February 5, 2025 • 54 mins
#Broncos #BroncosCountry #NFL #DenverBroncos #RickUpchurch #BoNix On tonight's episode, Patrick Chiotti and Mario Vetanze are joined by Denver Broncos legend Rick Upchurch to talk about the 2024 Denver Broncos, Bo Nix's rookie season, and the coolest memories and stories from Upchurch's amazing NFL career. Check out the website: https://letstalkbroncos.com/ Altitude Adjustment Shop: https://altitudeadjustmentshop.com/ Catch the Let's Talk Broncos Podcast Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on the Let's Talk Broncos YouTube, by clicking subscribe below and ringing the bell for notifications, or by searching 'Let's Talk Broncos' wherever you listen to podcasts!!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You scared Pat a little. You're scared, Pat, because if
you're scared, go to church, rip up Church.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
That is, Hey, film in a move for a switcher.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
I hit the budget, hit the roseate to that hit up,
I hit the stage, I leave with money.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
That's a stick up. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,
children of all ages, welcome to another episode of altitude Adjustment.
I would say, arguably, but it's not even an argument. Now,
this is gonna be the best show that we have
ever done, and that is setting the bar incredibly high.
But it is because we are joined by the legendary
(00:49):
rip Up Church, the only Denver Bronco to ever be
a part of two count them to all decades teams.
And if you don't know, now you know, Rick, thank
you so much for joining us to just to basking
the greatness of Rick Upchurch, the legend that you are.
Thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Rick.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
How you doing man, Hey, Mario, how you doing man?
It's an honor and the pleasure to be on your show,
And thank you for having me and Pat, Hey, how
you doing too, man? It's an honor and of the pleasure
to meet you as well. But you know, what, Mario.
You know, we have a lot of stories that we
can tell. I mean, it's a long history that we
can talk about, that's for sure, and I'm just glad
(01:31):
to be on to be able to tell the story
to you and Fat and the rest of the Bronco
nation out there.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Absolutely, and we're definitely going to get to the stories. Rick.
But I know one of the reasons that you wanted
to be on this show is you wanted to talk
about the success of this team.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Now.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Obviously, for anybody that doesn't know, your heyday was in
the seventies and eighties, right like that, your that was
really the prime of Rick up Church and those are
really the times that the Broncos football was established. You know,
before you were there, Rick, the Buncos were a little
bit of a laughing stock, and you were one of
(02:07):
those big pieces that really helped turn this franchise around.
Now we fast forward to to this year. We underwent
the longest playoff drought in franchise history and finally the
boys are back. So you've been around the game your
entire life for longer than any of us, any of
us can conceive. Just talk about this past season, Rick, Like,
(02:28):
what did you see that you liked that you didn't
like what stood out to you? What was good? What
needs to be better? Any way that you want to
answer that question filled Broncos country with your rick of
church knowledge.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Well, you know, once again I have to go back.
You know, the.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
Floyd Littles of the Bronco land, the rich Jackson's and
the jam Mingos and those those guys, those are the
guys that I looked up to back then, because you know,
once again, the Broncos coming into the league back in
the sixties, and you know, being an mpriant coming into
the league at sixty, especially living in the Rocky Mountain region, right,
(03:10):
there's nothing there. There's not ABC, there's not NBC, there's
not CBS. So for the guys to be able to
get some TV times, it was virtually impossible because once
again you had the East Coast, West Coast, and then
you had the Dallas Cowboys, America's team, the Pittsburgh Steelers
and all those guys that were making all the noise,
Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, and so the Broncos man were
(03:33):
sitting in the Rocky Mountains getting no exposure. But you
still had some great ballplayers like Lionel Taylor. Lionel Taylor
one of the top receivers that were playing the AFC
and in the NFL, you know, catching a hundred passes
in a thousand yards and that type of stuff, but
never got the recognition that he should have gotten, right.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
And then you got Gene Mingo.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
He's the first African American kicker man to kick in
the league.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
For sure, rope barriers in that whole deal. But you
never heard about that.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
Marlon Briscoe, who was the first African American quarterback man
to play in the National Football League. You never heard
about that because the Denver Broncos weren't getting that exposure.
But you know what, when I right the year a
couple of years before I came into the league, right,
the Broncos finally finally broke through and they had a
(04:24):
winning season because you had the Kansas City Chiefs, right,
and then you had the Oakland Raiders, who are guys
that were, you know, making all the noise in the
AMC West. And then you had the running around the field,
well they were they let me tell you, they had
monitors on their legs and all that time John Butthusac
and those type of guys. You know, they were gouging
(04:46):
people in the in the in the eyes and stuff.
And Jack Tatum called himself the Assassin. So yeah, you
had some bad boys over there.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
So and that was that.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
Those were the teams that we had to beat the
overcome to be to be relevant right in the AMC
West or International Football League. And so when I when
I got here, uh to the to the to the
Denver Broncos, I was drafted out of the University of
Minnesota in the fourth round myself, right, Bob Swinson.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
We had a great Steve Foley.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
We had a great draft class at that particular time. Now,
remember and Broncos had you know, they were winning, they
had broke through and they started winning. Now all of
a sudden, people are talking about the Broncos.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Hey there's a team there in Denver.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
You know, they did they've won, they've done some winning,
but you know, they haven't gone to a playoff, they
haven't won, you know, a Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
So they're just you know, they're just there.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
They might you know, beat the Raiders man maybe once
or twice in Kansas City, once or twice, but they're
not making any noise. But let me tell you after
after they won, I think they went seven and five.
After they won, we came in and we myself, Louis Wright,
like I said at seventy five draft, we filled in
some spots. Louis, right, was a shutdown corner number one
(06:01):
drafting Rubing carter Man in that three four defense.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
He was the stabilizer man that had.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
He demanded double team to keep people off of Randy Gradishyar,
and he was just fierce. Then you had Randy Gradishard.
Then you had Barney Chafins. I mean, if we had
Lyle Alzado, we had the defense. Tim let me tell
you that defense, that Orange Crush defense was absolutely nice.
Then we had our offense, our offense man, we were
(06:29):
capable once again, Charlie Johnson. I came in under Charlie Johnson,
if you remember, and then you had the eminem connection
with Craig Morton when he came in, and then you had.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
That great defense we had.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
And then in nineteen seventy seven we break through and
we go to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Right, yeah, it we filled.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
In the spots that the team needed at that particular
time in nineteen seventy seven, and then all of a sudden,
we're relevant. Now we beat the Yakland Raiders, beat the
Kansas City Chiefs, we beat the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now we're relevant,
and now we're getting the media to look at us
there in the Rocky Mountains. It says they got something going, guys,
(07:11):
let's keep our eye on them in that whole deal.
And then from that point on we were very successful.
You know John Elway, you know Dan Reeves, they went
to three Super Bowls, didn't win it. Then John with
Mike Shanahan eventually went to the Super Bowl and won it.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
So that's the story. That's the story.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
And the fan base here man always stuck with the
Denver Bronco organization, with the with the players. They were
always with us. They were not fly by night man.
They stuck with us through thick and thin, guys.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Yeah, it's absolutely amazing. The history this is. It's one
of my favorite, like NFL stories, just the creation of
the team, them getting in to the NFL, all the
years of hardship that they went through, and then you know,
they get a few pieces and they keep building, keep building,
keep building, and then you know they eventually get to
(08:05):
what it was like seven Super Bowls.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Yeah, absolutely, you know, up to.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Up to fifty. So it's it's absolutely incredible, and it's
amazing that you know, you're one of the people who
really transformed not just the Denver Broncos, but the game
of football as a whole. Like you you were one
of those key elements of the transformation of the sport
going into this next generation special teams is such a
(08:31):
big part and you were a massive part of it.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
So thank you.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Yeah. Well, I was always taught.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
You know, I come from the great state of Ohio
and Ohio State Buck guys, go buck guys.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
You know what I'm saying. And so you know, we
were taught good football.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
And I know my chiropractic buddy, Mario's dad, man, he
was from Ohio, So we always talked smec to people.
Man when Ohio State was kicking button all that type
of stuff. So but yeah, you know, I was taught. Well,
my coach man always told me, they said, Rick be
a Swiss knife. You know, you always want to be
able to be on the field. And you know, whether
(09:07):
it's you know, centering a ball or whether it's blocking somebody,
or whether catching the ball or running the ball, you
want to be on the field, So make yourself available.
And I tried to do that, and I tried to
make that a part of my game for sure. And
you know, to be able to come in and help
this organization and help this franchise to become a winner,
(09:27):
I am thankful.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
I'm grateful.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
And also, guys, let me tell you the Denver Broncos,
if not for Floyd Little, right, if not for Floyd
Little going out, you know, door to door and talking
to the fans and that type of stuff. Man, In
that oldell, the Broncos were getting ready to be sold.
They were going to be there, right, and then the
Fifthses were able to come up with the money man
(09:50):
for the fans to be able to stay there in Denver. So, folks, man,
be grateful man that you had some players man that
stepped out and said, hey, we're going to keep the
and for Broncos in Denver because they were about to
be sold.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Guys, that's unbelievable that an NFL player is going door
to door trying to sell this fan base on the
sport of football. Like, could you imagine if if we're
dealing with that today and you got guys like Courtland
Sutton and bow Nicks just your donor door and be like, hey,
you should check us out. We're pretty good. Yeah, sorry,
(10:32):
go ahead.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
No, I mean that's true though.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
I mean, you know, you have to build your fan base,
you know, right there in that Rocky Mountain region if
you're going to be able to sell tickets. You know,
once again, back then, you had to sell tickets because
you didn't have the media that they have today. And
I remember the fifth is they don't They ran a
construction company, and so that construction company is you know,
(10:55):
just a small business. And so you definitely had to
get the fan base from around the New Mexico A,
y mean, Western Kansas, Western Nebraska, Arizona, Utah. You had
to get that fan base man to come in and
sell those tickets so that you could pay the players
and meet your bills.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
And now you fast.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Forward to now, Rick, and there's like a seventy thousand
plus person wait list to become a season ticket holder.
And you know what I think the Penner Walton Penner
groove needs to do. They need to go back to
people like you, Rick, who.
Speaker 5 (11:30):
Started this this grasp through movement towards the deva Broncos,
and they need to give you some royalties or something
to understand that, Like you really were one of the
people that jump started being.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
One of the one of the most perennially good fan
bases in the NFL. Because if it's not for you
guys doing stuff like that and laying the groundwork, then
we're certainly not sitting where we are today and we
can't claim one of, if not the best fan bases
in the NFL. And I think that's really fascinating. Like
I knew a little bit about that, but never to
(12:03):
that extent to the point where you guys were going
door to door and so you wonder like where this
like it's not just fandom, right, Like it becomes a
part of you and that's a part of your personality.
And now you understand why because it's this personal relationship
that you you developed to become a fan. Where like
that's why ales are part of your family.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
Even after the games, Mario and Pat after the games,
you know, the guys now they're so protected when they
come out of the tunnels and all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
We didn't have that protection, you know what we do.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
We would come out of the tunnel, man after the game,
and at Hodell we would go probably out to one
of the r vs man and sit out there man
with some of the fans and have some dog on liquor.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Man, and that after.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
Getting our asses lived, you know what, Man, let me
get some numbing oil, you know.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
And so we sit there and get numbed up so
that we could drive home. Man, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Oh, Man, that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
So that's what we did. I mean, we were door
to door.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
We knew the grandparents, we knew the parents, we knew
the kids.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
That's what it's all about. Though, Man, that's the fun part.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
And even today the folks man that that that were
in our era, they still say, Man, I remember, man,
when you came to my house and you sat down
and had dinner with us. I remember when you went
out and played catch with my kids out in the
yard or at their school, and that type of stuff.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
That's what it's all about. These guys today are so
protected in that old deal, right.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Ye.
Speaker 4 (13:29):
Once again for us, we weren't making that type of
money to be protected. We said, we have to get
out so that these folks can come to the game,
so that we can make some money, so you know
what I'm saying. So that's hey, man, it's a totally
different atmosphere. But you know, we were glad to do it.
And like I said, today, we still have folks man
that I know, and they talk about when we sat
(13:51):
at their table, man and had dinner.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
It's that's that community, right, Like I can only imagine
what it had to have been. Like you're watching these
other teams, uh, you know you mentioned the Steelers, the Cowboys,
the Bears, like these long standing franchises that have a
built in fan base and everything like that, and you're
having to to really scrounge and and draw up that
(14:15):
interest in the community. But I think part of part
of building up that fan base to what it is
now is that sense of like, these are our Broncos,
this is our community. Like each one of these players,
it doesn't matter who it is, it is a part
of our community. They're just like the rest of us.
And I think that needs to I think that feeling
(14:35):
needs to come back a little bit. I know they
get out and do stuff in the community every now
and then, but it's not the same.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
Well, you know the fans would always say, you know
what when I would hear your name on TV.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
I could tell people I know him right. Yes, it's personal.
It's a personal name. That's what it's all about.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
And even for us, like I said, even for us today,
you know, to say that honestly, say we have the
best fans in the in the Nextnational Football.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
League is a true one. You know, it's not fake.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
It's the true thing because they supported us through thick
and thin, and it's been sold out for the last what.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
Somebody, Yeah, look at look at our road presence. Look
at how much the orange is in those stadiums. And
Pete Carroll said it in his in his press conference
that the Raiders need to get more people in that stadium.
You're just gonna keep seeing a lot of orange in
that stadium, Pete, sorry to say, but absolutely orange.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
But but then then after seventy seven, guys, when we
you know, we were we weren't picked to win in
seventy seven, guys, we weren't. We were picked, you know,
in the middle of the pack. Oakland Raiders were the champions, right. Uh,
San Diego was coming of age with air Coriel over
there in San Diego.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Dan Fount from that crew and then you.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
And then you had Seattle, who was who was a
fledgling that were coming in and and you know they
were they were tough over there with Jim Zorn and
that O'Dell and the Kansas City Chiefs, you know, their
champ World champions as well with Hank Stram. So you know,
that seventy seven year what we looked at nine and
five the year before in seventy six, right, and we
(16:13):
just missed out on the playoffs, And so seventy seven
was our year, guys, and we put it together, won
sixth straight right. Then we lost to the Raiders when
they came to Denver. Then we ran off sixth straight
more and that oldeal and got to the Super Bowl
and won the AFC West for the first time in
that Oldell.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
So you know, guys, that was a year of winning.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
We said we're going to put our stamp on the
National Football League that we're winners and we're going to
be consistent, because the next year we didn't win, and
we didn't win, we didn't win go back to the
Super Bowl, but we did win the AFC West again
and then we went to the playoffs again. So we
started the footprints Man of winning for the John Lways
to go on and win the championship, that's for sure.
(17:00):
And so I always want to let folks know, Hey, man,
when you're talking to us guys man from the seventies, Hey,
this is why these guys are where they're at today.
You know, you did check out the records, you'll understand. Yeah, yeah,
you guys started the you guys started the winning culture.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Like I had said, the Broncos were kind of a
perennial loser up until up until like seventy seven, and
like the couple of years that preceded that. And you know,
obviously there are a lot of more youthful, younger Bronco
fans now. I mean, but the publication that we're with
Rake the Leedstalk Broncos a little logo down here in
the corner. Half the people that weren't for that publication,
(17:40):
they weren't even alive when John Elway won the Super
Bowl in ninety seven, ninety eight. Mean, shoot, I wasn't
alive in seventy seven. And you know, back when they
went to their first couple of Super Bowl Unfortunately I
never got to see you. I never got to see
you play live. And so I think it's important that
you you were here, kind of like giving fans a history.
Who you know, a lot of these guys, a lot
(18:00):
of people watching the show right now.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
I'm time.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
You probably weren't around for that or don't really remember
how it went, but it was really like your teams
that you were on where the winning culture truly started
in Denver and the Broncos became like a legitimate force
in the league. And so now it's finally continued. So
like that, that seventy seventeen kind of feels a little
bit like the team that we had this year in
(18:24):
the terms of there weren't a lot of expectations and
they exceeded all of those expectations and they're starting to
trend in the right direction. So from what you saw
this year, Rick, because I know you still love the game,
you watch all of the games, what did you think
of this season for the Denver Broncos, Like you give
us a Rick Up Jr. Breakdown.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
Well, you know folks who were asking me, you know, hey,
how do you think the Broncos are going to do?
I said, let me give you some information. Sean Payton's
a good coach. Now, I don't care what anybody says.
He knows how to win. He's been there, he understands.
But what you have to do is you got to
get all the pieces to the puzzle. And when he
got there, he didn't have all the pieces to the
puzzle to what he needed and what he wanted to
(19:05):
run his offense and to build the culture that he wanted.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
And that's the big thing.
Speaker 4 (19:11):
And when you build the culture that you want, then
you get buy in from the players, right, because if
you don't get all the players to buy into your culture, man,
that's almost like a weak link in the chain.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Right.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
The chain was breaking that Hodel. Once again, I don't
think of what's my kid, the quarterback that just left
Russell Wilson. I don't think Russell Wilson and him had
good chemistry. And that wasn't going to work. And it
was good for Russell to leave and then to go
get a young quarterback talented, as bow Nick says, to
(19:44):
come in and try to run that offense and that Hodel.
Folks were asking me, well, how all the Bronco was
going to do or they're going to be okay?
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Now, I said, look, you got to understand. Look, it's
like a cake.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
Right, you get the cake, you get the powder, and
you pour it in a bowl. Then that you add
the ingreened. Right, you add the egg, you add the water,
and you add all the the ingredients. It's still not
a cake. You still gotta beat the cake. You gotta
beat the batter. You gotta beat the batter. It's still
not a cake. Then what you gotta do, man, is
you gotta pour it.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
In the pan. Right, pour it in the pan.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
And then what you gotta do is set the oven
at the temperature that you say, and put it in
the oven and let it bake for thirty five seconds
or thirty five minutes in that judel, and then pull
it out.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
It's a cake. I said, guys, this is.
Speaker 4 (20:32):
Gonna take time for them to come together. But once
they come together, they're gonna be tough to beat. They're
gonna be scary. And what happened, I said, bo Nick's
man is gonna find his way because he's that type
of kid, and he's a mature quarterback. He's older than
the normal rookie coming out of college, and he came out.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Of a great program.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
He came out of a program that's almost like a
pro program anyway, right, and so hey, once you let
those kids come together and that whole deal, I said,
they're gonna be awful good. Patrick'sletan and and Marvin Mims
and and and and all of those guys were gonna
be and Benita and all those guys. I said, once
they come together with all that energy, they're gonna be
(21:16):
tough to beat. And I said, look look at where
they're at right now. They're getting ready to you know,
get into the playoffs. And they got into the playoffs.
They didn't win against a good Buffalo team, but man,
you got a taste of it, and teams better watch
out next year.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Amen.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Rick, you mentioned Marvin Mims, and you know, like I said,
I was watching a little bit of you last night,
yes to mentally prepare myself for your absolute greatness, And
I just couldn't help when I was watching think, man,
Marvin Mims reminds me a little bit of Rick up Church.
Uh you do you see any similarities between, you know,
(21:56):
the way that Marvin Min's plays this game, especially talking
about in the re herd game, and then how he's
used in the offense as kind of that like slot
chess piece. Do you see any similarities between the two
of you, and that.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Marvin Mins is a playmaker. He's a guy man.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
You need to get the ball in his hands anyway
you possibly can get into into his hands at least
fifteen fifteen to eighteen times because he's dynamic.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Man. I love him.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
And last year, you know, folks were calling me and
asked me about you know him and this, that and
the other. Now the touchdown came, man, when what they
were getting their asses with seventy fourteen or something like that, right.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Talk about it?
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Yeah, yeah, you.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Know what I'm saying from memories that that game never happened.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
And so I was like, well, you know, that's all
well and good in that oldeal. And folks were calling
me and said, well more Marvin Mins bright, and I says.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Well, I need to see more.
Speaker 4 (22:51):
I remember my first year, man, my rookie year, man,
I returned forty kickoff returns for one thousand yards, and
I also returned to when he's seven punt returns for
over three hundred yards in that Hodel, which was the
third was the third most international football league as a
rookie and as my rookie year. So when I watched
(23:12):
him I says, man, I said, this kid man, he
really does it. Looked like he can get some stuff
and he's a game breaker. And when I when I
said that to him, and I met him and I
told him, I said, I want to see more.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
You know, everybody sat him in and all that whole
type of stuff.
Speaker 4 (23:27):
I said, I want to see more and then maybe
maybe I'll say some stuff to you, bro, but I
need to see more this year. This year homeboys said, man,
I'm gonna show everybody said who I am, and I'm
with him. Hey, this kid man, he's dynamic. Yeah, he's
a he's a game breaker.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Speaking of I'm sorry.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
Oh, I was gonna say, just like you know, watching
you return kicks and then watching Marvin return kicks, the patience,
the burst, the top end speed that both you have it,
it's like you're, like you said, game changing, right, So
to have that, to have him not even from the
offensive aspect, just in the special teams aspect, absolutely, if
(24:10):
he can be a fraction of Rick up Church in
the return game.
Speaker 4 (24:14):
We got oh yeah, well that once again, Remember the
game of footballs three is three principles, right, you got
what offense, defense and offense and offense.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
I mean special teams.
Speaker 4 (24:26):
Change is momentum, and we've we've seen man with With
special teams, you can either win or lose with them, right.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Yes, because a kicker, a kicker does what right, right, right,
left what I'm saying, or a.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Part returner man fumbles the ball given the offense positive
you know, uh yardage and that O'Dell or put in
the defense in a bad situation.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
So that's what I tell people.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
You got to understand how important man special teams is
in your winning for sure.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
I know you were you were talking about all of
the all of the kicks punks that you return. Rick,
what Glenn wants to know, can you please describe your
favorite touchdown return from the moment it left their foot
to you crossing the goal line. Matt, you had a
lot of return touchdowns, Rick, did you have a favorite
(25:18):
one that's still like you close your eyes at night
and you just see it on replay?
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Well, I can't.
Speaker 4 (25:27):
It was against San Diego, and I think it was
in nineteen seventy eight or seventy nine, and we were
losing to San Diego and they had been kicking the ball.
His name was West for the last name was Wes,
their punter, and he was punting the ball out of
bounds because they didn't want me to touch the ball.
And just so happens, Man the ball and we're in
(25:50):
the fourth quarter. He punts the ball and the ball
comes off his foot and it stays in bounds and
I break it for seventy eight yards on a man
in that hodel and we ended up winning that game. Man,
that that man, let me tell you something, that was juice.
That really was juice man in that odell. And you know,
because San Diego, man, they were our rival as well,
(26:10):
and so to beat them Kellen Winslow, Dan Fowls, John
Jefferson and those guys man in that in that game, man,
let me tell you something that that was big. And
I just felt so good. The guys man were throwing
me around in the locker room.
Speaker 5 (26:25):
Man.
Speaker 4 (26:26):
Yeah, it was great. That's the one that I really
really remember. But I've had I had so many. I
had eight of them, and uh you know, I had ten.
Actually two of them were called back. But you know,
once again, I loved it, guys. I did it my
whole life. I did it man as a young kid
man back at home, I did it in junior high.
(26:49):
I loved it because it was exciting and everybody would
get juiced up. You know what I'm saying. And I said, man,
if I can juice the team up, man, shoot, I.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Found my spot. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Absolutely, what Rick?
Speaker 3 (27:02):
What was your what was your mentality? Like let's say,
you know, punt team goes out there, you know, and
you're waiting for You're waiting for that ball to be snapped.
What's your mentality in those situations? Because I trying to
teach kids to catch punts and return punts is really
tough because you know they're thinking about all these different
(27:23):
things in their head.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
Yeah, walk us through your mindset before you catch that ball.
Speaker 4 (27:29):
First and foremost, pat is this. Like I said, I've
been doing a long time. I put pride into it.
And when I say put pride into it when I
when I go out and I practice, I put a
lot of time into it. In practice, I would catch
I would catch fifty man before practice, and I would
catch fifty balls after practice. They would kick them all
kinds of ways into the sidelines, short, nose down, nose over,
(27:52):
and that holding. I would turn my back and just
hear the ball come off their foot, so I could
turn around and locate it. So for me, so for me,
honestly and truly, I put work into it, so I
wasn't worried about catching the ball and that type of stuff, man,
And that was because I was confident in what I
and how I practiced it. You know what I'm saying,
a lot of guys don't practice it, and then when
(28:13):
they get out there, man, in certain situations when the
wind's blowing right, all of a sudden, now they're not
as good, right.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
And so it didn't it didn't bother me.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
And then also man, and during our meetings in that hold,
on our special teams meetings, along with the coach coach Postfoot,
who was one of our special teams coaches, I was
always active in the meetings on what I was going
to be going to do or how we were going
to set it up and those type of things. So
(28:41):
we were all together and what the plan was in
that whole deal. And so the guys they understood that
all we needed to do was just shade somebody.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
I don't need to block them.
Speaker 4 (28:51):
I just need to shade somebody and give him an
opportunity to run because if you remember, I was a
running back in college and in high school. So I
could use those instincts and cut off of people, man,
and get into the hole and use my speed. And
so yeah, so I prepared, guys, I did. I always
came prepared. And once again, my my buddy, my my
(29:12):
chiropractic guy, Nelson the Tanzi. I would always see him
every week and he says he would always talk to me,
says Rick, once again, you gotta stay man, studied up man,
so that man, nothing surprises you. And that's what he
always told me, that let nothing surprise you.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Man. Are you ever surprised?
Speaker 2 (29:32):
Rick?
Speaker 4 (29:32):
No, No, I was never surprised, never, never surprised.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
And I always man said to myself, I got the
upper hand.
Speaker 4 (29:40):
And I would always talk to the return that you know,
I fair catch a ball and they come running down
talking smacking that Hodel.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
I said, you guys are about to lose your job. Wow, allright,
hey man, you're about to lose your job. Man, you
gotta let him know this.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
You can hit somebody with uh.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
So, what was the what was the hardest hit that
you took that you took?
Speaker 4 (30:11):
It was the first time I touched the ball in
the National Football League against Kansas City. Man, They've split
my helmet, dude, I had a if you look at
my helmet, man, uh, I didn't have an emblem on
the side of it until after halftime because man, I
was returning the kickoff return and against Kansas City and
you know, this is my first time in the league,
(30:33):
and I'm juiced up and this is Kansas City Chiefs.
I don't understand the rivalry, right, so and so, uh
they kick off you stenroo kickof.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
I get the ball and man, I could see the
gold posts.
Speaker 4 (30:46):
I'm like, oh, man, the first time I touched it,
saying I'm getting ready to go. And I turned on
the jets and man, it was a car wreck. Man,
I said, oh, my freaking god.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
I mean remember uh huh you do you remember who
hit you?
Speaker 4 (31:01):
I it was a bunch of guys and it was
it was a group tackle. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
My helmet was like this. I was looking through.
Speaker 4 (31:11):
My My liver was was cut. I had a big
nood on my eye and I was concussed. Man, I
was concussed. They walked me over to the sideline. Man
in that whole deal, and I was like, oh, my goodness,
I said, this is the National Football League, dude, you know.
So that was my Yeah, that was my first taste
of National Football League, My very first time I touched
(31:33):
the ball.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
Bro they hit you with the smelling sauce. That was
their concussion test. Yes, get back out there.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
How many? Well there's none there? Okay, you all right?
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Cussing off? Yeah, they just got to get in the
ballpark as long as they can see something.
Speaker 4 (31:54):
Good.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Yeah, let's get you ready for next week. Okay.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
So obviously, Rick, this is this is the most excited
that you know, the Bronco fans have been over a
rookie quarterback honestly, probably since John Elway. And in case
anybody doesn't know, you played with John when he was
a rookie. You were one of the receivers. And so
I want to ask you really just to put things
into perspective. Most Bronco fans, Rick, they understand that bo
(32:23):
Nicks has a bright future. Even though a lot of
fans weren't excited about the draft pick when it first
happened because they were told by these these quote unquote
experts that bow Knicks is the second round talent. There
was still a lot of like very critical Bronco fans
throughout the course of the season. Rick I saw fans
and Pat can attest to this week one, Week two,
(32:46):
Week three, He's off to a slow start, he's struggling,
and everybody's like, we're cooked, he's no good, We're in trouble.
That was such a waste of the draft pick. And Rick, honestly,
it was just like he had this record break rookie year.
And if it wasn't for Jayden Daniels being as unbelievable
as he was, Joe Niggs is the only rookie quarterback
(33:07):
that's being talked about right now.
Speaker 6 (33:09):
Right So I want you to give the perspective for
these people who up until Week eighteen, up until the
playoff game, since the playoff game, because they only put
up seven points in a playoff game, there's still people
that don't believe in Boonenecks or they don't appreciate what
he just did.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
So because you were with John his rookie year, I
just want you to shed some light for these people.
What at that quarterback was John Elway his rookie year.
What was it like playing with him? Because you were
kind of one of the star wart players that had
been there, done that. When John came into the league.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
Yeah, John very talented.
Speaker 4 (33:45):
We knew about him, man, coming out of Stanford, and
the numbers that he had or were outstanding. That's at
the college level. But then you come into the professional level,
everybody's good. You know, in college, he might have some
falloff and that oldeal and you'll have a good game
against the team that's just not don't match up with
you very well. Right in the National Football League, there's
(34:07):
not a lot of teams that don't match up very
well because they're all very good. And I remember John,
you know, you know, in the first his very first game, man,
you know, he was just bright eyed, bushytail. But you
know even in practice, right we're up in training camp
and John's throwing bombs, man, and he's and he's throwing
that ball, man, and he's fitting it in there. But
(34:28):
the thing about it, he threw the ball so hard.
If you remember, he was a baseball player as well
and was drafted by the by the Yankees. So John
didn't have very much touch at twelve fifteen sixteen yards
in that Odell. He was throwing the ball and was
on you so fast. In that oldell, So we had
to tone him down. John, you can't throw the ball
like that man in that odell because once again he
(34:49):
couldn't read the defenses that quickly.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Right.
Speaker 4 (34:54):
And then when you go against the number ones, our
orange cut crutch defense.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
And yeah, everything that you're.
Speaker 4 (35:01):
Doing as a rookie, and they're picking off all kinds
of stuff. So now he's trying to fit everything in, right,
he's trying to fit everything in because he did a
couple of times he went against our number ones in
that hoodeo. Naturally they couldn't tackle him at all and
beat him up. But he went against him. But those
defensive backs Louis Wright and all those guys ate him
up right. And so now all of a sudden he
(35:23):
comes back and he says, Man, these guys are fast
and they're good. I said, absolutely, John, I said, first
and foremost, we're not going to catch a ball for you,
man until you take some pepper off the ball, especially
when we're running outs and slants and stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
Now, if we're.
Speaker 4 (35:38):
Running deep, throw that bad boy out there and make
us go after in that hodel. But don't be eating
us up man at twelve yards, you know, twelve yards
out or hitches in that hodel and so, and he
still didn't get it.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
I mean, he really didn't get it because he couldn't
read the defenses right.
Speaker 4 (35:55):
And so he says, man, I got to get it
in there, John, anticipate me coming into the hole. Put
it into the hole. I'll get into the hole and
I'll make the reception in that odell, right. John just didn't.
He didn't get that, But eventually he did. Pittsburgh game,
Steve de Burgh had to come in and save us.
Pittsburgh was blitzing him from every angle, from every place
(36:18):
you could think about in that oldell. And then he says, look, guys,
you know, be patient with the guys, be patient with me.
I'll get this. I'll be all right. Steve de Burgh
comes in, you know, he leads us down the field
and leads us to victory. That's the difference between a
veteran and then a rookie coming into the league. Now
when you talk about John Elway and and bo Knicks,
(36:38):
once again, Boon Knicks had the fanfare right, But guys,
you gotta understand with bow Knicks, he didn't get any
time with the number ones in preseason the number ones
didn't even see the field.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
If you remember, well, when you.
Speaker 4 (36:55):
Don't get some time out there with the number ones,
maybe a couple of drip put together a couple of drives.
So did you get used to the wide receiver speed
when they're cutting? Getting that coordination together? The offensive line
they got a man get their stuff together. The offensive
line didn't play their number ones and if they did,
they might have played maybe a series. So guys, how
(37:17):
important it is for your number ones to get time in?
So did you have timing their Their preseason games were
the first four games of the season. Yeah, and then
they had to eliminate stuff out of the playbook.
Speaker 3 (37:33):
Yeah, it was very different.
Speaker 4 (37:35):
And the playbook for this young man in that hodel
of what works and what doesn't work and what he's
comfortable with.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
So, folks who don't understand the game of.
Speaker 4 (37:44):
Football, you got a man to take football two oh one.
So did you understand how this thing works. It's not
where this kid is going to come in automatically and
be successful, and it.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
Doesn't happen often.
Speaker 4 (37:58):
Look at Peyton manning Peyton An he wasn't that successful
when he went to went to Andy. So folks, a
lot to have patience. This is not microwave man. You
have to have the opportunity for everything to come together,
the offensive line, the defensive line, and the quarterback to
get comfortable with the system that he's in.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
Yes, at least at least didn't line up behind the guard.
Speaker 3 (38:26):
Ye, no, Ill, Yeah, But I tell my buddy, you know,
my buddy is a Broncos fan, and he the whole
season he was talking to me about Bo and He's
just like, Ah, this guy's a bus yeah, and I'm
and I tell him all the time, my guy, if
we were to go back to John Elway's rookie season,
(38:46):
you would be talking the exact same way. And look
at look at how his career changed throughout the years.
He became a completely different player. Bo nix is is yes,
older than most rookie quarterback traditionally, but he, like we
saw what he could do with the shell of this
(39:07):
roster that he had.
Speaker 1 (39:08):
No run game, no real z.
Speaker 3 (39:11):
In the offense, no guy that can beat you know,
man coverage consistently, no true tight end threat. All of
the things that make a Sean Payton offense what it is.
The things that Drew Brees was so successful with in
New Orleans. Bo doesn't have that yet, not yet. Could come. Yeah,
that's that's the great thing. We've got five years of
this guy. This was year one.
Speaker 4 (39:33):
Well, Pat, it's about our fan base man being patient sometimes,
and that's what I tell him all the time when
I talk with him.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
You have to be patient.
Speaker 4 (39:41):
And I said, if you're not patient, then you go
take the clipboard in the whistle and you go.
Speaker 2 (39:44):
Down there and you make it honestly and truthfully.
Speaker 4 (39:48):
Man, if you do a better job, then you go
take the job from Sean Payton and make it happen.
Speaker 2 (39:53):
Go take the job from from bow Nixt and make
it happen.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
Because you're gonna dummies on Twitter, Rick, you better be careful.
You're gonna trigger a lot of dumb dumbs.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
You know what, I can handle it.
Speaker 4 (40:06):
I've had the heat man from millions of people, so
it doesn't bother me any especially when you tell, especially
when you tell the truth, when you tell the truth,
because you've been in it and that then you know
I'll debate you anytime.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 3 (40:22):
It's not it's not easy playing quarterback either. We have
to understand that man was out there doing literally everything
that he could to help.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
This play calls alone.
Speaker 4 (40:31):
You gotta get that out of your mouth, and then
you gotta know what everybody's doing.
Speaker 3 (40:35):
And then you got to read.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
Then you got anyway, like I said, you really really
really quick.
Speaker 4 (40:46):
And then you've got a bunch of bunch of wild
dogs that are nipping at your needles.
Speaker 3 (40:53):
Animals is staring at you, going side to side with
the center. You don't know which way he's gonna go.
Speaker 4 (41:01):
But but but guys, this is this is a program,
This is a This is a team that's gonna do
nothing but get better. And they gotta add a few
couple of more more pieces uh to the puzzle in
that wdel And once they add those pieces, man, I
believe uh that they're they're gonna get into the playoffs.
They had a taste of it this year against a
very good Buffalo team. Right, it wasn't a very good
(41:23):
Buffalo team. So they got to understand, man, how to
hang in there. Man, when you're in in that second
season and that you gotta play.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
You gotta play flawlessly, right, You can't lay the ball down.
Speaker 4 (41:35):
You gotta man move the chains man on that third
down and you got to catch that ball You know
what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (41:41):
Now, you gotta you gotta the things that you did during.
Speaker 4 (41:44):
The regular season, you gotta amplify it and be better
because now you're playing the best of the best of
the league and they're not gonna make too many mistakes,
and you gotta be better than them when you get
into the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (41:56):
Well said, my goodness, pretty high are you?
Speaker 6 (42:01):
Rick?
Speaker 1 (42:01):
Are you? Are you looking for like a coaching job
or just like a consulting like you're you're like you're
you could be flavor flaves to them, like they need
some rick up churches in there.
Speaker 4 (42:12):
You know what you know, Like I said, I've been
back there. You know, when the alumni come back and
we go over to the training camp in at Odell.
I've had an opportunity, you know, to talk to a
few of the ball players in that Odell. I don't
getting away too much in that odeal because I don't
want conflicting information going to them and then their head
and that type of stuff, and you know, that type
of stuff. But when I have the opportunity to talk
(42:34):
to a guy like you know, Marvin Memes or talk
to h you know, some of the kids, Patrick Setan
and that Hodel. I'll talk to him and just let
them know that, Look, we started the winning tradition here, bro,
and that's what we do. And I don't expect anything
anything different out of you guys man in that Wodel.
We're gonna hold you to a high standard because we
(42:56):
did it. We held ourselves to a side standard and
you guys man, have to hold yourself to a high standard.
Hey man. Winning is what we do around here. And
so you guys man, played hard, play tough, play clean man.
But go out there, man and kick ass. That's what
I tell them.
Speaker 1 (43:11):
And you can say that right because again you you've
been there, done that, and you guys were the ones
that laid the winning foundation for this organization. So speaking
of all of that and back in the day, Rick,
one of the things that I'm most looking forward to,
and that a lot of people watching are mostly looking
forward to hearing from you, are just some stories from
from the heyday, from from the that the the nineteen
(43:34):
seventies Denver Broncos, like some behind the self stine, behind
the scenes stuff that we otherwise may never have heard about.
Like it's not in a book, you know, it's not
common knowledge. So just just like enlighten us stories us.
Speaker 4 (43:54):
Well, training camp was the spot man. You know, you
got the rookies, you got the veterans man, and we're
locked up man, and and some dorms and all that stuff.
So you know, we got to get a real real
nuts and stuff of that nature. But let me tell
you we had some characters man that just did stuff
that was absolutely stupid. You know they what they would do, man,
is you know light you know, get a bag of
(44:16):
pooping that hodel and like that bag man and put
it next to your door man, and that whole deal,
and they firefire, pulled the fire alarm and you come
out and stepping on it and you're like, well, I
thawt frick man. You know it's horse crap and all
that type of stuff. You know, Randy, Randy gratishyard. Randy
won't He's okay, But Randy was the big culper that
(44:37):
or either he would open your door man and throw
a stink bomb in there and in that room, and
that stuff would get into your room, and you know
he wouldn't leave us there for the whole training camp
type of thing. You know what I'm saying, Uh yeah,
It's just stuff like that, guys, you know. But the
number one thing for me was when Tom Jackson when
we finally beat the Oakland Raiders thirty to seven in
(45:00):
Oakland in nineteen seventy seven, and Louis wright Uh intercepted
the ball and went down for a touchdown. In that hodel,
Tom Jackson ran by John Madden and said.
Speaker 1 (45:10):
It's over, It's.
Speaker 2 (45:13):
Done, It's over. And what and what could he say?
You know what I say? I said, Tom, I said, Tom,
good job.
Speaker 1 (45:24):
I remember the guy who I wish wouldn't have come
over and talked to me. Bloodston know, Rick, what's the
craziest Lile Alzado story that you can tell? Obviously Lyle
had a little bit of reputation. Well let's just call
him cuckoo banana pants. So what do you What do
(45:45):
you got in terms of Lyle Alzado stories?
Speaker 2 (45:47):
Loud, loud, my friend, man, lou my dog.
Speaker 4 (45:50):
He when I got there, he and I clung together
in that hodel because he loved soul training, he loved
disco and you know he you know, because he was
from New York.
Speaker 2 (46:00):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (46:01):
The one boy had that swag, you know, what I'm
saying in that O'Dell and he loved he loved soul trained.
He loved it, man, and so uh we would sometimes
we would act like we was doing soul trained and
that type of stuff and that oldeal. And one and
one day, man, he got into a fight, right, he
got into a fight. He's out there, man, he I
mean it's like two buffalo's, you know, fighting him and
(46:24):
claudy mind and dust flying everywhere. Right, they're battling and that.
And then so they can't calm him down. And they said, well, Rick,
you go over and calming down.
Speaker 2 (46:33):
He likes you.
Speaker 4 (46:34):
And I'm like, drag no, man, that's like asking over
like a t a rock waller man.
Speaker 1 (46:42):
And so I went over.
Speaker 2 (46:43):
I said, Loud, I said you okay, man, he okay.
And he's cussing and he's mustling, and he's and he's
throwing around. He swollen up and that I said, hey, Loud,
hey man, look look watch this. Let's do some soul train.
Speaker 6 (46:54):
Man.
Speaker 2 (46:55):
You know, brought him all the way down, he says,
ver I said, man, soul train, remember so training.
Speaker 4 (47:05):
So yeah, and then and then the other one is
this guys, and then I'll be done. Lile Man beat
up uh, one of the one of our defensive backs.
I wasn't there, but this is the story that I
do know that Lyle beat up one of our defensive backs,
beat him up pretty bad in that Hodel.
Speaker 2 (47:22):
This kid went home, man.
Speaker 4 (47:23):
And out to Montmello and went home and he got
his peace, and he caught a cab back man to
the to the facility and he kicked the door in
at the facility. Man looking for Lile getting ready to
do some business man in that hoodel.
Speaker 2 (47:38):
And luckily they were in film.
Speaker 4 (47:39):
Luckily they were in film meeting, right, they were in
a film meeting at Hodel. So when he you know,
when he came in out of the light, he couldn't
really see and so Lyle man hit the floor man
and crawled out of the room in that hodel. And
this guy man, they held on to the he held
on to that gun. He was looking for Loud to
actually do some damage to him. That's how hand yeah,
(48:01):
and that's how Haven Moses, you know, came to the
Denver Broncos from the Buffalo Bills. And so yeah, so loud,
so loud, you know, Lyle could get really vicious and
do some stuff.
Speaker 2 (48:13):
But that day I think he was getting ready to
meet his maker.
Speaker 1 (48:17):
That's instane.
Speaker 3 (48:18):
That's actually a crazy story.
Speaker 7 (48:20):
Yeah you telling man, everybody, can you say, can you
say who came back with the piece?
Speaker 5 (48:30):
Rick?
Speaker 2 (48:31):
No, I'm not. Yeah, I feel weird if I didn't. Yeah. Man,
But he came back to saying, oh you like to
beat up on people?
Speaker 4 (48:45):
He said, okay, and he walked all the way from
the facility out to Mambella.
Speaker 1 (48:55):
See that's lunatic behavior right there. Man. Didn't even call
a cab or something. No, he said, Man, he said,
I'll be back. I'm gonna earn this morning. You know.
Speaker 3 (49:08):
He was just talking to himself the whole way there,
in the whole.
Speaker 4 (49:12):
And then and then he caught a cab back and
he said, man, let me out here, dog, I'm good.
Speaker 1 (49:18):
After that long ass walk, rigg, he would have calmed
down a little bit now he held one.
Speaker 2 (49:25):
Oh yeah, man.
Speaker 4 (49:26):
So that those are the stories that I do know, man,
that there's some crazy. There's so many man in that HOLDEO.
We had such a great time, uh there in Denver.
We go down in the Glendale man, and that's where
we go to the turn of the century.
Speaker 2 (49:41):
We go to the lift. Uh, we go to.
Speaker 4 (49:43):
The mining company, and that's where we would hang out
and lyle. Eventually man bought a club down in Cherry Creek.
Man in that odell where we would go. He remembered,
I told you he loved the disco and that oldell he.
Speaker 2 (49:54):
Ended up buying. He ended up buying a uh.
Speaker 4 (49:56):
It was Alzada's in the uh and Cherry Creek yep, yep, yep.
So yeah, Man, so many stories, so much good times man,
and that who doesn't remember. Guys, we weren't making all
that type of money in that whole deal. So what
we would do is we would all hang together, man,
and take care of one another and that whole deal,
whether it be financially or watching each other's back.
Speaker 2 (50:19):
We were brothers. We were family.
Speaker 3 (50:22):
Yeah, you like the locker room being a family. But
I feel like, yeah, like like you said, just being
there for each other, especially when it's not these lucrative contracts.
That's right, you're just you're honestly just going to war
for the love of the game.
Speaker 2 (50:39):
Well, we're trying to get to the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (50:41):
Yeah, you know, we're like, hey man, there's a couple
of more couple of more dollars man there in the
playoffs and we can get there. Shoot, I get I
won't spend it all in one place, but shoot, I'll
have a little bit more money, you know. Yeah exactly
something absolutely, and that was our mindset. We said, hey man,
this is get a little bit more money. Baby needs
some new shoe.
Speaker 3 (51:02):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (51:05):
Anything else that you wanna that you want to share,
like from your playing days or anything else that you
want to talk about before we let you go, and
we thank you so much again for your time.
Speaker 2 (51:14):
Honey, can you can you give me that information? I'm
gonna be up again.
Speaker 3 (51:18):
I got it.
Speaker 2 (51:20):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (51:22):
Yeah, go ahead, yes, before before we get Rick out
of here. One of the reasons that we wanted to
have him have him out. If you're wondering what to
do for the Super Bowl weekend, obviously, as Bronco fans
were depressed, we week in and week out, we gotta
watch the Zebras give games to this obnoxious ass team
(51:42):
from Kansas City. But if you're looking for something fun
to do to to cleanse your soul and cleanse your
spirit a little bit. On February eighth, Rick will be
at the Delta Hotel in North Glen, Colorado. Uh it's
uh noon v I P. So it's it's it's a
whole it's a whole weekend of like festivities. So we're
(52:03):
doing one to two thirty. There's a public signing. Rick
will be signing autograss twenty dollars per signature, ten dollars
per inscription. So that's all on on Saturday, the day
before the super Bowl. There's a big party, right rig
hanging out. It's gonna be a whole big event. And
then for the actual super Bowl, and I'm gonna be honest, man,
(52:24):
i don't really really want to watch the super Bowl.
I'm going to because it's the super Bowl. It's bumming
me out, Rick. So if there's if there's something in
some way, there's anything that could cheer me up and
raise my spirits during this fixed game that we're about
to watch, it would be watching the Super Bowl with
Rick upchurch. And if you're a Broncos fan and that's
(52:46):
not on your bucket list, then you need to update
your bucket list. So there's there's a super Bowl watch
party and that will that'll be at the Delta Hotel
as well, right, Rick up in North Glenn.
Speaker 2 (52:57):
I Yes, that's that's where I'll be.
Speaker 4 (52:59):
I'll be up there signing that whodel and hey, man,
like I said, we'll have some fun. I love our fans,
you know. I don't live there anymore. I live in
Las Vegas. But when I do get there, man, I
just love our fans.
Speaker 1 (53:11):
Man.
Speaker 4 (53:11):
I love seeing them and meeting them and talking with
them in that whole deal.
Speaker 2 (53:15):
Man. So I hope that they come out.
Speaker 4 (53:17):
We'll have a good time, talk football and sign sign
autographs for them.
Speaker 1 (53:22):
Love it, get out absolutely anything else before we get
you out of here.
Speaker 4 (53:26):
Rick, You know what, once again, a Mario, I love
you dearly man. You know I've been knowing you since
in Panthers for sure. And Pat it's an honor and
the pleasure to be on here with you. I'd love
you guys in your podcast. You guys, just keep doing
what you're doing. You do a great job.
Speaker 2 (53:44):
Man.
Speaker 3 (53:45):
No, thank you, Rick.
Speaker 1 (53:48):
That's the best endorsement that we could possibly get sucking
haters who want to talk about the show and talk
crazy because one of the greatest Denver Broncos in the
history of the franchise gives us this stamp. Of approval.
My name's Mario Betanzi. That's Patrick Kyode, Rick up Church,
(54:09):
the legendary fan. I'm out of words to describe you like.
I want to say legendary Rick, but it just doesn't
feel like it doesn't justice, So we're just gonna say
the incomparable, Rick up Church. Thank you so much for
joining us, to everybody, thank y'all for watching. Pat and
I will be back next week to fill some more
(54:30):
holes on the Denver Broncos roster. Love you, God blessed
my Bia.
Speaker 3 (54:42):
Film.
Speaker 4 (54:43):
In a move for a switcher, I hit hit the rose,
I hit I hit the stage.
Speaker 3 (54:49):
I leave with money.
Speaker 6 (54:50):
That's a stake up.
You scared Pat a little. You're scared, Pat, because if
you're scared, go to church, rip up Church.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
That is, Hey, film in a move for a switcher.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
I hit the budget, hit the roseate to that hit up,
I hit the stage, I leave with money.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
That's a stick up. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,
children of all ages, welcome to another episode of altitude Adjustment.
I would say, arguably, but it's not even an argument. Now,
this is gonna be the best show that we have
ever done, and that is setting the bar incredibly high.
But it is because we are joined by the legendary
(00:49):
rip Up Church, the only Denver Bronco to ever be
a part of two count them to all decades teams.
And if you don't know, now you know, Rick, thank
you so much for joining us to just to basking
the greatness of Rick Upchurch, the legend that you are.
Thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Rick.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
How you doing man, Hey, Mario, how you doing man?
It's an honor and the pleasure to be on your show,
And thank you for having me and Pat, Hey, how
you doing too, man? It's an honor and of the pleasure
to meet you as well. But you know, what, Mario.
You know, we have a lot of stories that we
can tell. I mean, it's a long history that we
can talk about, that's for sure, and I'm just glad
(01:31):
to be on to be able to tell the story
to you and Fat and the rest of the Bronco
nation out there.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Absolutely, and we're definitely going to get to the stories. Rick.
But I know one of the reasons that you wanted
to be on this show is you wanted to talk
about the success of this team.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Now.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Obviously, for anybody that doesn't know, your heyday was in
the seventies and eighties, right like that, your that was
really the prime of Rick up Church and those are
really the times that the Broncos football was established. You know,
before you were there, Rick, the Buncos were a little
bit of a laughing stock, and you were one of
(02:07):
those big pieces that really helped turn this franchise around.
Now we fast forward to to this year. We underwent
the longest playoff drought in franchise history and finally the
boys are back. So you've been around the game your
entire life for longer than any of us, any of
us can conceive. Just talk about this past season, Rick, Like,
(02:28):
what did you see that you liked that you didn't
like what stood out to you? What was good? What
needs to be better? Any way that you want to
answer that question filled Broncos country with your rick of
church knowledge.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Well, you know, once again I have to go back.
You know, the.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
Floyd Littles of the Bronco land, the rich Jackson's and
the jam Mingos and those those guys, those are the
guys that I looked up to back then, because you know,
once again, the Broncos coming into the league back in
the sixties, and you know, being an mpriant coming into
the league at sixty, especially living in the Rocky Mountain region, right,
(03:10):
there's nothing there. There's not ABC, there's not NBC, there's
not CBS. So for the guys to be able to
get some TV times, it was virtually impossible because once
again you had the East Coast, West Coast, and then
you had the Dallas Cowboys, America's team, the Pittsburgh Steelers
and all those guys that were making all the noise,
Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, and so the Broncos man were
(03:33):
sitting in the Rocky Mountains getting no exposure. But you
still had some great ballplayers like Lionel Taylor. Lionel Taylor
one of the top receivers that were playing the AFC
and in the NFL, you know, catching a hundred passes
in a thousand yards and that type of stuff, but
never got the recognition that he should have gotten, right.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
And then you got Gene Mingo.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
He's the first African American kicker man to kick in
the league.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
For sure, rope barriers in that whole deal. But you
never heard about that.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
Marlon Briscoe, who was the first African American quarterback man
to play in the National Football League. You never heard
about that because the Denver Broncos weren't getting that exposure.
But you know what, when I right the year a
couple of years before I came into the league, right,
the Broncos finally finally broke through and they had a
(04:24):
winning season because you had the Kansas City Chiefs, right,
and then you had the Oakland Raiders, who are guys
that were, you know, making all the noise in the
AMC West. And then you had the running around the field,
well they were they let me tell you, they had
monitors on their legs and all that time John Butthusac
and those type of guys. You know, they were gouging
(04:46):
people in the in the in the eyes and stuff.
And Jack Tatum called himself the Assassin. So yeah, you
had some bad boys over there.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
So and that was that.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
Those were the teams that we had to beat the
overcome to be to be relevant right in the AMC
West or International Football League. And so when I when
I got here, uh to the to the to the
Denver Broncos, I was drafted out of the University of
Minnesota in the fourth round myself, right, Bob Swinson.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
We had a great Steve Foley.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
We had a great draft class at that particular time. Now,
remember and Broncos had you know, they were winning, they
had broke through and they started winning. Now all of
a sudden, people are talking about the Broncos.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Hey there's a team there in Denver.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
You know, they did they've won, they've done some winning,
but you know, they haven't gone to a playoff, they
haven't won, you know, a Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
So they're just you know, they're just there.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
They might you know, beat the Raiders man maybe once
or twice in Kansas City, once or twice, but they're
not making any noise. But let me tell you after
after they won, I think they went seven and five.
After they won, we came in and we myself, Louis Wright,
like I said at seventy five draft, we filled in
some spots. Louis, right, was a shutdown corner number one
(06:01):
drafting Rubing carter Man in that three four defense.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
He was the stabilizer man that had.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
He demanded double team to keep people off of Randy Gradishyar,
and he was just fierce. Then you had Randy Gradishard.
Then you had Barney Chafins. I mean, if we had
Lyle Alzado, we had the defense. Tim let me tell
you that defense, that Orange Crush defense was absolutely nice.
Then we had our offense, our offense man, we were
(06:29):
capable once again, Charlie Johnson. I came in under Charlie Johnson,
if you remember, and then you had the eminem connection
with Craig Morton when he came in, and then you had.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
That great defense we had.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
And then in nineteen seventy seven we break through and
we go to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Right, yeah, it we filled.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
In the spots that the team needed at that particular
time in nineteen seventy seven, and then all of a sudden,
we're relevant. Now we beat the Yakland Raiders, beat the
Kansas City Chiefs, we beat the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now we're relevant,
and now we're getting the media to look at us
there in the Rocky Mountains. It says they got something going, guys,
(07:11):
let's keep our eye on them in that whole deal.
And then from that point on we were very successful.
You know John Elway, you know Dan Reeves, they went
to three Super Bowls, didn't win it. Then John with
Mike Shanahan eventually went to the Super Bowl and won it.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
So that's the story. That's the story.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
And the fan base here man always stuck with the
Denver Bronco organization, with the with the players. They were
always with us. They were not fly by night man.
They stuck with us through thick and thin, guys.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Yeah, it's absolutely amazing. The history this is. It's one
of my favorite, like NFL stories, just the creation of
the team, them getting in to the NFL, all the
years of hardship that they went through, and then you know,
they get a few pieces and they keep building, keep building,
keep building, and then you know they eventually get to
(08:05):
what it was like seven Super Bowls.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Yeah, absolutely, you know, up to.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Up to fifty. So it's it's absolutely incredible, and it's
amazing that you know, you're one of the people who
really transformed not just the Denver Broncos, but the game
of football as a whole. Like you you were one
of those key elements of the transformation of the sport
going into this next generation special teams is such a
(08:31):
big part and you were a massive part of it.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
So thank you.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Yeah. Well, I was always taught.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
You know, I come from the great state of Ohio
and Ohio State Buck guys, go buck guys.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
You know what I'm saying. And so you know, we
were taught good football.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
And I know my chiropractic buddy, Mario's dad, man, he
was from Ohio, So we always talked smec to people.
Man when Ohio State was kicking button all that type
of stuff. So but yeah, you know, I was taught. Well,
my coach man always told me, they said, Rick be
a Swiss knife. You know, you always want to be
able to be on the field. And you know, whether
(09:07):
it's you know, centering a ball or whether it's blocking somebody,
or whether catching the ball or running the ball, you
want to be on the field, So make yourself available.
And I tried to do that, and I tried to
make that a part of my game for sure. And
you know, to be able to come in and help
this organization and help this franchise to become a winner,
(09:27):
I am thankful.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
I'm grateful.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
And also, guys, let me tell you the Denver Broncos,
if not for Floyd Little, right, if not for Floyd
Little going out, you know, door to door and talking
to the fans and that type of stuff. Man, In
that oldell, the Broncos were getting ready to be sold.
They were going to be there, right, and then the
Fifthses were able to come up with the money man
(09:50):
for the fans to be able to stay there in Denver. So, folks, man,
be grateful man that you had some players man that
stepped out and said, hey, we're going to keep the
and for Broncos in Denver because they were about to
be sold.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Guys, that's unbelievable that an NFL player is going door
to door trying to sell this fan base on the
sport of football. Like, could you imagine if if we're
dealing with that today and you got guys like Courtland
Sutton and bow Nicks just your donor door and be like, hey,
you should check us out. We're pretty good. Yeah, sorry,
(10:32):
go ahead.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
No, I mean that's true though.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
I mean, you know, you have to build your fan base,
you know, right there in that Rocky Mountain region if
you're going to be able to sell tickets. You know,
once again, back then, you had to sell tickets because
you didn't have the media that they have today. And
I remember the fifth is they don't They ran a
construction company, and so that construction company is you know,
(10:55):
just a small business. And so you definitely had to
get the fan base from around the New Mexico A,
y mean, Western Kansas, Western Nebraska, Arizona, Utah. You had
to get that fan base man to come in and
sell those tickets so that you could pay the players
and meet your bills.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
And now you fast.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Forward to now, Rick, and there's like a seventy thousand
plus person wait list to become a season ticket holder.
And you know what I think the Penner Walton Penner
groove needs to do. They need to go back to
people like you, Rick, who.
Speaker 5 (11:30):
Started this this grasp through movement towards the deva Broncos,
and they need to give you some royalties or something
to understand that, Like you really were one of the
people that jump started being.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
One of the one of the most perennially good fan
bases in the NFL. Because if it's not for you
guys doing stuff like that and laying the groundwork, then
we're certainly not sitting where we are today and we
can't claim one of, if not the best fan bases
in the NFL. And I think that's really fascinating. Like
I knew a little bit about that, but never to
(12:03):
that extent to the point where you guys were going
door to door and so you wonder like where this
like it's not just fandom, right, Like it becomes a
part of you and that's a part of your personality.
And now you understand why because it's this personal relationship
that you you developed to become a fan. Where like
that's why ales are part of your family.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
Even after the games, Mario and Pat after the games,
you know, the guys now they're so protected when they
come out of the tunnels and all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
We didn't have that protection, you know what we do.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
We would come out of the tunnel, man after the game,
and at Hodell we would go probably out to one
of the r vs man and sit out there man
with some of the fans and have some dog on liquor.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Man, and that after.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
Getting our asses lived, you know what, Man, let me
get some numbing oil, you know.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
And so we sit there and get numbed up so
that we could drive home. Man, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Oh, Man, that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
So that's what we did. I mean, we were door
to door.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
We knew the grandparents, we knew the parents, we knew
the kids.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
That's what it's all about. Though, Man, that's the fun part.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
And even today the folks man that that that were
in our era, they still say, Man, I remember, man,
when you came to my house and you sat down
and had dinner with us. I remember when you went
out and played catch with my kids out in the
yard or at their school, and that type of stuff.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
That's what it's all about. These guys today are so
protected in that old deal, right.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Ye.
Speaker 4 (13:29):
Once again for us, we weren't making that type of
money to be protected. We said, we have to get
out so that these folks can come to the game,
so that we can make some money, so you know
what I'm saying. So that's hey, man, it's a totally
different atmosphere. But you know, we were glad to do it.
And like I said, today, we still have folks man
that I know, and they talk about when we sat
(13:51):
at their table, man and had dinner.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
It's that's that community, right, Like I can only imagine
what it had to have been. Like you're watching these
other teams, uh, you know you mentioned the Steelers, the Cowboys,
the Bears, like these long standing franchises that have a
built in fan base and everything like that, and you're
having to to really scrounge and and draw up that
(14:15):
interest in the community. But I think part of part
of building up that fan base to what it is
now is that sense of like, these are our Broncos,
this is our community. Like each one of these players,
it doesn't matter who it is, it is a part
of our community. They're just like the rest of us.
And I think that needs to I think that feeling
(14:35):
needs to come back a little bit. I know they
get out and do stuff in the community every now
and then, but it's not the same.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
Well, you know the fans would always say, you know
what when I would hear your name on TV.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
I could tell people I know him right. Yes, it's personal.
It's a personal name. That's what it's all about.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
And even for us, like I said, even for us today,
you know, to say that honestly, say we have the
best fans in the in the Nextnational Football.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
League is a true one. You know, it's not fake.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
It's the true thing because they supported us through thick
and thin, and it's been sold out for the last what.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
Somebody, Yeah, look at look at our road presence. Look
at how much the orange is in those stadiums. And
Pete Carroll said it in his in his press conference
that the Raiders need to get more people in that stadium.
You're just gonna keep seeing a lot of orange in
that stadium, Pete, sorry to say, but absolutely orange.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
But but then then after seventy seven, guys, when we
you know, we were we weren't picked to win in
seventy seven, guys, we weren't. We were picked, you know,
in the middle of the pack. Oakland Raiders were the champions, right. Uh,
San Diego was coming of age with air Coriel over
there in San Diego.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Dan Fount from that crew and then you.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
And then you had Seattle, who was who was a
fledgling that were coming in and and you know they
were they were tough over there with Jim Zorn and
that O'Dell and the Kansas City Chiefs, you know, their
champ World champions as well with Hank Stram. So you know,
that seventy seven year what we looked at nine and
five the year before in seventy six, right, and we
(16:13):
just missed out on the playoffs, And so seventy seven
was our year, guys, and we put it together, won
sixth straight right. Then we lost to the Raiders when
they came to Denver. Then we ran off sixth straight
more and that oldeal and got to the Super Bowl
and won the AFC West for the first time in
that Oldell.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
So you know, guys, that was a year of winning.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
We said we're going to put our stamp on the
National Football League that we're winners and we're going to
be consistent, because the next year we didn't win, and
we didn't win, we didn't win go back to the
Super Bowl, but we did win the AFC West again
and then we went to the playoffs again. So we
started the footprints Man of winning for the John Lways
to go on and win the championship, that's for sure.
(17:00):
And so I always want to let folks know, Hey, man,
when you're talking to us guys man from the seventies, Hey,
this is why these guys are where they're at today.
You know, you did check out the records, you'll understand. Yeah, yeah,
you guys started the you guys started the winning culture.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Like I had said, the Broncos were kind of a
perennial loser up until up until like seventy seven, and
like the couple of years that preceded that. And you know,
obviously there are a lot of more youthful, younger Bronco
fans now. I mean, but the publication that we're with
Rake the Leedstalk Broncos a little logo down here in
the corner. Half the people that weren't for that publication,
(17:40):
they weren't even alive when John Elway won the Super
Bowl in ninety seven, ninety eight. Mean, shoot, I wasn't
alive in seventy seven. And you know, back when they
went to their first couple of Super Bowl Unfortunately I
never got to see you. I never got to see
you play live. And so I think it's important that
you you were here, kind of like giving fans a history.
Who you know, a lot of these guys, a lot
(18:00):
of people watching the show right now.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
I'm time.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
You probably weren't around for that or don't really remember
how it went, but it was really like your teams
that you were on where the winning culture truly started
in Denver and the Broncos became like a legitimate force
in the league. And so now it's finally continued. So
like that, that seventy seventeen kind of feels a little
bit like the team that we had this year in
(18:24):
the terms of there weren't a lot of expectations and
they exceeded all of those expectations and they're starting to
trend in the right direction. So from what you saw
this year, Rick, because I know you still love the game,
you watch all of the games, what did you think
of this season for the Denver Broncos, Like you give
us a Rick Up Jr. Breakdown.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
Well, you know folks who were asking me, you know, hey,
how do you think the Broncos are going to do?
I said, let me give you some information. Sean Payton's
a good coach. Now, I don't care what anybody says.
He knows how to win. He's been there, he understands.
But what you have to do is you got to
get all the pieces to the puzzle. And when he
got there, he didn't have all the pieces to the
puzzle to what he needed and what he wanted to
(19:05):
run his offense and to build the culture that he wanted.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
And that's the big thing.
Speaker 4 (19:11):
And when you build the culture that you want, then
you get buy in from the players, right, because if
you don't get all the players to buy into your culture, man,
that's almost like a weak link in the chain.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Right.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
The chain was breaking that Hodel. Once again, I don't
think of what's my kid, the quarterback that just left
Russell Wilson. I don't think Russell Wilson and him had
good chemistry. And that wasn't going to work. And it
was good for Russell to leave and then to go
get a young quarterback talented, as bow Nick says, to
(19:44):
come in and try to run that offense and that Hodel.
Folks were asking me, well, how all the Bronco was
going to do or they're going to be okay?
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Now, I said, look, you got to understand. Look, it's
like a cake.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
Right, you get the cake, you get the powder, and
you pour it in a bowl. Then that you add
the ingreened. Right, you add the egg, you add the water,
and you add all the the ingredients. It's still not
a cake. You still gotta beat the cake. You gotta
beat the batter. You gotta beat the batter. It's still
not a cake. Then what you gotta do, man, is
you gotta pour it.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
In the pan. Right, pour it in the pan.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
And then what you gotta do is set the oven
at the temperature that you say, and put it in
the oven and let it bake for thirty five seconds
or thirty five minutes in that judel, and then pull
it out.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
It's a cake. I said, guys, this is.
Speaker 4 (20:32):
Gonna take time for them to come together. But once
they come together, they're gonna be tough to beat. They're
gonna be scary. And what happened, I said, bo Nick's
man is gonna find his way because he's that type
of kid, and he's a mature quarterback. He's older than
the normal rookie coming out of college, and he came out.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Of a great program.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
He came out of a program that's almost like a
pro program anyway, right, and so hey, once you let
those kids come together and that whole deal, I said,
they're gonna be awful good. Patrick'sletan and and Marvin Mims
and and and and all of those guys were gonna
be and Benita and all those guys. I said, once
they come together with all that energy, they're gonna be
(21:16):
tough to beat. And I said, look look at where
they're at right now. They're getting ready to you know,
get into the playoffs. And they got into the playoffs.
They didn't win against a good Buffalo team, but man,
you got a taste of it, and teams better watch
out next year.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Amen.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Rick, you mentioned Marvin Mims, and you know, like I said,
I was watching a little bit of you last night,
yes to mentally prepare myself for your absolute greatness, And
I just couldn't help when I was watching think, man,
Marvin Mims reminds me a little bit of Rick up Church.
Uh you do you see any similarities between, you know,
(21:56):
the way that Marvin Min's plays this game, especially talking
about in the re herd game, and then how he's
used in the offense as kind of that like slot
chess piece. Do you see any similarities between the two
of you, and that.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Marvin Mins is a playmaker. He's a guy man.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
You need to get the ball in his hands anyway
you possibly can get into into his hands at least
fifteen fifteen to eighteen times because he's dynamic.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Man. I love him.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
And last year, you know, folks were calling me and
asked me about you know him and this, that and
the other. Now the touchdown came, man, when what they
were getting their asses with seventy fourteen or something like that, right.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Talk about it?
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Yeah, yeah, you.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Know what I'm saying from memories that that game never happened.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
And so I was like, well, you know, that's all
well and good in that oldeal. And folks were calling
me and said, well more Marvin Mins bright, and I says.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Well, I need to see more.
Speaker 4 (22:51):
I remember my first year, man, my rookie year, man,
I returned forty kickoff returns for one thousand yards, and
I also returned to when he's seven punt returns for
over three hundred yards in that Hodel, which was the
third was the third most international football league as a
rookie and as my rookie year. So when I watched
(23:12):
him I says, man, I said, this kid man, he
really does it. Looked like he can get some stuff
and he's a game breaker. And when I when I
said that to him, and I met him and I
told him, I said, I want to see more.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
You know, everybody sat him in and all that whole
type of stuff.
Speaker 4 (23:27):
I said, I want to see more and then maybe
maybe I'll say some stuff to you, bro, but I
need to see more this year. This year homeboys said, man,
I'm gonna show everybody said who I am, and I'm
with him. Hey, this kid man, he's dynamic. Yeah, he's
a he's a game breaker.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Speaking of I'm sorry.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
Oh, I was gonna say, just like you know, watching
you return kicks and then watching Marvin return kicks, the patience,
the burst, the top end speed that both you have it,
it's like you're, like you said, game changing, right, So
to have that, to have him not even from the
offensive aspect, just in the special teams aspect, absolutely, if
(24:10):
he can be a fraction of Rick up Church in
the return game.
Speaker 4 (24:14):
We got oh yeah, well that once again, Remember the
game of footballs three is three principles, right, you got
what offense, defense and offense and offense.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
I mean special teams.
Speaker 4 (24:26):
Change is momentum, and we've we've seen man with With
special teams, you can either win or lose with them, right.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Yes, because a kicker, a kicker does what right, right, right,
left what I'm saying, or a.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Part returner man fumbles the ball given the offense positive
you know, uh yardage and that O'Dell or put in
the defense in a bad situation.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
So that's what I tell people.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
You got to understand how important man special teams is
in your winning for sure.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
I know you were you were talking about all of
the all of the kicks punks that you return. Rick,
what Glenn wants to know, can you please describe your
favorite touchdown return from the moment it left their foot
to you crossing the goal line. Matt, you had a
lot of return touchdowns, Rick, did you have a favorite
(25:18):
one that's still like you close your eyes at night
and you just see it on replay?
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Well, I can't.
Speaker 4 (25:27):
It was against San Diego, and I think it was
in nineteen seventy eight or seventy nine, and we were
losing to San Diego and they had been kicking the ball.
His name was West for the last name was Wes,
their punter, and he was punting the ball out of
bounds because they didn't want me to touch the ball.
And just so happens, Man the ball and we're in
(25:50):
the fourth quarter. He punts the ball and the ball
comes off his foot and it stays in bounds and
I break it for seventy eight yards on a man
in that hodel and we ended up winning that game. Man,
that that man, let me tell you something, that was juice.
That really was juice man in that odell. And you know,
because San Diego, man, they were our rival as well,
(26:10):
and so to beat them Kellen Winslow, Dan Fowls, John
Jefferson and those guys man in that in that game, man,
let me tell you something that that was big. And
I just felt so good. The guys man were throwing
me around in the locker room.
Speaker 5 (26:25):
Man.
Speaker 4 (26:26):
Yeah, it was great. That's the one that I really
really remember. But I've had I had so many. I
had eight of them, and uh you know, I had ten.
Actually two of them were called back. But you know,
once again, I loved it, guys. I did it my
whole life. I did it man as a young kid
man back at home, I did it in junior high.
(26:49):
I loved it because it was exciting and everybody would
get juiced up. You know what I'm saying. And I said, man,
if I can juice the team up, man, shoot, I.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Found my spot. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Absolutely, what Rick?
Speaker 3 (27:02):
What was your what was your mentality? Like let's say,
you know, punt team goes out there, you know, and
you're waiting for You're waiting for that ball to be snapped.
What's your mentality in those situations? Because I trying to
teach kids to catch punts and return punts is really
tough because you know they're thinking about all these different
(27:23):
things in their head.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
Yeah, walk us through your mindset before you catch that ball.
Speaker 4 (27:29):
First and foremost, pat is this. Like I said, I've
been doing a long time. I put pride into it.
And when I say put pride into it when I
when I go out and I practice, I put a
lot of time into it. In practice, I would catch
I would catch fifty man before practice, and I would
catch fifty balls after practice. They would kick them all
kinds of ways into the sidelines, short, nose down, nose over,
(27:52):
and that holding. I would turn my back and just
hear the ball come off their foot, so I could
turn around and locate it. So for me, so for me,
honestly and truly, I put work into it, so I
wasn't worried about catching the ball and that type of stuff, man,
And that was because I was confident in what I
and how I practiced it. You know what I'm saying,
a lot of guys don't practice it, and then when
(28:13):
they get out there, man, in certain situations when the
wind's blowing right, all of a sudden, now they're not
as good, right.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
And so it didn't it didn't bother me.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
And then also man, and during our meetings in that hold,
on our special teams meetings, along with the coach coach Postfoot,
who was one of our special teams coaches, I was
always active in the meetings on what I was going
to be going to do or how we were going
to set it up and those type of things. So
(28:41):
we were all together and what the plan was in
that whole deal. And so the guys they understood that
all we needed to do was just shade somebody.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
I don't need to block them.
Speaker 4 (28:51):
I just need to shade somebody and give him an
opportunity to run because if you remember, I was a
running back in college and in high school. So I
could use those instincts and cut off of people, man,
and get into the hole and use my speed. And
so yeah, so I prepared, guys, I did. I always
came prepared. And once again, my my buddy, my my
(29:12):
chiropractic guy, Nelson the Tanzi. I would always see him
every week and he says he would always talk to me,
says Rick, once again, you gotta stay man, studied up man,
so that man, nothing surprises you. And that's what he
always told me, that let nothing surprise you.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Man. Are you ever surprised?
Speaker 2 (29:32):
Rick?
Speaker 4 (29:32):
No, No, I was never surprised, never, never surprised.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
And I always man said to myself, I got the
upper hand.
Speaker 4 (29:40):
And I would always talk to the return that you know,
I fair catch a ball and they come running down
talking smacking that Hodel.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
I said, you guys are about to lose your job. Wow, allright,
hey man, you're about to lose your job. Man, you
gotta let him know this.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
You can hit somebody with uh.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
So, what was the what was the hardest hit that
you took that you took?
Speaker 4 (30:11):
It was the first time I touched the ball in
the National Football League against Kansas City. Man, They've split
my helmet, dude, I had a if you look at
my helmet, man, uh, I didn't have an emblem on
the side of it until after halftime because man, I
was returning the kickoff return and against Kansas City and
you know, this is my first time in the league,
(30:33):
and I'm juiced up and this is Kansas City Chiefs.
I don't understand the rivalry, right, so and so, uh
they kick off you stenroo kickof.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
I get the ball and man, I could see the
gold posts.
Speaker 4 (30:46):
I'm like, oh, man, the first time I touched it,
saying I'm getting ready to go. And I turned on
the jets and man, it was a car wreck. Man,
I said, oh, my freaking god.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
I mean remember uh huh you do you remember who
hit you?
Speaker 4 (31:01):
I it was a bunch of guys and it was
it was a group tackle. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
My helmet was like this. I was looking through.
Speaker 4 (31:11):
My My liver was was cut. I had a big
nood on my eye and I was concussed. Man, I
was concussed. They walked me over to the sideline. Man
in that whole deal, and I was like, oh, my goodness,
I said, this is the National Football League, dude, you know.
So that was my Yeah, that was my first taste
of National Football League, My very first time I touched
(31:33):
the ball.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
Bro they hit you with the smelling sauce. That was
their concussion test. Yes, get back out there.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
How many? Well there's none there? Okay, you all right?
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Cussing off? Yeah, they just got to get in the
ballpark as long as they can see something.
Speaker 4 (31:54):
Good.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Yeah, let's get you ready for next week. Okay.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
So obviously, Rick, this is this is the most excited
that you know, the Bronco fans have been over a
rookie quarterback honestly, probably since John Elway. And in case
anybody doesn't know, you played with John when he was
a rookie. You were one of the receivers. And so
I want to ask you really just to put things
into perspective. Most Bronco fans, Rick, they understand that bo
(32:23):
Nicks has a bright future. Even though a lot of
fans weren't excited about the draft pick when it first
happened because they were told by these these quote unquote
experts that bow Knicks is the second round talent. There
was still a lot of like very critical Bronco fans
throughout the course of the season. Rick I saw fans
and Pat can attest to this week one, Week two,
(32:46):
Week three, He's off to a slow start, he's struggling,
and everybody's like, we're cooked, he's no good, We're in trouble.
That was such a waste of the draft pick. And Rick, honestly,
it was just like he had this record break rookie year.
And if it wasn't for Jayden Daniels being as unbelievable
as he was, Joe Niggs is the only rookie quarterback
(33:07):
that's being talked about right now.
Speaker 6 (33:09):
Right So I want you to give the perspective for
these people who up until Week eighteen, up until the
playoff game, since the playoff game, because they only put
up seven points in a playoff game, there's still people
that don't believe in Boonenecks or they don't appreciate what
he just did.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
So because you were with John his rookie year, I
just want you to shed some light for these people.
What at that quarterback was John Elway his rookie year.
What was it like playing with him? Because you were
kind of one of the star wart players that had
been there, done that. When John came into the league.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
Yeah, John very talented.
Speaker 4 (33:45):
We knew about him, man, coming out of Stanford, and
the numbers that he had or were outstanding. That's at
the college level. But then you come into the professional level,
everybody's good. You know, in college, he might have some
falloff and that oldeal and you'll have a good game
against the team that's just not don't match up with
you very well. Right in the National Football League, there's
(34:07):
not a lot of teams that don't match up very
well because they're all very good. And I remember John,
you know, you know, in the first his very first game, man,
you know, he was just bright eyed, bushytail. But you
know even in practice, right we're up in training camp
and John's throwing bombs, man, and he's and he's throwing
that ball, man, and he's fitting it in there. But
(34:28):
the thing about it, he threw the ball so hard.
If you remember, he was a baseball player as well
and was drafted by the by the Yankees. So John
didn't have very much touch at twelve fifteen sixteen yards
in that Odell. He was throwing the ball and was
on you so fast. In that oldell, So we had
to tone him down. John, you can't throw the ball
like that man in that odell because once again he
(34:49):
couldn't read the defenses that quickly.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Right.
Speaker 4 (34:54):
And then when you go against the number ones, our
orange cut crutch defense.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
And yeah, everything that you're.
Speaker 4 (35:01):
Doing as a rookie, and they're picking off all kinds
of stuff. So now he's trying to fit everything in, right,
he's trying to fit everything in because he did a
couple of times he went against our number ones in
that hoodeo. Naturally they couldn't tackle him at all and
beat him up. But he went against him. But those
defensive backs Louis Wright and all those guys ate him
up right. And so now all of a sudden he
(35:23):
comes back and he says, Man, these guys are fast
and they're good. I said, absolutely, John, I said, first
and foremost, we're not going to catch a ball for you,
man until you take some pepper off the ball, especially
when we're running outs and slants and stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
Now, if we're.
Speaker 4 (35:38):
Running deep, throw that bad boy out there and make
us go after in that hodel. But don't be eating
us up man at twelve yards, you know, twelve yards
out or hitches in that hodel and so, and he
still didn't get it.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
I mean, he really didn't get it because he couldn't
read the defenses right.
Speaker 4 (35:55):
And so he says, man, I got to get it
in there, John, anticipate me coming into the hole. Put
it into the hole. I'll get into the hole and
I'll make the reception in that odell, right. John just didn't.
He didn't get that, But eventually he did. Pittsburgh game,
Steve de Burgh had to come in and save us.
Pittsburgh was blitzing him from every angle, from every place
(36:18):
you could think about in that oldell. And then he says, look, guys,
you know, be patient with the guys, be patient with me.
I'll get this. I'll be all right. Steve de Burgh
comes in, you know, he leads us down the field
and leads us to victory. That's the difference between a
veteran and then a rookie coming into the league. Now
when you talk about John Elway and and bo Knicks,
(36:38):
once again, Boon Knicks had the fanfare right, But guys,
you gotta understand with bow Knicks, he didn't get any
time with the number ones in preseason the number ones
didn't even see the field.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
If you remember, well, when you.
Speaker 4 (36:55):
Don't get some time out there with the number ones,
maybe a couple of drip put together a couple of drives.
So did you get used to the wide receiver speed
when they're cutting? Getting that coordination together? The offensive line
they got a man get their stuff together. The offensive
line didn't play their number ones and if they did,
they might have played maybe a series. So guys, how
(37:17):
important it is for your number ones to get time in?
So did you have timing their Their preseason games were
the first four games of the season. Yeah, and then
they had to eliminate stuff out of the playbook.
Speaker 3 (37:33):
Yeah, it was very different.
Speaker 4 (37:35):
And the playbook for this young man in that hodel
of what works and what doesn't work and what he's
comfortable with.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
So, folks who don't understand the game of.
Speaker 4 (37:44):
Football, you got a man to take football two oh one.
So did you understand how this thing works. It's not
where this kid is going to come in automatically and
be successful, and it.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
Doesn't happen often.
Speaker 4 (37:58):
Look at Peyton manning Peyton An he wasn't that successful
when he went to went to Andy. So folks, a
lot to have patience. This is not microwave man. You
have to have the opportunity for everything to come together,
the offensive line, the defensive line, and the quarterback to
get comfortable with the system that he's in.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
Yes, at least at least didn't line up behind the guard.
Speaker 3 (38:26):
Ye, no, Ill, Yeah, But I tell my buddy, you know,
my buddy is a Broncos fan, and he the whole
season he was talking to me about Bo and He's
just like, Ah, this guy's a bus yeah, and I'm
and I tell him all the time, my guy, if
we were to go back to John Elway's rookie season,
(38:46):
you would be talking the exact same way. And look
at look at how his career changed throughout the years.
He became a completely different player. Bo nix is is yes,
older than most rookie quarterback traditionally, but he, like we
saw what he could do with the shell of this
(39:07):
roster that he had.
Speaker 1 (39:08):
No run game, no real z.
Speaker 3 (39:11):
In the offense, no guy that can beat you know,
man coverage consistently, no true tight end threat. All of
the things that make a Sean Payton offense what it is.
The things that Drew Brees was so successful with in
New Orleans. Bo doesn't have that yet, not yet. Could come. Yeah,
that's that's the great thing. We've got five years of
this guy. This was year one.
Speaker 4 (39:33):
Well, Pat, it's about our fan base man being patient sometimes,
and that's what I tell him all the time when
I talk with him.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
You have to be patient.
Speaker 4 (39:41):
And I said, if you're not patient, then you go
take the clipboard in the whistle and you go.
Speaker 2 (39:44):
Down there and you make it honestly and truthfully.
Speaker 4 (39:48):
Man, if you do a better job, then you go
take the job from Sean Payton and make it happen.
Speaker 2 (39:53):
Go take the job from from bow Nixt and make
it happen.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
Because you're gonna dummies on Twitter, Rick, you better be careful.
You're gonna trigger a lot of dumb dumbs.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
You know what, I can handle it.
Speaker 4 (40:06):
I've had the heat man from millions of people, so
it doesn't bother me any especially when you tell, especially
when you tell the truth, when you tell the truth,
because you've been in it and that then you know
I'll debate you anytime.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 3 (40:22):
It's not it's not easy playing quarterback either. We have
to understand that man was out there doing literally everything
that he could to help.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
This play calls alone.
Speaker 4 (40:31):
You gotta get that out of your mouth, and then
you gotta know what everybody's doing.
Speaker 3 (40:35):
And then you got to read.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
Then you got anyway, like I said, you really really
really quick.
Speaker 4 (40:46):
And then you've got a bunch of bunch of wild
dogs that are nipping at your needles.
Speaker 3 (40:53):
Animals is staring at you, going side to side with
the center. You don't know which way he's gonna go.
Speaker 4 (41:01):
But but but guys, this is this is a program,
This is a This is a team that's gonna do
nothing but get better. And they gotta add a few
couple of more more pieces uh to the puzzle in
that wdel And once they add those pieces, man, I
believe uh that they're they're gonna get into the playoffs.
They had a taste of it this year against a
very good Buffalo team. Right, it wasn't a very good
(41:23):
Buffalo team. So they got to understand, man, how to
hang in there. Man, when you're in in that second
season and that you gotta play.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
You gotta play flawlessly, right, You can't lay the ball down.
Speaker 4 (41:35):
You gotta man move the chains man on that third
down and you got to catch that ball You know
what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (41:41):
Now, you gotta you gotta the things that you did during.
Speaker 4 (41:44):
The regular season, you gotta amplify it and be better
because now you're playing the best of the best of
the league and they're not gonna make too many mistakes,
and you gotta be better than them when you get
into the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (41:56):
Well said, my goodness, pretty high are you?
Speaker 6 (42:01):
Rick?
Speaker 1 (42:01):
Are you? Are you looking for like a coaching job
or just like a consulting like you're you're like you're
you could be flavor flaves to them, like they need
some rick up churches in there.
Speaker 4 (42:12):
You know what you know, Like I said, I've been
back there. You know, when the alumni come back and
we go over to the training camp in at Odell.
I've had an opportunity, you know, to talk to a
few of the ball players in that Odell. I don't
getting away too much in that odeal because I don't
want conflicting information going to them and then their head
and that type of stuff, and you know, that type
of stuff. But when I have the opportunity to talk
(42:34):
to a guy like you know, Marvin Memes or talk
to h you know, some of the kids, Patrick Setan
and that Hodel. I'll talk to him and just let
them know that, Look, we started the winning tradition here, bro,
and that's what we do. And I don't expect anything
anything different out of you guys man in that Wodel.
We're gonna hold you to a high standard because we
(42:56):
did it. We held ourselves to a side standard and
you guys man, have to hold yourself to a high standard.
Hey man. Winning is what we do around here. And
so you guys man, played hard, play tough, play clean man.
But go out there, man and kick ass. That's what
I tell them.
Speaker 1 (43:11):
And you can say that right because again you you've
been there, done that, and you guys were the ones
that laid the winning foundation for this organization. So speaking
of all of that and back in the day, Rick,
one of the things that I'm most looking forward to,
and that a lot of people watching are mostly looking
forward to hearing from you, are just some stories from
from the heyday, from from the that the the nineteen
(43:34):
seventies Denver Broncos, like some behind the self stine, behind
the scenes stuff that we otherwise may never have heard about.
Like it's not in a book, you know, it's not
common knowledge. So just just like enlighten us stories us.
Speaker 4 (43:54):
Well, training camp was the spot man. You know, you
got the rookies, you got the veterans man, and we're
locked up man, and and some dorms and all that stuff.
So you know, we got to get a real real
nuts and stuff of that nature. But let me tell
you we had some characters man that just did stuff
that was absolutely stupid. You know they what they would do, man,
is you know light you know, get a bag of
(44:16):
pooping that hodel and like that bag man and put
it next to your door man, and that whole deal,
and they firefire, pulled the fire alarm and you come
out and stepping on it and you're like, well, I
thawt frick man. You know it's horse crap and all
that type of stuff. You know, Randy, Randy gratishyard. Randy
won't He's okay, But Randy was the big culper that
(44:37):
or either he would open your door man and throw
a stink bomb in there and in that room, and
that stuff would get into your room, and you know
he wouldn't leave us there for the whole training camp
type of thing. You know what I'm saying, Uh yeah,
It's just stuff like that, guys, you know. But the
number one thing for me was when Tom Jackson when
we finally beat the Oakland Raiders thirty to seven in
(45:00):
Oakland in nineteen seventy seven, and Louis wright Uh intercepted
the ball and went down for a touchdown. In that hodel,
Tom Jackson ran by John Madden and said.
Speaker 1 (45:10):
It's over, It's.
Speaker 2 (45:13):
Done, It's over. And what and what could he say?
You know what I say? I said, Tom, I said, Tom,
good job.
Speaker 1 (45:24):
I remember the guy who I wish wouldn't have come
over and talked to me. Bloodston know, Rick, what's the
craziest Lile Alzado story that you can tell? Obviously Lyle
had a little bit of reputation. Well let's just call
him cuckoo banana pants. So what do you What do
(45:45):
you got in terms of Lyle Alzado stories?
Speaker 2 (45:47):
Loud, loud, my friend, man, lou my dog.
Speaker 4 (45:50):
He when I got there, he and I clung together
in that hodel because he loved soul training, he loved
disco and you know he you know, because he was
from New York.
Speaker 2 (46:00):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (46:01):
The one boy had that swag, you know, what I'm
saying in that O'Dell and he loved he loved soul trained.
He loved it, man, and so uh we would sometimes
we would act like we was doing soul trained and
that type of stuff and that oldeal. And one and
one day, man, he got into a fight, right, he
got into a fight. He's out there, man, he I
mean it's like two buffalo's, you know, fighting him and
(46:24):
claudy mind and dust flying everywhere. Right, they're battling and that.
And then so they can't calm him down. And they said, well, Rick,
you go over and calming down.
Speaker 2 (46:33):
He likes you.
Speaker 4 (46:34):
And I'm like, drag no, man, that's like asking over
like a t a rock waller man.
Speaker 1 (46:42):
And so I went over.
Speaker 2 (46:43):
I said, Loud, I said you okay, man, he okay.
And he's cussing and he's mustling, and he's and he's
throwing around. He swollen up and that I said, hey, Loud,
hey man, look look watch this. Let's do some soul train.
Speaker 6 (46:54):
Man.
Speaker 2 (46:55):
You know, brought him all the way down, he says,
ver I said, man, soul train, remember so training.
Speaker 4 (47:05):
So yeah, and then and then the other one is
this guys, and then I'll be done. Lile Man beat
up uh, one of the one of our defensive backs.
I wasn't there, but this is the story that I
do know that Lyle beat up one of our defensive backs,
beat him up pretty bad in that Hodel.
Speaker 2 (47:22):
This kid went home, man.
Speaker 4 (47:23):
And out to Montmello and went home and he got
his peace, and he caught a cab back man to
the to the facility and he kicked the door in
at the facility. Man looking for Lile getting ready to
do some business man in that hoodel.
Speaker 2 (47:38):
And luckily they were in film.
Speaker 4 (47:39):
Luckily they were in film meeting, right, they were in
a film meeting at Hodel. So when he you know,
when he came in out of the light, he couldn't
really see and so Lyle man hit the floor man
and crawled out of the room in that hodel. And
this guy man, they held on to the he held
on to that gun. He was looking for Loud to
actually do some damage to him. That's how hand yeah,
(48:01):
and that's how Haven Moses, you know, came to the
Denver Broncos from the Buffalo Bills. And so yeah, so loud,
so loud, you know, Lyle could get really vicious and
do some stuff.
Speaker 2 (48:13):
But that day I think he was getting ready to
meet his maker.
Speaker 1 (48:17):
That's instane.
Speaker 3 (48:18):
That's actually a crazy story.
Speaker 7 (48:20):
Yeah you telling man, everybody, can you say, can you
say who came back with the piece?
Speaker 5 (48:30):
Rick?
Speaker 2 (48:31):
No, I'm not. Yeah, I feel weird if I didn't. Yeah. Man,
But he came back to saying, oh you like to
beat up on people?
Speaker 4 (48:45):
He said, okay, and he walked all the way from
the facility out to Mambella.
Speaker 1 (48:55):
See that's lunatic behavior right there. Man. Didn't even call
a cab or something. No, he said, Man, he said,
I'll be back. I'm gonna earn this morning. You know.
Speaker 3 (49:08):
He was just talking to himself the whole way there,
in the whole.
Speaker 4 (49:12):
And then and then he caught a cab back and
he said, man, let me out here, dog, I'm good.
Speaker 1 (49:18):
After that long ass walk, rigg, he would have calmed
down a little bit now he held one.
Speaker 2 (49:25):
Oh yeah, man.
Speaker 4 (49:26):
So that those are the stories that I do know, man,
that there's some crazy. There's so many man in that HOLDEO.
We had such a great time, uh there in Denver.
We go down in the Glendale man, and that's where
we go to the turn of the century.
Speaker 2 (49:41):
We go to the lift. Uh, we go to.
Speaker 4 (49:43):
The mining company, and that's where we would hang out
and lyle. Eventually man bought a club down in Cherry Creek.
Man in that odell where we would go. He remembered,
I told you he loved the disco and that oldell he.
Speaker 2 (49:54):
Ended up buying. He ended up buying a uh.
Speaker 4 (49:56):
It was Alzada's in the uh and Cherry Creek yep, yep, yep.
So yeah, Man, so many stories, so much good times man,
and that who doesn't remember. Guys, we weren't making all
that type of money in that whole deal. So what
we would do is we would all hang together, man,
and take care of one another and that whole deal,
whether it be financially or watching each other's back.
Speaker 2 (50:19):
We were brothers. We were family.
Speaker 3 (50:22):
Yeah, you like the locker room being a family. But
I feel like, yeah, like like you said, just being
there for each other, especially when it's not these lucrative contracts.
That's right, you're just you're honestly just going to war
for the love of the game.
Speaker 2 (50:39):
Well, we're trying to get to the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (50:41):
Yeah, you know, we're like, hey man, there's a couple
of more couple of more dollars man there in the
playoffs and we can get there. Shoot, I get I
won't spend it all in one place, but shoot, I'll
have a little bit more money, you know. Yeah exactly
something absolutely, and that was our mindset. We said, hey man,
this is get a little bit more money. Baby needs
some new shoe.
Speaker 3 (51:02):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (51:05):
Anything else that you wanna that you want to share,
like from your playing days or anything else that you
want to talk about before we let you go, and
we thank you so much again for your time.
Speaker 2 (51:14):
Honey, can you can you give me that information? I'm
gonna be up again.
Speaker 3 (51:18):
I got it.
Speaker 2 (51:20):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (51:22):
Yeah, go ahead, yes, before before we get Rick out
of here. One of the reasons that we wanted to
have him have him out. If you're wondering what to
do for the Super Bowl weekend, obviously, as Bronco fans
were depressed, we week in and week out, we gotta
watch the Zebras give games to this obnoxious ass team
(51:42):
from Kansas City. But if you're looking for something fun
to do to to cleanse your soul and cleanse your
spirit a little bit. On February eighth, Rick will be
at the Delta Hotel in North Glen, Colorado. Uh it's
uh noon v I P. So it's it's it's a
whole it's a whole weekend of like festivities. So we're
(52:03):
doing one to two thirty. There's a public signing. Rick
will be signing autograss twenty dollars per signature, ten dollars
per inscription. So that's all on on Saturday, the day
before the super Bowl. There's a big party, right rig
hanging out. It's gonna be a whole big event. And
then for the actual super Bowl, and I'm gonna be honest, man,
(52:24):
i don't really really want to watch the super Bowl.
I'm going to because it's the super Bowl. It's bumming
me out, Rick. So if there's if there's something in
some way, there's anything that could cheer me up and
raise my spirits during this fixed game that we're about
to watch, it would be watching the Super Bowl with
Rick upchurch. And if you're a Broncos fan and that's
(52:46):
not on your bucket list, then you need to update
your bucket list. So there's there's a super Bowl watch
party and that will that'll be at the Delta Hotel
as well, right, Rick up in North Glenn.
Speaker 2 (52:57):
I Yes, that's that's where I'll be.
Speaker 4 (52:59):
I'll be up there signing that whodel and hey, man,
like I said, we'll have some fun. I love our fans,
you know. I don't live there anymore. I live in
Las Vegas. But when I do get there, man, I
just love our fans.
Speaker 1 (53:11):
Man.
Speaker 4 (53:11):
I love seeing them and meeting them and talking with
them in that whole deal.
Speaker 2 (53:15):
Man. So I hope that they come out.
Speaker 4 (53:17):
We'll have a good time, talk football and sign sign
autographs for them.
Speaker 1 (53:22):
Love it, get out absolutely anything else before we get
you out of here.
Speaker 4 (53:26):
Rick, You know what, once again, a Mario, I love
you dearly man. You know I've been knowing you since
in Panthers for sure. And Pat it's an honor and
the pleasure to be on here with you. I'd love
you guys in your podcast. You guys, just keep doing
what you're doing. You do a great job.
Speaker 2 (53:44):
Man.
Speaker 3 (53:45):
No, thank you, Rick.
Speaker 1 (53:48):
That's the best endorsement that we could possibly get sucking
haters who want to talk about the show and talk
crazy because one of the greatest Denver Broncos in the
history of the franchise gives us this stamp. Of approval.
My name's Mario Betanzi. That's Patrick Kyode, Rick up Church,
(54:09):
the legendary fan. I'm out of words to describe you like.
I want to say legendary Rick, but it just doesn't
feel like it doesn't justice, So we're just gonna say
the incomparable, Rick up Church. Thank you so much for
joining us, to everybody, thank y'all for watching. Pat and
I will be back next week to fill some more
(54:30):
holes on the Denver Broncos roster. Love you, God blessed
my Bia.
Speaker 3 (54:42):
Film.
Speaker 4 (54:43):
In a move for a switcher, I hit hit the rose,
I hit I hit the stage.
Speaker 3 (54:49):
I leave with money.
Speaker 6 (54:50):
That's a stake up.
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