Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Greatest All Time Bronco Plays, #2 Floyd Little is fired, then makes a great catch!

#2 on my list of the greatest bronco plays of all time:

What happened on November 24, 1968 has become legend among longtime Bronco fans. On that day the Broncos played the Buffalo Bills. Clinging to a 31-29 lead and running out the clock, future Bronco Hall Of Famer Floyd Little fumbled. Buffalo recovered and kicked the go ahead field goal. Listen to Floyd and Bronco coach Lou Saban tell the story in this old 1980 tv special I recorded:



This catch by Floyd is #2 on my list on the greatest bronco plays of all time. You can't really see from the above video what a great catch this was. I was a 12 year old sitting in the South Stands for this game, and the long Briscoe to Little pass was coming right towards me. Floyd dived for the ball and made one of the greatest catches I have seen by a Bronco to this day.

What would have happened if Floyd had not made this spectacular play? Would Saban really have fired Floyd? Probably not, but the incident may have caused a rift between the two that would have created a Cutler like trade in the late 60's. Afterall, Saban did get rid of the quarterback who threw that pass, the amazing Marlin Briscoe, and he might have had enough with Floyd, too.

Floyd Little was an inspiration to kids growing up in Denver in the late 60's/early 70's like myself. This play showed his never give up attitude and great talent on the football field. When Floyd gets inducted into the Hall Of Fame in August this old South Stander will have a smile on his face - remembering all the thrills Floyd gave me and especially this great play.

Next: #1 on my countdown of great bronco plays - champions at last!

No comments:

Post a Comment