1975 Denver Broncos season

The 1975 Denver Broncos season was the team's 16th year in professional football and its sixth with the National Football League (NFL). Led by fourth-year head coach and general manager John Ralston, the Broncos were 6–8, second in the AFC West,^[1] but five games behind the Oakland Raiders, who clinched in late November.

1975 Denver Broncos season
Owner	Gerald Phipps
General manager	John Ralston
Head coach	John Ralston
Home stadium	Mile High Stadium
Results
Record	6–8
Division place	2nd AFC West
Playoffs	Did not qualify
← 1974 Broncos seasons 1976 →

Uniforms worn by the NFL franchise Denver Broncos from 1968 to 1996.

Denver opened the season with two wins at home, against the Chiefs and Packers,^[2] but won only four of their last twelve games. In their sixteen years of existence, the Broncos had yet to reach the postseason.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1975 NFL draft

1975 Denver Broncos draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	17	Louis Wright *	CB	San Jose State
2	43	Charles Smith	DE	North Carolina Central
3	54	Mike Franckowiak	FB	Central Michigan
3	69	Drew Mahalic	LB	Notre Dame
4	84	Steve Taylor	DB	Georgia
4	95	Rick Upchurch *	WR	Minnesota
5	107	Stan Rogers	T	Maryland
5	121	Rubin Carter	DT	Miami (FL)
8	199	Steve Foley	DB	Tulane
9	225	Rousell Williams	DB	Arizona
10	240	Hank Englehardt	C	Pacific
10	251	Steve Haggerty	WR	UNLV
12	303	Harry Walters	LB	Maryland
13	329	Eric Penick	RB	Notre Dame
14	355	Jerry Arnold	G	Oklahoma
15	381	Ken Shelton	TE	Virginia
16	409	Bubba Bridges	DT	Colorado
17	433	Lester Sherman	RB	Albany State
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff / Coaches

1975 Denver Broncos staff

Front office Owner / Chairman of the Board – Gerald Phipps Team President – Allan Phipps Assistant General Manager/Director of Player Personnel – Fred Gehrke Director of Scouting – Carroll Hardy Head coaches Vice President/General Manager/Head Coach – John Ralston Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Backfield – Max Coley Wide Receivers – Kay Dalton Offensive Line – Jerry Frei

Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Joe Collier Defensive Line – Doc Urich Defensive Backs – Bob Gambold Special teams coaches Special Teams/Linebackers – Myrel Moore

Roster

1975 Denver Broncos roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 16 John Hufnagel 12 Charley Johnson 10 Steve Ramsey Running backs (RB) 31 Mike Franckowiak 23 Alfred Haywood 32 Jon Keyworth 44 Floyd Little 22 Fran Lynch 30 Oliver Ross Wide receivers (WR) 82 Jack Dolbin 25 Haven Moses 80 Rick Upchurch 42 Billy Van Heusen P Tight ends (TE) 81 Bob Adams 88 Riley Odoms

Offensive linemen (OL) 62 Brian Goodman G 60 Paul Howard G 50 Bobby Maples C 71 Claudie Minor T 78 Marv Montgomery T/G 73 Stan Rogers T 75 Tom Walker G Defensive linemen (DL) 77 Lyle Alzado DT 68 Rubin Carter DE/DT 79 Barney Chavous DE 63 John Grant DE 58 Phil Olsen DE 70 Paul Smith DT

Linebackers (LB) 52 Randy Gradishar MLB 57 Tom Jackson OLB 66 Jim O'Malley MLB 59 Joe Rizzo OLB 51 Bob Swenson OLB Defensive backs (DB) 26 Calvin Jones CB 21 Randy Poltl SS 46 John Rowser FS/CB 45 Jeff Severson FS 48 Earlie Thomas CB 36 Bill Thompson SS 20 Louis Wright CB Special teams (ST) 15 Jim Turner K

Reserve 24 Otis Armstrong RB (IR) 87 Boyd Brown TE (IR) 74 Mike Current T (IR) —- Clarence Ellis FS (IR) 61 Tommy Lyons G (IR) 56 Ray May LB (IR) 67 Carl Schaukowitch G (IR) 64 Mike Schnitker G (IR) -- Ed Smith DE (IR) -- Charlie Smith DE (IR) Rookies in italics

Source:

Regular season

Main article: 1975 NFL season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 21	Kansas City Chiefs	W 37–33	1–0	Mile High Stadium	51,858
2	September 29	Green Bay Packers	W 23–13	2–0	Mile High Stadium	52,621
3	October 5	at Buffalo Bills	L 14–38	2–1	Rich Stadium	79,864
4	October 12	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 9–20	2–2	Three Rivers Stadium	49,169
5	October 19	Cleveland Browns	W 16–15	3–2	Mile High Stadium	52,590
6	October 26	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 13–26	3–3	Arrowhead Stadium	70,043
7	November 2	Oakland Raiders	L 17–42	3–4	Mile High Stadium	52,505
8	November 9	Cincinnati Bengals	L 16–17	3–5	Mile High Stadium	49,919
9	November 16	at San Diego Chargers	W 27–17	4–5	San Diego Stadium	26,048
10	November 23	at Atlanta Falcons	L 21–35	4–6	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	28,686
11	November 30	San Diego Chargers	W 13–10 OT	5–6	Mile High Stadium	44,982
12	December 8	at Oakland Raiders	L 10–17	5–7	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	51,075
13	December 14	Philadelphia Eagles	W 25–10	6–7	Mile High Stadium	36,860
14	December 20	at Miami Dolphins	L 13–14	6–8	Orange Bowl	43,064
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

^[2][3][1]

Game summaries

Week 2

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Packers	0	0	0	13	13
• Broncos	0	6	7	10	23

• Date: September 29
• Location:
  Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado
• Game start:
  7:00 p.m. MDT
• Game attendance: 52,621
• Game weather: 57 °F (14 °C); wind 11 mph (18 km/h)
• Television network: ABC

Scoring summary

2		DEN	Jim Turner 35 yard field goal	DEN 3–0
2		DEN	Jim Turner 39 yard field goal	DEN 6–0
3		DEN	Jack Dolbin 10 yard pass from Steve Ramsey (Jim Turner kick)	DEN 13–0
4		GB	Willard Harrell 4 yard pass from John Hadl (kick failed)	DEN 13–6
4		DEN	Jim Turner 32 yard field goal	DEN 16–6
4		GB	John Brockington 1 yard run (Dave Pureifory kick)	DEN 16–13
4		DEN	Randy Gradishar 44 yard interception return (Jim Turner kick)	DEN 23–13

^[4]

Standings

AFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Oakland Raiders(2)	11	3	0	.786	5–1	8–3	375	255	W1
Denver Broncos	6	8	0	.429	3–3	4–7	254	307	L1
Kansas City Chiefs	5	9	0	.357	3–3	3–8	282	341	L4
San Diego Chargers	2	12	0	.143	1–5	2–9	189	345	L1