Denver Broncos Trivia
0Loading crowd target
0Loading crowd target
7correct to beat the crowd
50 free Denver Broncos trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Denver Broncos trivia quiz covers the whole story of the team from the vertically striped socks and the first-ever AFL game in 1960 to Bo Nix: 'the Franchise' Floyd Little, the Orange Crush and Super Bowl XII, John Elway's arrival by trade, The Drive, three Super Bowl thrashings, and Mike Shanahan and Terrell Davis finally delivering back-to-back titles. It then covers the 21st century — Jake Plummer, Josh McDaniels, Tebowmania and the 80-yard overtime pass, Peyton Manning's record 2013 offense, Von Miller and Super Bowl 50, the Russell Wilson trade and its record dead-cap bill, the Walton-Penner sale, Sean Payton and the 2024 playoff return — plus Thunder, Miles, the Barrel Man and the Raiders rivalry. Questions run from easy to hard with the difficulty shown on each one. Every answer has been checked against a primary reference and each question carries its citation.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The Broncos began play in 1960 as a charter member of which league?
The AFL
They won the very first AFL game but went 39–97–4 over the league's ten seasons and never had a winning year in it.
Q 02Which team did the Broncos beat 13–10 on September 9, 1960, in the first game in AFL history?
Boston Patriots
The Boston Patriots lost 13-10 at Nickerson Field in Boston; the Broncos' winning touchdown came on a 76-yard punt return by Gene Mingo.
Q 03What notoriously ugly feature did the Broncos' original 1960 uniforms include?
Vertically striped socks
The mustard-yellow-and-brown kit was so despised that the socks were later burned at a public bonfire.
Q 04Which running back, 'the Franchise', is credited with keeping the team in Denver after signing in 1967?
Floyd Little
Floyd Little, the 1967 first-round pick from Syracuse, rushed for 6,323 yards over nine seasons and entered the Hall of Fame in 2010.
Q 05What was the nickname of the Broncos defense that carried them to Super Bowl XII in 1977?
The Orange Crush
The Orange Crush, led by linebackers Randy Gradishar and Tom Jackson, allowed just 148 points in 1977 as Denver went 12-2.
Q 06Who beat the Broncos 27–10 in Super Bowl XII, their first Super Bowl appearance?
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys intercepted Denver four times in New Orleans, and defensive linemen Harvey Martin and Randy White shared the MVP award.
Q 07John Elway refused to play for which team that drafted him first overall in 1983?
Baltimore Colts
The Baltimore Colts took Elway first overall, but he used a Yankees minor-league contract as leverage until they traded him to Denver for Chris Hinton, Mark Herrmann and a first-round pick.
Q 08The coach the Broncos hired in 1981 was then the NFL's youngest; how old was he?
37
The coach was 37, the youngest in the league at the time, and stayed twelve seasons, reaching three Super Bowls with Elway before being fired after 1992.
Q 09How far did Elway drive the Broncos to tie the 1986 AFC Championship Game in Cleveland?
98 yards
The Drive covered 98 yards in 15 plays over five minutes and two seconds, and Denver won 23-20 in overtime on a Rich Karlis field goal.
Q 10Who beat the Broncos 55–10 in Super Bowl XXIV, the most lopsided Super Bowl ever?
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers won by 45 points as Joe Montana threw five touchdown passes; it was Denver's third Super Bowl loss in four seasons.
Q 11Which coach, Elway's former offensive coordinator, returned in 1995 and led the Broncos to back-to-back Super Bowls?
Mike Shanahan
Mike Shanahan, who had called Elway's plays as offensive coordinator, coached Denver for 14 seasons, the longest tenure in franchise history, before his firing after 2008.
Q 12Terrell Davis, MVP of Super Bowl XXXII, was drafted in which round in 1995?
Sixth
Davis went in the Sixth round, 196th overall, out of Georgia; he ran for 157 yards and a Super Bowl-record three touchdowns despite a migraine.
Q 13Which defending champion did the Broncos beat 31–24 in Super Bowl XXXII for their first title?
Green Bay Packers
Q 21The Broncos signed Peyton Manning in March 2012 to a contract worth how much over five years?
$96 million
Manning's five-year, $96 million deal, signed after neck surgery cost him all of 2011, averaged just over $19 million a season; Denver then traded Tebow to the Jets.
Q 22How many points did the 2013 Broncos score, an NFL single-season record?
606
The 606 points, nearly 38 a game, beat the 2007 Patriots' mark of 589; Denver was then routed 43-8 by Seattle in Super Bowl XLVIII.
Q 23How many touchdown passes did Peyton Manning throw in his record-setting 2013 season?
55
Manning's 55 touchdown passes in 2013 beat Tom Brady's 50 from 2007, and his 5,477 yards were also a single-season record at the time.
The Green Bay Packers, the defending champions, lost 31-24 despite three touchdown passes from Brett Favre; Elway's helicopter spin came on an 8-yard third-quarter run.
Q 14Lifting the Lombardi Trophy after Super Bowl XXXII, owner Pat Bowlen said what?
This one's for John!
'This one's for John!' saluted Elway's 15-season wait for a title; Bowlen had owned the team since 1984 and entered the Hall of Fame in 2019.
Q 15Terrell Davis joined an exclusive club in 1998 by doing what?
Rushing for over 2,000 yards in a season
Davis finished 1998 with 2,008 yards, rushing for over 2,000 yards in a season as only the fourth player ever; a 1999 knee injury ended his peak.
Q 16Who coached Atlanta when the Broncos beat the Falcons 34-19 in Super Bowl XXXIII?
Dan Reeves
Dan Reeves, Elway's head coach in Denver from 1983 to 1992, lost to his old quarterback, who was MVP with 336 passing yards.
Q 17The Broncos were later punished for what relating to their 1996–98 seasons?
Circumventing the salary cap
The league ruled Denver had been circumventing the salary cap by deferring money to Elway and Davis; it took third-round picks in 2002 and 2005 and fined the club nearly $2 million.
Q 18Which defending champion did the Broncos beat 27–13 in the 2005 playoffs?
New England Patriots
They were the first team to beat the Patriots in a Brady-era playoff game, then lost the AFC title game at home to Pittsburgh.
Q 19Which head coach's 2009-10 tenure ended amid a videotaping scandal and a 3-9 start?
Josh McDaniels
Josh McDaniels started 6-0 in 2009 but was fired in December 2010 at 3-9, days after the club was fined for an assistant's videotaping of a 49ers walkthrough.
Q 20Tim Tebow's 80-yard overtime touchdown pass to beat the Steelers in the 2011 playoffs went to whom?
Demaryius Thomas
Demaryius Thomas caught the slant on the first snap of overtime and stiff-armed Ike Taylor on the way to an 80-yard score; Tebow finished with 316 passing yards.
Q 24Which team did the Broncos beat 24–10 in Super Bowl 50?
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers, 15-1 in the regular season, were held to 10 points by Wade Phillips's defense; Manning retired a month later with his second ring.
Q 25Who was named MVP of Super Bowl 50?
Von Miller
Von Miller had 2.5 sacks and two strip-sacks of Cam Newton, one recovered for a touchdown and the other setting up Denver's clinching score.
Q 26Which former Elway backup coached the Broncos to Super Bowl 50, then retired for health reasons?
Gary Kubiak
Gary Kubiak, Elway's backup for nine seasons and later his offensive coordinator, stepped down after 2016 following a complex-migraine episode that hospitalised him in October.
Q 27How much did the Walton-Penner group agree to pay for the Broncos in June 2022?
$4.65 billion
The $4.65 billion price was a record for a North American sports franchise at the time; the sale closed in August 2022.
Q 28Which Formula One driver is a minority partner in the Broncos' ownership group?
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton joined the Walton-Penner group in August 2022 as a limited partner alongside Condoleezza Rice and Mellody Hobson.
Q 29Releasing Russell Wilson in 2024 left the Broncos with how much dead-cap money, an NFL record?
$85 million
Wilson's release cost $85 million in dead money spread over 2024 and 2025, an NFL record, two years after Denver sent two first-round and two second-round picks to Seattle for him.
Q 30Which head coach was fired at 4–11 on Boxing Day 2022, before finishing his first season?
Nathaniel Hackett
Nathaniel Hackett was dismissed the day after a 51-14 Christmas loss to the Rams, with Jerry Rosburg finishing the season before Sean Payton's 2023 arrival.