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

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

Forums: Reminisce with other Broncos fans
Vote: What Mile High moment is your favorite?
Thinking back: Readers remember Mile High Stadium

By Joe Garner
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer

The No. 1 priority tickets for Mile High Stadium tell the story of a family rooted in Colorado and their passion for the Denver Broncos.

In his day, which ended with his death in 1986, A. Guinn Huffsmith was a mover and shaker. He bought the first season tickets — Section 105, Row 29, Seats 23, 24, 25 and 26 — for the Broncos' first season.

The distinctive tickets have been passed down since the '60s through a family trust and now are distributed by Huffsmith's grandson, Andy Fox, 40, of Biloxi, Miss.

"Mom tells the story that he said, 'Don't look for me for a few days; I'm going to be first in line,"' said Fox, who calls his grandfather "Daddy Guinn."

"But that story doesn't really ring true. I think it must have been more than that because Daddy Guinn knew everyone in town, and everyone knew him," Fox said. "I would like to suppose that Daddy Guinn had some hand in bringing the team to town."

So many decades later, no one knows for sure how Daddy Guinn got to the head of the line, not even the Broncos, Fox said. Back then, season tickets cost $24.50 for the north and south stands, and $31.50 for the east and west stands. Today, single-game tickets average $46.77.

Family members sometimes use the tickets, but more often, they go to a small circle of Fox's Denver-area friends.

"They're too expensive to give away," Fox said. "I sell them for face value, but if they buy them, they have to use them."

Scott Brookes of Littleton, regional vice president of Merrill Lynch, bought the four tickets for Saturday's game. He invited his wife, Joni Brookes, and they gave the other two tickets to her brother, Jerry Haugen, a die-hard fan. Haugen invited his lifelong friend, Tim Talbot, also a hard-core fan.

"It amazes me how the friendship started: I met someone in Texas who happened to have a grandfather who was the Number 1 Broncos ticketholder," Brookes said.

For some games, Craig Wright, 45, another of Daddy Guinn's grandsons, comes in from his home in Glenwood, N.M., for a game.

"I still feel like a child," Wright said. "I was raised in the same seats we sit in now, so every time I sit in one of those seats, I think of my grandfather."

Fox and Wright plan to invite two of Daddy Guinn's other grandsons for the first regular home game in the new stadium.

Certainly, they'll have season tickets for the new stadium — and in the stands, not in the club level.

"First and foremost, it will keep Daddy Guinn's name on the list," Fox said.

But can any swanky stadium ever replace Mile High?

"When we sit in those seats, you always take a few seconds to think about Daddy Guinn," Fox said. "You raise a glass to his foresight: Getting those tickets so we can enjoy them 40 years later."

December 24, 2000