2001 Denver Broncos season
OwnerPat Bowlen
PresidentPat Bowlen
General managerNeal Dahlen and Mike Shanahan
Head coachMike Shanahan
Offensive coordinatorGary Kubiak
Defensive coordinatorRay Rhodes
Home fieldInvesco Field at Mile High
Results
Record8–8
Division place3rd AFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersWR Rod Smith
TE Dwayne Carswell
DT Trevor Pryce
ILB Al Wilson
CB Deltha O'Neal
K Jason Elam
ST Ian Gold

The 2001 season was the Denver Broncos' 32nd in the National Football League (NFL) and their 42nd overall. This was the Broncos' first year at the new Invesco Field at Mile High, replacing the old Mile High Stadium. The Broncos, heavily favored to be the AFC Super Bowl XXXVI representative, were aiming to head back to the Super Bowl for the first time in three years, and to win their third title in the Shanahan era. However, the season ended up as highly disappointing, as the team finished with an 8-8 record and missed the playoffs. The season was also a start of a multi-year investigation into the team cheating the salary cap during the 1996 season and both their Super Bowl-winning seasons.[1] The team was stripped of their third-round pick in the 2002 draft, and received an initial fine of $968,000.

It was also Terrell Davis' final season before various knee ailments forced him to retire in the 2002 preseason.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 2001 NFL Draft
2001 Denver Broncos draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 24 Willie Middlebrooks  Cornerback Minnesota
2 51 Paul Toviessi  Defensive end Marshall from Tampa Bay via Buffalo [R2 - 1]
3 87 Reggie Hayward  Defensive end Iowa State
4 113 Ben Hamilton  Guard Minnesota from Green Bay [R4 - 1]
4 120 Nick Harris  Punter California
6 190 Kevin Kasper  Wide receiver Iowa
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Draft notes

  1. ^ #51: multiple trades:
    #51: Tampa Bay → Buffalo (D). see #14: Buffalo → Tampa Bay
    #51: Buffalo → Denver (D). Buffalo traded this pick to Denver for second-round (#58) and fourth-round (#110) selections.
  1. ^ #113: Green Bay → Denver (PD). Green Bay traded this selection to Denver in August 2000 in exchange for linebacker Nate Wayne.[2]

Staff

2001 Denver Broncos staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning – Rich Tuten
  • Assistant strength and conditioning – Greg Saporta
  • Assistant strength and conditioning – Cedric Smith

Roster

2001 Denver Broncos final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad


Rookies in italics
 53 active, 8 inactive, 5 practice squad

Regular season

The Broncos opened the 2001 NFL season with a Monday Night Football win over the New York Giants on September 10, 2001, in their new stadium, Invesco Field at Mile High. Wide receiver Ed McCaffrey suffered a season-ending injury with a broken leg. The late game and location would serve a role in sparing at least two lives the following day during the September 11th attacks.[3]

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 10 New York Giants W 31–20 1–0 Invesco Field at Mile High 75,735
2[A] September 23 at Arizona Cardinals W 38–17 2–0 Sun Devil Stadium 50,913
3 September 30 Baltimore Ravens L 13–20 2–1 Invesco Field at Mile High 75,082
4 October 7 Kansas City Chiefs W 20–6 3–1 Invesco Field at Mile High 75,037
5 October 14 at Seattle Seahawks L 21–34 3–2 Husky Stadium 61,837
6 October 21 at San Diego Chargers L 10–27 3–3 Qualcomm Stadium 67,521
7 October 28 New England Patriots W 31–20 4–3 Invesco Field at Mile High 74,750
8 November 5 at Oakland Raiders L 28–38 4–4 Network Associates Coliseum 62,637
9 November 11 San Diego Chargers W 26–16 5–4 Invesco Field at Mile High 74,951
10 November 18 Washington Redskins L 10–17 5–5 Invesco Field at Mile High 74,622
11 November 22 at Dallas Cowboys W 26–24 6–5 Texas Stadium 64,104
12 December 2 at Miami Dolphins L 10–21 6–6 Pro Player Stadium 73,938
13 December 9 Seattle Seahawks W 20–7 7–6 Invesco Field at Mile High 74,524
14 December 16 at Kansas City Chiefs L 23–26 (OT) 7–7 Arrowhead Stadium 77,778
15 Bye
16 December 30 Oakland Raiders W 23–17 8–7 Invesco Field at Mile High 75,582
17[A] January 6 at Indianapolis Colts L 10–29 8–8 RCA Dome 56,192

Standings

AFC West
W L T PCT PF PA STK
(3) Oakland Raiders 10 6 0 .625 399 327 L3
Seattle Seahawks 9 7 0 .563 301 324 W2
Denver Broncos 8 8 0 .500 340 339 L1
Kansas City Chiefs 6 10 0 .375 320 344 L1
San Diego Chargers 5 11 0 .313 332 321 L9

Awards and records

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Notes

  1. ^ a b The Broncos were originally scheduled to play the Indianapolis Colts during Week 2 of the original NFL schedule (September 16) at RCA Dome in Indianapolis. However, due to the September 11 attacks, the game was re-scheduled to Week 17.

References

  1. ^ "Revisiting Denver's cap penalties from the 1990s". ProFootballTalk. February 14, 2016. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  2. ^ "Significant Trades, 1957–2009". Green Bay Packers. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
  3. ^ Staff (September 11, 2018). "How Invesco Field at Mile High's first-ever game saved lives on 9/11 |". Mile High Sports. Archived from the original on April 26, 2020. Retrieved April 26, 2020.


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