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MONDAY, JANUARY 27, 2014 SPORTS Broncos making long-awaited return to Super Bowl NEW YORK: The Denver Broncos, Cowboys. The Broncos made the beating the Green Bay Packers Broncos vice president, was one of the National Football playoffs in four of the next seven 31-24. Davis was named Most unconvinced. During the offsea- League’s mostelite franchises, are seasons but had to wait almost a Valuable Player, despite missing son, Elway signed free agent back in the Super Bowl for the decade for their second appear- part of the game because he was Peyton Manning to a five-year first time in 15 years. ance in the Super Bowl. suffering from a bad headache. $96 million deal and traded For a team that became accus- The turning point for the A year later, the Broncos made Tebow the following day. tomed to success after initially Broncos was the arrival in 1983 of it back-to-back championships, Although Manning had won a struggling to establish them- quarterback John Elway, a sub- confirming the team’s greatness Super Bowl with Indianapolis and selves among the game’s best, it limely talented athlete who had at a time when the NFL was was already regarded as one of has been a long and agonizing the choice to play in either the spreading its games to a bigger the best quarterbacks in the wait for their shot at reclaiming NFL or Major League Baseball global television audience. game, his signing still carried an the greatest prize in American after being drafted by the New They beat the Atlanta Falcons element of risk. Manning was team sports. York Yankees. 34-19, with future Hall of Famer already 36 years old and had Now, all that stands between Elway was initially drafted in Elway capping off his brilliant missed the entire previous sea- them and the Vince Lombardi the NFL by the Baltimore Colts career by picking up the MVP son because of a neck injury, but Trophy is their showdown with but refused to play with them award in his last game for the it still proved to be a master- the Seattle Seahawks in New and was eventually traded to the Broncos before he announced his stroke. With expectations sky Jersey on Feb. 2. Broncos after a complicated and retirement at age 38. Elway’s high in the Colorado state capi- Established in 1960 in the controversial standoff. departure triggered an immedi- tal, Manning led the Broncos to now-defunct American Football With Elway calling the shots, ate decline in the fortunes of the the best record in the AFC and a League, the Broncos joined the the Broncos quickly became one Broncos although they did make divisional title in his first season, NFL in 1970 when the two of the league’s top teams, reach- the playoffs four times between before a double-overtime loss in leagues merged but failed to ing the Super Bowl in the 1986, 1999 and 2005 without getting the divisional round to the make a single playoff in their first 1987 and 1989 seasons. But the to the Super Bowl. Elway was Baltimore Ravens, the eventual ENGLEWOOD: Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (18) 17 seasons. It wasn’t until 1977 ultimate prize frustratingly elud- Denver’s automatic pick at quar- Super Bowl champions. stretches with wide receiver Demaryius Thomas (88) during NFL that the Broncos made their first ed them as they lost all three of terback for 16 seasons but in the Encouraged, Elway went football practice at the team’s training facility. —AP appearance in the postseason those Super Bowls and had to first 12 seasons after he retired, searching for more talent in the after adopting a near impenetra- wait eight more years before the Broncos tried 10 different offseason and lured three more as Manning threw for an Ravens but there were no prob- ble defensive system that making another one. players in the position. Pro Bowl players- - Wes Welker, unprecedented 55 touchdowns. lems this time around. In the divi- became popularly known as the With Mike Shanahan taking In 2011, Tim Tebow, who won Shaun Phillips and Dominique As the number one seed in sional round, the Broncos held Orange Crush, partly in reference over the role as head coach and a Heisman Trophy as the top col- Rodgers-Cromartie - to the Rocky the AFC, the Broncos had a first off the San Diego Chargers to to the team’s colors. Terrell Davis adding some real lege player, led the Broncos back Mountains. round bye in the opening week win 24-17 then in the conference They went on to win their first punch to the offense as the run- to the playoffs for the first time in It proved another instant suc- of the playoffs then home field championship they beat Tom AFC Championship that same ning back, the Broncos finally six seasons and developed a cult cess as the Broncos went on a advantage for the remaining Brady’s New England Patriots 26- season and advance to the Super broke through to win the 32nd following among fans. record-breaking season, with the rounds. They were wary of last 16. Now only the Super Bowl Bowl but lost to the Dallas Super Bowl in January 1998, But Elway, now working as the most potent offense in the NFL season’s unexpected loss to the awaits. —Reuters Seahawks aim for first Super Bowl title NEW YORK: The Seattle Seahawks, who hail from the northwest corner of the United States, aim to break into the limelight with their first Super Bowl crown in a Feb. 2 showdown against the Denver Broncos in wintry New Jersey. Seattle, an expansion team that joined the National Football League in 1976, reached their only previous Super Bowl following the 2005 season but fell 21-10 to the Pittsburgh Steelers under the dome in Detroit with snow falling out- side Ford Field. They lack the star power of the Peyton Manning-led Broncos and are slight underdogs, but that suits the fiercely confident Seahawks, who play with a chip on their shoulders and an electric energy that fuels the NFL’s top defense. A roster full of undrafted free agents and late- round draft picks has been astutely assembled by exuberant coach Pete Carroll and Seattle general manager John Schneider under the blessing of team owner Paul Allen, the hometown billion- aire and co-creator of Microsoft. “I have never been around such a positive, engaging coach that connects with each player at that level of intensity,” Allen told the Seattle Times about the coach he hired in 2010. “It’s really amazing. Pete really stands out because of his SEATTLE: In this Jan. 19, 2014, file photo, Seattle Seahawks’ Richard Sherman (25) reaches out positivity and his ability to connect.” to shake hands with San Francisco 49ers’ Michael Crabtree (15) after Sherman tipped a pass in ADELAIDE: England’s Joe Root plays an unusual shot against Australia during their One Of the 53 players on the roster for Seattle’s the end zone intended for Crabtree in the final minute of the second half of the NFC champi- Day International cricket match. —AP 23-17 win over West Coast rivals the San onship NFL football game. —AP Francisco 49ers that put them into the Super Bowl, 21 entered the National Football league as enough for their first postseason appearance. want to do that,” he said. Australia edge England undrafted free agents and 16 were drafted after Seattle beat Denver and the Miami Dolphins “It left me with a lot of sleepless nights, and I the third round. to reach the AFC championship before falling think about it constantly. I’ll go to my grave in low-scoring thriller The offense is run by Russell Wilson, the 30-14 to the Los Angeles Raiders. wishing that I’d been better. I know I did my best undersized 5-foot-11 (1.80 m) quarterback taken The following season, the Seahawks went 12- at that time, but it wasn’t good enough.” 4 to return to the postseason and they reached While the Seahawks have not yet achieved ADELAIDE: England wilted under pres- the all-rounder dismissed last man in the third round of the 2012 draft. The face of the NFL’s top-rated defense is cornerback the playoffs two more times under Knox but Super Bowl honors, they have landed two play- sure as Australia edged home by five James Tredwell caught behind from the went into decline and failed to advance from ers in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in wide runs in a low-scoring thriller in Adelaide fourth delivery. Mckay and Nathan Richard Sherman, drafted in the fifth round in 2011. Allen and Carroll, who handed Schneider 1989 to 1998. receiver Steve Largent and defensive tackle yesterday to win the five-match series Coulter-Nile took three wickets apiece the game ball after the victory over the Niners, The team was almost relocated by then own- Cortez Kennedy. Additionally, Hall of Fame quar- 4-1. Set a meagre 218 to win their sec- as the visitors were shot out for 212. give a lot of credit to the general manager for er Ken Behring and was briefly in bankruptcy terback Warren Moon played two seasons in ond match on the tour, England looked Earlier, Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes finding hidden gems on the second-youngest before Allen bought the franchise in 1997. Seattle toward the end of his career.

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