SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Nearly three decades later, Mike Shanahan could’ve sat here in the bowels of Levi’s Stadium and still rattled off the names of every single member of his 1997-98 Denver Broncos.
He remembers them. All of them. How they moved. How they practiced. A twinkle lights his eyes as he thinks of those years, his legs crossed on a couch along the wall of an atrium in what’s now his son’s kingdom. The 72-year-old Shanahan deflects any talk of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s snubbery with an aw-shucks grin. If such an honor ever happened, he says, it’d simply be a nod to that “special group of men” he’ll always remember.
“I mean, dogs,” Shanahan tells The Denver Post, smiling with the memory. “Guys that you said — we knew we were going to win. We knew we were going to win. And that’s the type of team we had.
“And when you have a makeup of a football team like that, then you realize that you got a chance to do something special.”
Minutes earlier, another football team like that had come strolling through the corridors at Levi’s, Shanahan’s familiar Broncos hitting another peak after a recent franchise history of valleys. Sean Payton told Yahoo Sports point-blank that this Broncos team is the seventh he’s had that he’s felt can win the Super Bowl, and quarterback Bo Nix and others are hardly shying away from the conversation. Shanahan, who now consults his son’s San Francisco franchise in a sort of film-junkie advisory role, had an up-close look at all of them and a chance to catch up with Payton in Thursday’s joint practice with the 49ers.
Shanahan has followed Payton’s football career since he was a quarterback at Eastern Illinois. He felt Payton was the right guy for the job when he was hired by the Broncos in January 2023. Shanahan knows Payton.
And he knows Payton’s public endorsement of his group means he believes it.
“That’s the way Sean is,” Shanahan says. “Is, ‘Hey, I know we have the capabilities. You guys don’t know. But I do.’”
Shanahan and Payton have similar NFL team-building philosophies. On Monday, Payton indicated any chance at a Super Bowl had to start with a few foundational areas: quarterback, offensive line, defense, and, most importantly, ownership. Shanahan nods in agreement when these touchpoints are recited back at him.
“That’s what they do have,” Shanahan says. “Which is fun to see.
“Especially in the situation they were in, losing draft choices; obviously, the cap the way it was, and draft choices, and everything,” Shanahan continues, referencing the $85 million decision to cut bait with Russell Wilson’s disastrous contract. “Now, you’re able to do that in a couple years — does not happen very often.”
Payton’s Broncos have the defense, Shanahan points out, saying he wasn’t quite aware how good that defense was until he took a look at last year’s stats. They have the O-line, too, and a ground game that’s a work in progress. The maestro of the modern outside-zone dropped a few hints for Payton.
“They averaged 4.1 yards a carry last year, and probably didn’t run the ball quite as much as maybe they would’ve liked to,” Shanahan says. “But I guarantee you, if they’ve got the ability — he wants to go from 4.1 per carry, I know Sean, to, he’ll want 4.7, 4.8.”
They’ve got the quarterback, too, Shanahan believes. He spent much of Thursday’s joint practice watching Nix, who son Kyle told San Francisco reporters he was a “huge fan of.”
“Knows what to say at the right time,” Shanahan responds when asked about his impressions of Nix. “Knows how to handle teammates. Handles the highs and lows in a short time. Just very impressed with his skillset as well — arm strength, ability to make plays with his legs.
“And then, not afraid. And that’s what you like. Young guy that’s not afraid.”
And they have the ownership, finally, Shanahan says. He’s met Greg Penner, the string-puller whose investments have helped turn Denver into a free-agent destination.
Nothing is promised for February in the waning dog days of summer. But Shanahan speaks of these Broncos with the same swell as his group in Denver’s heyday, a swath of white hair ago.
“I think they’ve got everything that you look for,” Shanahan says, “in a championship team.”
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