RED MILLER GETS HIS SPOT IN RING
Nan Miller, the widow of Red Miller, unveils the former Denver Broncos coach’s bronze pillar in the Ring of Fame Plaza on Friday night outside Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Miller led the team to its first Super Bowl appearance in the 1977 season.
Steve Miller emerged from the cover of his umbrella to give a long look at the face staring back at him. Then he stood on his toes to give the face a gentle kiss on the cheek.
Miller, the son of late Broncos coach Red Miller, got to see his father finally get his due. Even if it was a bit late.
Forty years after guiding the Broncos to their first Super Bowl, in the 1977 season, Red Miller was selected as the 32nd member of the team’s Ring of Fame. Friday evening, his family and more than a dozen fellow Ring of Famers gathered in his honor on the steps of Sports Authority Field at Mile High to unveil his bronze pillar in the Ring of Fame plaza and kick off a weekend-long celebration in his honor.
“I’m just really grateful and thankful that this happened, even though it happened a little late,” said Miller’s wife, Nan. “In some ways it’s kind of a final blessing to him and just kind of fitting in a way that it happened the way it has.”
Miller was unanimously selected by the Ring of Fame’s selection committee in May,
four decades after leading the Broncos to a series of firsts — first AFC West title, first postseason berth, first Super Bowl — in his first year as a head coach.
Though the Broncos fell to the Dallas Cowboys 27-10 in Super XII, Miller was named NFL coach of the year by The Associated Press and K.C. 101 Club.
But before he could see his Ring of Fame pillar unveiled, before he could stand at midfield to be formally inducted, before he could see his name stamped along the inner rim of the stadium, Miller died in September from complications of a stroke. He was about a month shy of his 90th birthday.
This weekend, nearly 40 Broncos alumni have convened to celebrate his honor. Sunday, during Miller’s induction during halftime of the Broncos’ game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Nan and former all-pro linebacker Tom Jackson will address the crowd of some 77,000.
“Red wasn’t real big on a lot of glamour and hoopla. So he might be glad he’s not here,” Nan said with a laugh. “He might be glad he’s up there and just looking down on all of us having fun. He would be so happy to see all of his players, because they just love each other like they did 40 years ago. It’s very heartwarming.
“The fact is that these big ol’ tough football players stick together like they do and they really come together when they need each other. They were there for Red three years ago when he was really sick. They were the ones that showed up and (said): ‘Come on, Red. Let’s go. Let’s go.’ It’s amazing that they care after so long, and it’s amazing that the people of Denver care like they do after 40 years. … He would be very proud tonight — inwardly proud.”