Haven Moses at the Bronco QB Club

The Bronco QB Club hosted Haven Moses at our lunch meeting today.  This former Broncos wide receiver told us entertaining stories of his playing days, including his big game in the AFC Championship January 1, 1978 (Haven caught 5 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns that day!)

 

Club members Tom Jacobsen and Jamie Teumer displayed jerseys from that great 1977 Bronco team from their collection of Bronco memorabilia.  Seeing the jerseys from that era reminded me how many Bronco legends played on that 77 team!

 

From my Bronco memorabilia collection I took this photo of Haven with an old Rocky Mountain News telling the story of the Broncos amazing victory in that 78 AFC Championship game.

 

The QB Club consists of fans of all ages.  After speaking Haven graciously met with the fans in attendance (including this young girl) taking pictures and signing autographs.

 

The highlight of the meeting was hearing Haven speak about his playing days.  A summary of some of his comments:

• Haven didn't intend to have a career in football - rather he was focused on getting a good education.  He played safety for his high school team.  Haven's Mom forced him to go to an awards dinner after graduation.  "What do you plan to do with your life, Haven?" a visiting coach at the dinner asked.  "I need to get a job," said Haven.  "How would you like to continue to play football?" said the coach.  This resulted in an offer to play at a Callifornia Junior College which Haven accepted.
• The California Juco system at the time, Haven related, played a high quality of football.  OJ Simpson was in Haven's league.  Haven played defensive back.  For one game the team's starting wide receivers were injured, so his coach asked him to play out of position at receiver that day.  Don Coryell, the legendary coach who was then at San Diego State, happened to be scouting another player on Haven's team but couldn't help notice Haven's performance (2 touchdowns as Haven filled in at wide receiver). Coryell gave Haven a scholarship offer to play at San Diego State.
• Haven's junior college performance got the notice of other coaches, too.  Haven received an offer to play for USC (then coached by John McKay) as a defensive back.  "I would have been 4th or 5th on the USC depth chart," Haven related, "a small fish in a big pound.  I was more interested in getting a good education, so I chose the San Diego State offer instead."  Had Haven accepted the USC offer, he would have been OJ Simpson's roommate.
• At San Diego State one of the assistant coaches was John Madden.  "In addition to their football duties, coaches taught classes in those days.  My future wife Joyce took a class from John Madden!"  Later when the Broncos would play the Raiders, Madden always made a point to talk to Haven after the game (including that big AFC Championship game in 1978).  "I never hated the Raiders (largely because of his relationship with Madden) - I respected them," said Haven.
• Haven really liked playing for John Ralston, and thought Ralston didn't get enough credit for the 1977 team.  "John built the core of that team with good drafting," he said.  While he liked Red Miller's coaching he thought Miller didn't have the same skill as Ralston in building a team.  "After the 77 season, Miller let go of Lonnie Perrin, and didn't play Otis Armstrong as much.  Three years later Miller was gone."
• Haven talked about that big AFC Championship win over the Raiders.  "We were ready to play with Norris Weese at quarterback and we felt we would win - we were a team," he said when asked if the team was concerned about quarterback Craig Morton's health.  Morton did play, and the offensive line did a wonderful job protecting Morton.  "We didn't pass too much in that game - Lonnie and Otis behind our offensive line really sealed the win as we didn't want to give the ball back to Kenny Stabler - Stabler was really warming up in the 4th quarter," Haven explained.
• Haven was originally drafted by the Buffalo Bills - the #9 pick in the 1968 draft.  "Me and Larry Csonka were the only non-linemen picked in those first 9 selections," Haven said.  When former Bronco coach Lou Saban went to Buffalo to coach the Bills in 1972 Lou wanted to emphasize the running game (with OJ Simpson).  "Lou wanted me to wear bigger pads so I could block for OJ," said Haven.  "I was glad to get traded to Denver mid-season."
• Haven said he played 14 years and never had a serious injury.  "I only dropped 4 passes in my career - and those were in practice," he joked.  Long time Bronco fans like me remember Haven for the sure hands he had.

 

I so much enjoyed the chance to meet Haven (I was a 21 year old sitting in the South Stands for that big 1978 AFC title game).  I remarked to Haven how cold it was but how I was so excited I didn't notice,  "One of the coldest games I ever played in," said Haven.

The Bronco QB Club will have more meetings this season - check our the club's web page here.

My 2018 Denver Broncos Predictions

My annual Bronco predictions for 2018 will look at grouping of games and my predicted record in those games:

Sep. 9 Seattle Seahawks 
 Sep. 16 Oakland Raiders 
 Sep. 23 at Baltimore Ravens 
 Oct. 1 Kansas City Chiefs 
 Oct. 7 at New York Jets

 3 wins, 2 losses 

The schedule works in the Broncos favor with a relatively easy start to the season. The Broncos are always tough to beat at home so starting with two very winnable games at Mile High helps. If the Broncos aren't 2-0 on Sept 17th it could be a sign of trouble ahead. That Seattle game isn't a gimme, Seattle coach Pete Carroll soundly outcoached John Fox in Super Bowl 48 and is one of the better coaches in the NFL, but the 2018 Seattle team is not the same as those Seahawk SB Champs. They still have Russell Wilson at qb though. Oakland will be last in the division, I predict, so that should be a win. How good will the Broncos be as a road team? The Baltimore and Jets games are winnable. KC I think takes a step back with the talented but inexperienced Mahomes at quarterback. I'll say 3 wins 2 losses with 4 wins 1 loss as a very good possibility. If the Broncos can go 4-1 it could setup a playoff run rather than what I predict below. 

Oct. 14 LA Rams 2:05 pm 
Oct. 18 at Arizona Cardinals 
Oct. 28 at KC Chiefs 
Nov 4 Houston 

 2 wins 2 losses 

 Now the schedule gets tougher. The Rams are Peter King's pick to get to the Super Bowl from the NFC and I think that's a good guess. KC is always a tough road game. At Arizona should be a win, and I say the Broncos beat Houston though the Texans will be a tough matchup if qb Deshaun Watson and jj watt are healthy.

Nov. 2 Pittsburgh Steelers
Dec. 2 at Cincinnati Bengals 
Dec. 9 at San Francisco 49er 
Dec. 15 Cleveland Browns 

2 wins 2 losses. 

3 tough games followed by what should be a gimme against the Browns. I say the Broncos surprise to win one of the first 3.

Dec. 24 at Oakland Raiders 
Dec. 30 Los Angeles Chargers

1 win 1 loss 

As mentioned, Oakland will be terrible so that's a win. The Chargers game can go either way. If the Chargers have the division clinched by now a Broncos win is a definite possibility. But I think the Chargers will still be playing for something this final week and will win. So that's 8 wins 8 losses overall. Better than last year but falling just a game or two short of making the playoffs. I wouldn't characterize an 8-8 record as a successful season. Making the playoffs, even as a wildcard, would be. There's a possibility of a 10-6 record if the team can go 4-1 in their first 5 games, and 2-0 in the last two is in play if the Broncos are in contention for a playoff spot.

Other thoughts:

Case Keenum - I like the Broncos new starting quarterback. But Keenum has to show the accuracy in passing that he didn't display in preseason games where he was frequently off target. Keenum was one of the most accurate passers in the NFL last year, and he looked sharp in training camp, so I expect he'll settle down.

Offensive line - Keenum and the Broncos won't do anything unless the offensive line improves from last season. Preseason results are encouraging here, with right tackle Jared Veldheer a good addition.

Bradley Chubb - Most everyone was happy with the Broncos selection of Bradley Chubb in the first round (including me). Chubb did not wow anyone in the preseason but I think eventually his talent will come through. It might be a rough start, though, against a veteran Seattle team who could take advantage of the rookie's inexperience.

Should the Broncos have taken a qb in the 2018 draft? Much as the draft reviews on Chubb were good, this may have been the year where the Broncos should have taken advantage of their early draft position to get a quarterback. The team only had to move up two spots to take 21 year old Sam Darnold, who is already going to start for the Jets and who Tony Romo called the next great NFL quarterback. Josh Rosen was available to the broncos at pick 5 and he's shown promise in the preseason.

Departure of Talib - I think the Broncos will miss him, and the "no fly zone" secondary won't be as good. Hopefully a better offense will make up for that.

Courtland Sutton - he looks to be the next great Broncos wide receiver based on his performance in camp. He looks better to me than Demaryius Thomas did as a rookie, and Thomas turned out to be one of the best Bronco wide receivers ever.

I'll be there on Sunday for what will be my 50th year owning Bronco season tickets. Go Broncos!