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Main: Toast of the Town Top Ten: Mile High Moments Faces: Orange-and-blue memories Concerts: What dreams are made of Memories: Former Broncos share memorable moments Pat Bowlen: Though he tore down Mile High, fond memories remain Numbers: Mile High through the years
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Chronology of some events of stadium's last game day
8:05 a.m. — The first pickup pulled into the close-in lots at Mile High Stadium, more than six hours before kickoff Saturday.
8:30 a.m. — One group of 20 friends pulled up in a Winnebago and prepared a formal dinner. They set up five tables and covered them with linen tablecloths, fine china, real silverware and crystal wine goblets. They ate an appetizer of waffle cookies topped with strawberries; peppercorn salad; and broccoli-and-cheese casserole.
They've done this every home game for as long as anyone can remember. Their main course is always steak, either ribeye, T-bone, porterhouse, or New York strip.
But Saturday was different. It was the end of an era.
So, for the first time ever, they had prime rib.
10:50 a.m. — In the space behind the fine diners, a father and son from Wyoming sipped beer and ate Cheez-Whiz out of a jar. The bed of their pickup was filled with an assortment of sausages, a vodka bottle with a Denver Broncos helmet spout and a jar of Ed McCaffrey's mustard.
The game tickets were Jim Criswell's Christmas present to his dad, also named Jim.
11:50 a.m. — Event staff supervisor Kirk Hannivig took 15 minutes to tell nine of his 100-level employees how to deal with fans excited about the final game at Mile High.
"Our job is to be nice, no matter how bad these people treat you," he told the men. "Just smile, and say: 'Hey, you paid a lot of money to be here, and I don't want to see you thrown out."'
12:25 p.m. — Andrew Elwell, 14, tried to get a blade of grass from the field. He leaned over the first-row railing and yelled to a man on the field, who pulled up a clump of grass. As the man walked toward Andrew, a security guard made him throw it down.
1:25 p.m. — Janice Boyt hobbled on crutches up the aisle in the south stands. She couldn't make it all the way to her seat, so her brother carried her.
She had foot surgery earlier this month and that caused her to miss the Dec. 10 home game, the first one she's missed in 20 years.
On Saturday, she was on painkillers. She carried two packets of Kleenex.
"There's no way I would miss this game," Boyt said. "I'm going to start crying now."
2:05 p.m. — Ten minutes before kickoff, Bob Shipman was still trying to get tickets. He stood outside the stadium, holding up two fingers, for two tickets.
Shipman is from Pagosa Springs.
"A guy came by here a few minutes ago," Shipman said. "He wanted $600 for two seats, 11 rows back, on the 40-yard line." Shipman passed. "Someone else came up right away and bought 'em."
3 p.m. — Mary Severance of Pueblo was watching the game in the warmth of Ernest Dunwoody's motor home with him and Lucille Simmons.
Severance had given her season ticket to her grandson, Scott Severance, 14, of Lakewood. She figured she could buy another ticket, but couldn't.
Dunwoody and Simmons also had given up their tickets. They invited Severance to join them tailgating, and they moved the party into the motor home after the sun began to drop.
"We're having a great time," Severance said. "I felt like I've know them all my life. If I hadn't met them, I'd be sitting who knows where."
Said Dunwoody: "We always have enough food for everybody who comes by."
3:45 p.m. — The public-address announcer gives the day's attendance. "Tickets sold, 76,098. Tickets used, 76,098. No-shows: Zero." The crowd goes nuts.
4:15 p.m. — Brent Adams, 15, left his seat to grab a burrito. Two young boys sneered at him. Others frowned, turned their heads or muttered under their breath.
The Colorado Springs teen was decked out in San Francisco 49ers gear, his face smeared with red, black and white paint.
"A lot of people are ragging on me," Adams said. "I just kind of smile at them."
Not that he means to upset Broncos fans on the last game at Mile High. It just happened to be his only chance to catch San Francisco in action.
"I've loved the 49ers all my life," he said.
A passing Broncos fan eyed Brent and let loose: "San Francisco sucks!"
5:08 p.m. — A gaggle of young girls dressed as Broncos cheerleaders gathered around Laura Flynn — aka "Squad Mom" — just off the field.
In a few minutes, the Junior Broncos Cheerleaders — 300 girls ages 6 to 14 — will trek onto the field for a final routine at Mile High Stadium.
This time, Flynn gets to join them as the girls spell out "Mile High."
"I am the corner of the G," she said cheerfully, then stopped.
"For me, it's sad. This place rocks. The stands literally rock," Flynn said. "Next year, it's going to be a big parking lot."
The girls seemed not a bit down about the switch.
5:30 — Thousands of flashbulbs popped against an orange and blue backdrop as fans took pictures of the final play at Mile High.
5:50 p.m. — The game is over, and a middle-aged man walks past the shell of the new stadium. He looks back at Mile High. He looks at the new stadium. "I'm sure it'll be nice. But it'll never be the same."
7 p.m. — Almost all the fans have emptied out of the stadium.
Staff writers Ann Carnahan, Joe Garner, Randy Holtz and Robert Sanchez contributed to this report.
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