Fans get first look at quarterback Flacco

As Broncos training camp opens, faithful are “cautiously optimistic”

Sarah Whittaker walked briskly toward the entrance of the UCHealth Training Center at Dove Valley on Thursday morning, clad in a blue Brandon Marshall No. 15 jersey. The sun shone bright, the sky a deep blue. Fans tossed footballs in the parking lot. Whittaker couldn’t stop smiling.

While some couples celebrate their marriage with a fine bottle of wine or an expensive meal, Whittaker and her husband spent their 16th wedding anniversary watching their beloved Denver Broncos suit up for the first time this season.

“Where else would you want to celebrate an anniversary than training camp?” Whittaker said.

Legions of fans decked out in orange and blue joined the happy couple Thursday morning to watch the Broncos open training camp for the 2019 season.

But while some fans lined up before dawn to claim a spot along the sidelines, the crowds this year were nothing like the Peyton Manning era, said Lewis Cisneros. The announced attendance was 1,257 — well below the previous four seasons when the Broncos drew 3,417 (2018), 3,792 (2017), 3,407 (2016) and 4,025 (2015) on the first day of practice.

“I’m shocked it’s not as packed,” Cisneros said. “But I can’t control everyone. I know I’m here.”

After three consecutive seasons missing the playoffs, fans in attendance eagerly watched quarterback Joe Flacco throw his first passes as a Bronco, hoping — praying — that this is the year Denver returns to playoff glory.

Evan Weddle drove eight hours from Wichita to take in his first training camp. And he left no doubt as to who he came to see.

“Oh, I’m definitely trying to flag Phillip Lindsay down today,” Weddle said. He was sporting an orange Lindsay jersey and carried a sign with his 2018 fantasy football roster, proof that he drafted the former Colorado star to his team before the running back became a household name in the NFL.

With Flacco under center and new coach Vic Fangio at the helm, Weddle, 31, echoed the sentiment of many Broncos fans Thursday: “I’m cautiously optimistic.”

Since Manning retired after Denver’s Super Bowl 50 victory at the end of the 2015 season, general manager John Elway has been searching for a starting quarterback. The former Broncos star has rolled the dice with Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch, Chad Kelly and Case Keenum. None stuck around.

Now it’s Flacco’s turn. The former Baltimore Ravens quarterback was the MVP of Super Bowl XLVII at the end of the 2012 season.

Whittaker said she couldn’t

stand Flacco when he was with the Ravens. “Maybe it was his name,” she said.

Now that he’s in a Broncos uniform, things are different. “I support the wonderful Mr. Flacco,” Whittaker said.

Dylan Eppard, 21, likes to come to at least one day of training camp every year, the first chance to check out the new crop of rookies and other additions.

“I just like the atmosphere,” Eppard said, joining the rest of his family for the day’s festivities. “You get to sit on the grass, see how everyone looks on Day One. It’s great.”

As the temperature approached 90 degrees, fans plopped down on the sloped hill overlooking the practice fields. Many strained through binoculars to see their favorite players. Cheers erupted as Von Miller wowed the crowd with one-handed catches in the end zone. Defensive linemen next to him chugged through drills.

Jake Martinez sat on a bench overlooking practice, taking in the scene. Everything on him screamed Broncos: the John Elway jersey, the Broncos socks, the orange bucket hat. He even sported an orangeand-blue watch.

Martinez said he couldn’t get a ride to owner Pat Bowlen’s memorial at Broncos Stadium at Mile High in June, so he walked there from downtown Denver.

“We’re going to win the Super Bowl for Pat Bowlen,” Martinez said. “I know it.”