I’m a die-hard Denver Broncos fan. My mom was raised and Denver and my dad has family from the area as well. I’ve never known anything other than being a Broncos fan. One of my greatest memories was coming home to find out the Broncos won Super Bowl XXXII and then rushing down to San Diego to see them going back to their hotel.

Sports Authority Field

I’ve been able to live out a Broncos fantasy the past few days in Denver. On Thursday, we went to Sports Authority Field at Mile High. I could see the stadium from the highway and a huge smile lit up across my face. I’ve been to the Linc in Philadelphia, M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, I’ve even cheered at FedEx field in DC, and I’ve been to the Camp Nou in Barcelona. But there’s nothing like seeing your own team’s stadium. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to go inside and all the tours had ended for the day, but I got to take some cool pictures outside and we went into the team store.

Even though I only saw the outside, it was amazing. Even the team store was amazing. Of course everything is so expensive because they know people will pay for it. But it was glorious. I was like a kid in a candy store. I ended up getting a long sleeved Broncos shirt (to wear to training camp since it was a bit chilly that Thursday and I only packed shorts and shirts) and a shot glass … I’ll be 21 in two weeks!

Training Camp

On Friday, we went to Dove Valley. That’s where the Broncos hold their summer training camp. The line to get into the facility was long, but my mom’s friend is in a wheel chair, so we got to take a shortcut to get a good seat. I was in the second row, right in the middle. We could have had a chance to meet Peyton Manning, but only one of us would have been able to sit in the handicapped section with her.

The previous day, it was in the 60s and it was rainy. But Friday was completely different. There were blue skies overhead with only a few clouds. I wore my new long-sleeved Broncos shirt from the team store, so naturally the temperature was HOT. I had to roll my sleeves up into a pseudo-tank top. But it was worth it.

Eric Decker, Demaryius Thomas, Peyton Manning, Wes Welker … all of them were in such close range of me! I could see them talking and laughing and smiling. At the end, we all rushed to the edge of the field to get autographs. I got three autographs: Matt Prater, Knowshon Moreno, and CJ Anderson. Not bad.

For now, that’s everything we will do with the Broncos. I think the only way it could have been any better was if I could have gone out on the field and played with them myself. Hopefully someday I’ll get to see a game in the stadium. And hopefully I’ll get to see them win many more Super Bowls!