links

• Denver Broncos – 1983 media guide
• 1983 Denver Broncos at Pro-Football-Reference.com