For Billy Thompson, it was the incredible journey.
The path went from the half-a-loaf days of coach Lou Saban, who earned the wrath of Broncos Nation for settling for a 10-10 tie against the Miami Dolphins in a 4-9-1 season in 1971, to a painful 5-9 season in 1972 with coach John Ralston, to the euphoria of Denver’s first Super Bowl after a 12-2 1977 season with coach Red Miller.
Thoughts of his journey still can take Thompson back to those special days. He remembers vividly standing on the floor of the Louisiana Superdome with Super Bowl XII over and Dallas celebrating a 27-10 victory.
“All we could see in the stands was a sea of orange, and the Bronco fans were standing and applauding,” Thompson said. “Tommy (linebacker Tom Jackson) asked me, ‘Did we win or lose this thing?’ ”
Those were the unpretentious Broncos. Maybe their fans would be considered rookies by today’s standards. They were just glad to be there. For the Broncos, the accomplishment was finally pulling out of the sticky mud of long years of mediocrity to a place among the aristocrats of the NFL.
“I’ll never forget it,” Thompson said of that whirlwind season. “It was such a treat for me to be part of that special time. Our franchise had struggled so long to gain recognition. That season and the Super Bowl was the turning point for the franchise.”
Thompson believes he and his teammates who went through the painful growing years experienced a special career bond.
“We didn’t have the big quarterback in most of those years,” Thompson said. “In a lot of ways, we were just a ragtag team that played hard on every down. We played with the mentality that if we shut them out, we couldn’t lose. In the 1977 season, we knew that if we gave up more than 17 points a game, there was a good chance we’d lose.”
That was the Orange Crush defense, a dominant group that made life a little easier for quarterback Craig Morton and the offensive weapons of Haven Moses, Jack Dolbin, Riley Odoms, Otis Armstrong and Jon Keyworth.
Thompson came to the Broncos out of Maryland State, where he was a teammate of Art Shell, a Hall of Fame lineman who ended up with the hated Oakland Raiders.
Thompson was rushed into service at Maryland State for one game as a running back and gained more than 100 yards before moving back to his preferred spot on defense at cornerback.
Steve Tensi was the quarterback when Thompson joined the Broncos in 1969. That year, Thompson became only the second player to lead the league in yards per return for both kickoffs and punts. He also led the Broncos in interceptions with three.
In the next 12 seasons, during which Thompson switched to safety over the last half of his career, he led the team in interceptions three times, in punt returns five times and kickoff returns once. In his final season, in 1981, Thompson tied with Randy Gradishar for second in interceptions with four.
After first entering private business upon retiring as a player, Thompson returned to the organization as a player scout and is now director of the organization’s community outreach program.
When Thompson retired as a player, he cried. Teammate Barney Chavous came to his side. It was an emotional time. Thompson was leaving his teammates, with whom he had gone to battle for several years. He didn’t think about the years of playing in the shadows of attention that probably cost any chance at making the Hall of Fame.
“The record speaks for itself,” Thompson said. “I know what I contributed, and for me and my family that’s good enough.”
Thompson has something in common with team owner Pat Bowlen.
“I appreciate Pat Bowlen because he wants to win,” Thompson said. “I always wanted to do whatever I could to help the team win. That’s all I wanted to do.”
Thompson bio
Born: Oct. 10, 1946, in Greenville, S.C.
High school: Sterling H.S. in Greenville, S.C.
College: Maryland State
Family: Wife Cathie, son Richie, daughter Casey
Hobbies: Golf, skiing
