Favorite Broncos, No. 22



I miss football, and sports in general. I'm guessing you do, too. And in the place of actual games, we've been seeing a lot of countdowns of classic games, players, etc. And that got me thinking about my own favorite team, the Denver Broncos. I have loved the Denver Broncos since I was a little kid, more than 30 years of fandom. I started watching them in the late 1980s, and have been faithful ever since. So I thought it might be fun to take a little walk down memory lane and consider my favorite players from those teams. So this is just a personal list, that will be presented in reverse order starting at number 30. Agree, disagree, have your own stories? Share them in the comments.

No. 22 Neil Smith (1997-1999)
About: Smith didn't start his career with the Broncos, nor did he end his career there. And he wasn't there long. But he was a missing piece the team used to win its first two titles. For years, Smith was on the other side. He played for the Kansas City Chiefs, and racked up 85.5 sacks during his time there. But in 1997, after Denver had suffered a stunning Wild Card loss despite being favorites the year prior, Smith moved over to the Broncos. The team ended up a Wild Card, and ended up beating the Chiefs in Kansas City to advance to the Super Bowl, where they beat Brett Favre and the Packers. Smith made the Pro Bowl and recorded 8.5 sacks in his first season with the Broncos, and gave a toughness to the defense that was needed to get over the hump and win a title. He only had four sacks in 1998, as the Broncos won the Super Bowl again. He added 6.5 sacks in 1999 in a down season for the team, finishing with 19 sacks in three seasons for the Broncos. He finished with one season with the Chargers before retiring. Smith was a fun player to watch, more fun when he played for your team. He was a big piece of those championship teams that meant so much to me as a young fan, so he makes this list for me.

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