trickblue;1660159 said:
If you had ever seen the original Denver Broncos uni's, these would be a distant second...
Yes, these are bad enough to make you throw up, but the Bronco uni's actually caused brain hemorrhages...
One summer night at Bears Stadium in 1962, the Denver Broncos paraded one by one past a mock-up of the Olympic flame and dropped the team’s vertically striped socks in the fire. It was a major victory for good taste, cheered on by a crowd of 8,377.
The ceremony was new coach Jack Faulkner’s idea. He wanted everything associated with the Broncos’ dismal first two seasons gone, especially those socks. There were two sets: alternating brown and mustard yellow stripes for home games, brown and white for the road.
"They were the most ridiculous things I ever saw in my life," says defensive tackle Bud McFadin.
The man responsible for them was Dean Griffing, the club’s first general manager. He was a legendary tightwad—"the kind of guy who took off his glasses when he wasn’t looking at anything," says broadcaster Bob Martin—and outfitted the Broncos with used uniforms purchased from the Copper Bowl College All-Star Game in Tucson, Arizona. The bizarre socks, he insisted, made the players appear taller.
"They made you look like a peg is what they did," says safety Goose Gonsoulin. "You had these real broad shoulders because of the pads, and then you had these up-and-down striped socks.... It was unique, put it that way."
Owner Bob Housman sold the club to Cal Kunz in 1961. Kunz got rid of Griffing and Filchock (head coach) after the season and hired Faulkner, who launched a campaign that promised: "There’s Lots New in ’62." He started with the uniforms. The hated socks were torched before an intrasquad game.
A handful did escape the flames. One is on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Faulkner has a set hidden in a drawer somewhere. And several players are said to be holding a few. The cursed things are now worth $500.
Roger, Troy
