Editing Denver Broncos (section)

====Dan Reeves years (1981–1992)====
[[Dan Reeves]] became the youngest head coach (37) in the [[National Football League|NFL]] when he joined the Broncos in [[1981 Denver Broncos season|1981]] as vice president and [[List of Denver Broncos head coaches|head coach]]. [[List of Denver Broncos starting quarterbacks|Quarterback]] [[John Elway]], who played college football at [[Stanford Cardinal football|Stanford]], arrived in [[1983 Denver Broncos season|1983]] via a trade. Originally drafted by the [[Baltimore Colts]] as the first pick of the [[1983 NFL draft|draft]], Elway proclaimed that he would shun football in favor of [[Major League Baseball|baseball]] (he was drafted by the [[New York Yankees]] to play [[Center fielder|center field]] and was also a pitching prospect), unless he was traded to a selected list of other teams, which included the Broncos.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sportingnews.com/archives/elway/timeline.html |title=John Elway Timeline |work=The Sporting News |access-date=November 28, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080920140523/http://www.sportingnews.com/archives/elway/timeline.html |archive-date=September 20, 2008 }}</ref> Prior to Elway, the Broncos had over 24 different starting quarterbacks in its 23 seasons to that point.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.football.com/nfl/denverbroncos/index.html|title=Denver Broncos|work=Football.com|access-date=November 28, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080605052411/http://www.football.com/nfl/denverbroncos/index.html|archive-date=June 5, 2008}}</ref>

[[File:1988 AFC Championship Game - Cleveland Browns at Denver Broncos 1988-01-17 (ticket).jpg|thumb|150px|A ticket for the [[1987–88 NFL playoffs|1987–88 AFC Championship Game]] between the Browns and the Broncos.]]
[[File:1986 Jeno's Pizza - 48 - Sammy Winder.jpg|left|thumb|John Elway (''right'') hands the ball for a rushing play against the Packers in 1984.]]
Reeves and Elway guided the Broncos to six post-season appearances, five [[AFC West]] divisional titles, three [[American Football Conference|AFC]] championships and three [[Super Bowl]] appearances (Super Bowl XXI, XXII and XXIV) during their 12-year span together. The Broncos lost [[Super Bowl XXI]] to the [[1986 New York Giants season|New York Giants]], 39–20; [[Super Bowl XXII]] to the [[1987 Washington Redskins season|Washington Redskins]], 42–10; and [[Super Bowl XXIV]] to the [[1989 San Francisco 49ers season|San Francisco 49ers]], 55–10; the latter score remains the most lopsided scoring differential in Super Bowl history.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Super Bowl History |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/super-bowl/ |access-date=August 24, 2024 |website=[[Pro Football Reference]] |language=en}}</ref> The last year of the Reeves-Elway era were marked by feuding, due to Reeves taking on play-calling duties after ousting Elway's favorite offensive coordinator [[Mike Shanahan]] after the [[1991 Denver Broncos season|1991 season]], as well as Reeves drafting quarterback [[Tommy Maddox]] out of [[UCLA Bruins football|UCLA]] instead of going with a [[wide receiver]] to help Elway. Reeves was fired after the [[1992 Denver Broncos season|1992 season]] and replaced by his protégé and friend [[Wade Phillips]], who had been serving as the Broncos' defensive coordinator.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.realclearsports.com/lists/coach_killers/john_elway_dan_reeves.html|title=RealClearSports&nbsp;– Top 10 Coach Killers&nbsp;– John Elway|access-date=March 4, 2014|archive-date=May 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517153929/http://www.realclearsports.com/lists/coach_killers/john_elway_dan_reeves.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://bleacherreport.com/articles/413764-mile-high-feud-john-elway-and-mike-shanahan-still-have-a-beef-but-why#articles/413764-mile-high-feud-john-elway-and-mike-shanahan-still-have-a-beef-but-why|title=Mile High Feud: John Elway and Mike Shanahan Still Have a Beef, but Why?|author=Reid Brooks|work=Bleacher Report|access-date=March 4, 2014|archive-date=October 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004205013/http://bleacherreport.com/articles/413764-mile-high-feud-john-elway-and-mike-shanahan-still-have-a-beef-but-why#articles/413764-mile-high-feud-john-elway-and-mike-shanahan-still-have-a-beef-but-why|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="sportsillustrated.cnn.com">{{cite news|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/1998/playoffs/news/1999/01/24/superbowl_feud/ |title=Reeves' comments rekindle feud with Elway, Shanahan|work=CNN/SI | date=January 24, 1999|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622064747/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/1998/playoffs/news/1999/01/24/superbowl_feud/|archive-date=June 22, 2011}}</ref> Phillips was fired after a mediocre [[1994 Denver Broncos season|1994 season]], in which management felt he lost control of the team.<ref name="i392">{{cite web | agency=Associated Press| title=BRONCOS BID GOODBYE TO FIRED PHILLIPS | website=Deseret News | date=January 23, 2024 | url=https://www.deseret.com/1994/12/30/19150614/broncos-bid-goodbye-to-fired-phillips/ | access-date=August 24, 2024}}</ref>