Denver Post February 5th 1997

Inside the spacious auditorium they normally use for their team meetings, the Denver Broncos made a fashion statement.

Out with the old and in with the blue.

At a press conference that was more heavily attended than the ones for the firing of Dan Reeves, the hiring of Mike Shanahan or any other ever held at the team's Dove Valley headquarters, the Broncos unveiled their new uniforms and logo.

Simply put, they joined the navy. Navy blue helmets, featuring the untamed-white-horse, "D"-less logo. Navy blue home jerseys, with 5-inch burnt-orange striping running from shoulder to waist. Navy blue and white home pants the Broncos will have the option of wearing. The road jerseys will continue to feature white jerseys and white pants with blue numbers and trim.

Get used to it, Denver. Like it or not, it will be the Broncos' look forthis year and many years to come.

"The first question I'm asked is, "Why?"' said Broncos owner Pat Bowlen, who has been plotting these changes for close to a year. "And I guess the best way I can answer that is to say this: I've always wanted this organization to be No. 1 at everything. That's my mission. That's our mission. That's the organization's mission.

"And I felt that playing in uniforms that essentially had been the same for the past 30 years was not moving in that direction. I felt we needed a change. I also felt we needed to lead the National Football League into the 21st century. And I truly believe that's what we've done here."

No matter who spoke at yesterday's press conference, be it Bowlen or Nike art director Ken Black or Broncos vice president of business operations David Wass, each insisted the that traditional orange had not been completely crushed and that it still was a dominant color.

And when the curtain finally was raised on Denver's new logo - which was created by Nike, yet, at a quick glance, resembles Reebok's logo - Bowlen remarked: "There's a lot of orange in that logo. And there's a lot of Bronco in there too."

Enough to satisfy Broncomaniacs? Black thinks so. "We now have a very special and distinctive understanding of what the color orange can represent," he said. "It's the fire. It's the passion. It's something very strong and very special and very important, and now very real too."

While the uniforms have reduced orange, they also have added comfort. During the almost year-long discussions for the new uniforms, Bowlen leaned heavily on three close advisers: general manager John Beake, head coach Shanahan, and former wide receiver and current Broncos director of corporate relations Michael Young.

The one thing Young emphasized, as a former player, was the comfort and functionality of the uniforms. So Nike wound up designing an all-Lycra pant and a mesh-body jersey with Lycra inserts that run from the shoulder to the waist to give each Bronco added flexibility. It might be the feature the players like most.

For yesterday's press conference, Bowlen had Broncos quarterback John Elway, defensive end Harald Hasselbach and linebacker John Mobley model the new uniforms. As each player walked out to face the waiting cameras and reporters, Bowlen joked, "Maybe you guys would like to do a little pirouette."

The players politely declined. But they did offer their own opinion on the look that has ignited a bevy of opinions on Denver's sports-talk shows. Each player said that, while they liked the look of the uniform, they liked its fit even better.

"I am a traditionalist, and the first time I got to see them was a little awkward," Elway said. "But every time I see them, I like them more and more. I'll tell you what, they feel a lot better."

Waving his arms freely, Hasselbach said, "There's a lot more movement." And about the new uniform design, he added: "It's a more imposing look, a more intimidating look. I just like the darker colors. Every team has to have a dark side, like the Raiders do, and I think this reflects that."

The seed for the new look was planted six years ago, when Nike sent out proposed future uniforms to the Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers. Bowlen was intrigued with the idea but did not believe the timing was right. Then, last season, Nike became the NFL's official licensee. Bowlen gave the idea some more thought. And sometime around last March, he decided to make the change.

The decision, Bowlen insisted, had little to do with money. Revenue from NFL merchandise sales is shared equally among the league's 30 teams. Even though the Broncos ranked 20th in the league in merchandise sales in 1996, that was not what bothered the team.

The Broncos were more concerned with winning new fans than making big money.

"The people who will benefit from this are the local retailers and vendors who sell the merchandise," Young said. "We're not going to make one more penny from this new look than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will. But what we are going to gain is a whole new generation of Broncos fans who will wear our apparel."