Victory: Broncos 38, 49ers 9
Finale: One last salute
New digs: Owens, Bowlen join ceremony to 'top out' new Broncos stadium
Stories: Broncos past and present share memories
Chronology: Mile High's last day
Souvenirs: Fans make a play for seats
Good seats: Workers, kin watch game on big TV in new stadium
Voices: Qutoes from Mile High's last day
Passion: Family still has first season-ticket seats
Tales: 76,000 tickets — 76,000 stories
Farewell cry: Tough South Stands fans say goodbye with tears

Video & audio: Broncos, fans remember Mile High
Destruction: Video montage of the stadium's demolition
Interactive timelines:
Game day | Through the years
Slideshow: Orange-and-blue memories

Proud reign: A day at Mile High
Q&A: What'll happen to Mile High landmarks
Gene Amole: When Bill Redd, Bears Stadium ruled Denver's sporting world
Dave Krieger: Frigid night of football frozen in time, mind
Bernie Lincicome: The burning question: How to say goodbye
The stars: Rating the best Broncos team ever

My memory of that game can be said in one word -- frozen! Not that is was so terribly cold, but we were so wet! I got two tickets from where I worked and I took my dad. We dressed what we thought would be right for the cold evening, but we had no idea it was going to snow and snow and snow. We drove from Loveland without foul weather gear thinking it was just going to be cold. By half-time we were soaked and cold. We tried everything we could think of to try and stay dry (from wrapping our legs in cardboard that we found, to covering with plastic bags) but to no avail. We did however stay to the end. I remember from the opening kickoff the ball was turned over and we scored rather quickly. Also, whenever a field goal attempt was tried, a guy would run out and quickly shovel away a spot for the ball. I've never gone back to a game since. I'll take the comfort of my living room to watch a football game over being there any day!

Mitch

As a very big Bronco fan it's hard for me to admit that my greatest Mile High memory is a non-football memory.

I was raised in Denver but now live in Kansas City. And growing up I longed for Major League Baseball. So when Denver was approved for the Rockies I was happy and excited for the people of Denver.

In April of 1993, on Good Friday, the Rockies played their first home game and I had to beg a bartender in Kansas City to turn off a golf tournament so I could watch the game on the satellite dish. In the bottom of the first inning, Eric Young worked the pitch-count full then hit a hanging curveball over the left-field wall. The first home batter in the first Major League game played in Denver . . . it couldn't have been better!

There I was, 24-years-old, sitting by myself in this bar, yelling and crying because I could believe what I just saw. It was an amazing moment, for a team, a city, and even for someone that wasn't there.

Thank you Mile High, we'll miss you!!

Sean Thompson
Kansas City

I was at the 1978 AFC championship game vs. the Raiders. At the end of the game the fans took the field and the goal posts. Fortunately for me it was my first and only time on the Bronco turf. I still have my playoff ticket and a few strands of grass from the field. Too bad the Orange Crush did not fare as well in their first Super Bowl against the Dallas Cowboys. I am sure glad that Denver has finally broke the jinx and beat a team in the New Orleans Superdome.

Always Faithful, Go Broncos!

Dennis Echer
Angola, West Africa

My favorite memories are from when the stadium was commonly called Bears Stadium during the early sixties. My dad or eldest brother would drive my brothers and me to the Bears baseball games. The stadium did not have left, center, or right field bleachers so if we were not wandering around the general seating areas trying to get the foul balls, (we had five brothers at the games so we generally got our share of balls and broken bats) we were out on the street behind the left field fence waiting to chase home run balls. That area of Denver wasn't a troublesome neighborhood so seven- and eight-year-olds could be out there till 10:30 pm having a great time. We often were able to repair the bats sufficiently to be used by kids at the local sandlot, (which is a compliment for the field we played in.) As a child, chasing foul balls all evening, and then watching the Fourth of July fireworks, wow, Bears (Mile High) Stadium was one of the Mile High highlights of my youth.

Chris Lobato

It was the summer of 1968. I had just finished junior high school and was looking forward to a summer of doing little, if anything and I was going to start it off by attending the 1st Annual Denver Pop Festival at Mile High Stadium. I had visions of hippie chicks, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. Performing were Three Dog Night, Big Mamma Thornton, Iron Butterfly, Boulder's own Zephyr, Sweetwater, and the legendary Jimmy Hendrix. I put on my oldest, dirtiest bellbottom blue jeans, and my older brother (he could drive) and two buddies got set for a weekend of "free love" and music. What we got instead, was a face full of tear gas as the crowd rushed the stage on the last night after Hendrix performance, courtesy of the Denver police force (thank god they don't do that anymore). We went home bummed out and wondering what happend, but still happy from the rock 'n' buzz. Needless to say, there was never a 2nd Annual Denver Pop Festival!

Randy Lasater
Vail

Best memory... Getting to see all my baseball heroes at one of the first Crackerjack Old Timers All-Star baseball games in the early '80s. Brooks Robinson faked a tag on Willie Mays as he came into third base. Willie performed a pop-up slide to perfection but had several pens from the autograph section in his back pocket. He popped up and blessed Brooks out for the fake and making him slide for no reason. Those pens must have hurt when he slid on them.

Broncos memory... Seeing Rich Karlis ding a potential game winning field goal off the upright in a raging snowstorm against those rascally Raiders as I sat in the rowdy South Stands.

Bill Wise
Elon, Virginia

I remember a Broncos-San Diego game several years back (I don't remember when), where it was impossible to see the field because of the snow. The temperature in Denver at the time of the game was dropping below zero, and it just got colder every minute after that. The anchormen for the game kept repeating the fact that it was around 70 degrees back in San Diego, where the Chargers had come from just a day earlier. I remember the stadium seats were completely sold out, but only a handful of people dared to brave the cold in the stadium. The broncos beat the socks off the Chargers (Denver 28, San Diego 0), and the station carrying the game gave the MVP award to the fans who stuck it out in the cold. I remember that game the most because it was such a true testament of the dedication of the fans of the Denver Broncos.

Jerimy Sherin

Having been born and raised in Denver, I was very fortunate to attend close to 100 games at Mile High Stadium over the 32 years I lived in the city. The Houston playoff comeback was certainly the most exciting game I've attended. The pre-season San Francisco game where I first told my then girlfriend (now wife) that I loved her will always hold a special place in my memory as well.

But the most meaningful and memorable game that I've been to at Mile High was a meaningless game I went to with my Dad back in the early '70s. It was a meaningless game in that it meant nothing to the luckless Broncos of that era and we were trounced by the tremendous Chicago Bears team of that same period. It was, however, my very first Broncos game with my Dad. A game that he managed to get tickets from his boss, because, like most 8- or 9-year-olds, I loved Dick Butkus. Our seats for that game were lower level North stands about 20 rows above the visitors bench.

It didn't matter that Butkus was worn down with age and his knees only had a year or two left at that point. I was watching the greatest linebacker to ever play the game on a beautiful Colorado day, with my Dad at my side and a wide grin on my face. Most of the game has blurred over time but I remember Dad pointing out certain plays and explaining what the penalties were and how each team was penalized. Little lessons I hope to tell my son someday.

When Chicago had the game in hand late in the third quarter he asked if I wanted to leave to beat the traffic. Of course, I said no, I wanted to stay through the final second and savor every minute of the day. When Butkus came out of the game at the end of the third quarter he got a healthy round of applause interspersed with a few Bronco faithful booing the Bears legend.

As I left the field that day holding my father's hand, I clearly remember #51 sitting on the bench with his back toward the stands, preparing to exit a hall of fame career. A great memory of Mile High? Hell, that is one of the greatest memories of my life.

Bruce Holmes
Washington D.C.

Does anyone remember the Elway last second touchdown pass to Rod Smith against the Redskins?  I think it was in 1994.  I flew to Denver with two die hard Redskins fans.  The game was tied and looked to be going to overtime.  Elway launched a cannon.  Only Smith could get it.  I saw his hands grasp the ball, but I didn't see him come down.  Then there was a thundering roar.  Touchdown!   My friend's wife asked what happened.  Her husband replied, "He did it again."      

What a memory, but even more memorable was the comment one fan made to my friends as we were leaving the stadium.   One of the Denver TV stations was interviewing Elway about the play.  My friends were talking.  An avid Bronco fan stopped them and politely asked them to quiet down.  He said, "Shhh, God is speaking."  

We'll miss Mile High.  It was a great place to watch a football game.  

  Mark Bellinger, (probably the best Bronco fan outside of Colorado)
Nashville, TN

In the mid-1970s, my high school band (Fairview High) played the Star Spangled Banner before a Broncos game. I was very nervous playing in front of so many people, and some of my fellow band members were too. A number of us completely forgot our marching manuevers!

Alison Suppes

I remember coming to Denver on a teaching exchange from South Australia in 1983. As part of the hospitality shown me I was invited to some Broncos games at Mile High in the South Stands. I didn't know about the South Stands and the 'Barrell Man' then but I was inducted quickly (how can someone wear only a barrell in your winter and be so lively).

The stadium was always full and the Denver crowd, especially those in the South Stands, were rowdy and fun and really enjoyed their "football," a bit like the Melbourne Cricket Ground filled with 100,000 people for an Australian Football Grand Final.

What was special to me was that I was witnesssing the initiation of one John Elway, not knowing the heights he would scale. Ever since my time in Colorado, I have been a Broncos fan and revelled in the Superbowl victories and the part that John Elway played in them so long after he started in 1983.

I hope I can visit friends and see the Broncos play in their new stadium one day soon. Wherever the Broncos play, the disappointments and triumphs played out at Mile High Stadium will remain a part of Broncos history and my memories of a great time I had living in Denver. Thank you Mile High and Colorado for the memories.

Peter Roberts
Adelaide, South Australia