DENVER — How does Peyton Manning figure into the history of a team that has won three Super Bowls, achieved nail-biting wins with John Elway and started with “the franchise” Floyd Little?
Bobbie Renick, a 76-year-old grandmother, remembers nearly every moment of the Broncos five-decade journey on the gridiron.
“I’ve almost run out of room on the ceiling,” she said about her room in the basement — every inch covered by Broncos paraphernalia.
Renick has been with the Broncos since Day 1 in 1960.
“I was going in the ’60s when no one was showing up,” she said about the games at Mile High Stadium.
And she’s got a room full of history to prove it.
“It’s a 1960’s pennant,” she points out as one of the oldest artifacts in her collection.
“John (Elway) passes to Rod Smith on 9-17-95,” she wrote on a bright orange mini-pylon that Elway autographed.
“And that’s (Lyle) Alzado before he passed away,” she said of a picture her husband took of the former Broncos on the sidelines.
Fifty-six years of the past on the walls, shelves and in her memory.
“We had a lot of heroes when we were the Denver Donkeys,” she said of what her friends from California called the Broncos.
So how does Manning fit in with just four seasons with the Broncos out of 56?
Besides all his achievements on the field and contributing to a third Super Bowl win, she says, “He pulled that team together.”
Renick and her granddaughter said Manning united the team when it needed it most.
“After Elway left, we’ve had so many years where players come, players go. Now (Tim) Tebow. Tebow’s gone. Why did we get rid of this guy? Why can’t (Brock) Osweiler start? It’s been so much up in the air. It brought in some stability. It strengthened the faith in the franchise,” Tifanny Irions said.
And now they say Manning is making the right call for the franchise by saying goodbye as his age now shows in his play.
“I think Manning should go out on top and enjoy his family and not abuse his body anymore,” Renick said.
“His heart is there but I don’t see his body can keep up,” Irions said.
He made a big impact on a short time in Denver.
“He pulled it off. That’s what counts,” Renick said.
And now there are hopes he’ll stay in another capacity.
“I hope he makes Colorado his home. And I want to see him coach,” Irions said.