BRONCOS RING OF FAME RECOGNIZES COACH RED MILLER
The phone rang the morning of May 4, so Nan Miller put it on speaker so she and her husband, Red, could both hear.
“Red, this is Joe Ellis at the Denver Broncos,” the voice on the other end said. “How are you?”
“Good. I’m good, Joe,” Red replied.
“Good. Listen, I’m calling with I think good news,” said Ellis, the Broncos’ president and CEO. “I serve on the Ring of Fame committee for the Broncos, and on behalf of our committee and on behalf of the Broncos, I just want to let you knowthat youwere unanimously selected as an inductee for the Denver Broncos Ring of Fame in 2017.”
After an, “Oh, my goodness,” and a gasp from his wife, Red said: “Oh, my gosh. I was wondering about that.”
The back and forth continued, with Ellis acknowledging the honor was long overdue and that Red “helped ignite the franchise’s winning ways.”
“We got ’ em going,” Red responded.
Before Ellis could hang up, Nan chimed in and told him that the news was wonderful and much better than an invitation for cof-
fee theywere expecting. And itwas especially sweet, she told him, becauseRed’s 90th birthdaywas coming up in the fall: Oct. 31.
Red Miller, the former head coach of the Broncos who guided the franchise to its first Super Bowl berth in 1977, will be inducted into the team’s Ring of Fame on Sunday. But the weeks- long celebration both he and Nan had envisioned months ago will surely be filled with tears.
Miller died Sept. 27, before he could see his Ring of Fame pillar unveiled on the steps of Sports Authority Field, before he could sit on the 50- yard line to see his name hung inside the stadium alongside many of his former players, and before he could celebrate his 90th birthday.
In a halftime celebration Sunday shared by Nan and the rest of her family, aswell as many ofRed’s former players and assistant coaches, the Broncos will reflect on a coaching tenure filled with firsts and a life well lived.
In his last fewyears spent in Denver, Red and Nan Miller had a routine that started early. Each morning Nanwould bring the newspaper toRed so he could read as long as he wanted in bed, turning page after page, just as he did when he was an 8- year- old freckle- faced boy in Macomb, Ill.
“That was heaven to him. Because he worked from the time he was about 6 years old until he was 73 years old,” Nan said. “So he worked his entire life. He said, ‘ Lying in bed and reading the paper is a dream come true. I can’t believe it.’ ”
Before Millerwas a football player or a football coach, he was a paperboy, and after completing his route, he would save the spare papers for himself. He also briefly worked in the coal mines with his father— until he got hurt and swore to never go back down there. Over the years, he also peeled potatoes for money, mopped floors, detasseled corn, shined shoes and even bartended— whatever it took to get by. His family didn’t have much, so he had to do whatever he could whenever he could.
Miller studied hard in school, got good grades and the accompanying praise of teachers. He was the only one of his siblings to attend and graduate from college.
But his sanctuary had always been on a football field, and when he entered Macomb High School, his energy and heart were with the game. Miller played both lineback- er and offensive line, was named captain as a junior and senior, selected all- state for two seasons and voted homecoming king. His family never attended a game, though, because they didn’t understand it. They didn’t see a future on the field, not like Miller could.
Miller spurned offers from Purdue and Kansas State to stay close to home and attendWestern Illinois University, where he continued to play on both sides of the ball and was voted MVP for three consecutive seasons. He left Western Illinois with a degree in physical education ( he later earned amaster’s in counseling) and began his storied and winding path to becoming an NFL head coach, from the high school ranks toWestern Illinois as an assistant on the staff of future Broncos coach Lou Saban, and then to the pros.
Miller and Saban, who were joined by Joe Collier, guided WIU to an undefeated season in 1959 and a 16- game winning streak from 1958- 60 that still stands as the longest in the program’s history. Their success landed them jobs with the Boston Patriots of the new American Football League. Miller served as Saban’s offensive line coach for two seasons in Boston, eventually paving the way to succeeding John Ralston to become the head coach of the Broncos, from 1977- 80.
He inherited a team that had a punishing defense but a record that belied its talent.
“We needed his passion to push us to our first Super Bowl,” said Ring of Famer cornerback Billy Thompson. “It was one of the most remarkable things and one of the things I’ll never forget aboutmycareer, and he was responsible for that.”
In his first season, Miller guided Denver to a 12- 2 record and its firstever AFC West title and playoff berth. After defeating Miller’s arch nemesis, the Raiders, in the AFC Championship Game, the Broncos faced the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XII. Denver lost 27- 10, but Millerwas named NFL coach of the year by The Associated Press.
“I’m telling you, you’ve heard it said that most teams assume the leadership qualities of the coach. Red gave us what we needed to really get to the next level. He gave us that fight, that ‘ walk out there with a chip on your shoulder’ attitude that we were great,” said former defensive back Steve Foley.
In his four seasons as a head coach, Miller compiled a 40- 22 (. 645) regular- season record and a 2- 3 playoff mark.
Since that 1977 season, the Broncos have appeared in seven other Super Bowls and won three.
Sunday, many of his ex- players and coaches from 1977, as well as Miller’s family, some likely in tears, will gather to remember their days with Red.