1972 Denver Broncos season

The 1972 Denver Broncos season was the team's 13th season in professional football and third in the National Football League (NFL). Under first-year head coach and general manager John Ralston, the Broncos finished with five wins and nine losses, third in the AFC West Division.^[1]

1972 Denver Broncos season
Owner	Gerald Phipps
General manager	John Ralston
Head coach	John Ralston
Home stadium	Mile High Stadium
Results
Record	5–9
Division place	3rd AFC West
Playoffs	Did not qualify
← 1971 Broncos seasons 1973 →

Hired in early January, Ralston was previously the head coach for nine years at Stanford University; in his final two seasons, he led the Indians to consecutive Pac-8 titles and upset victories in the Rose Bowl.^[2][3]

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1972 NFL draft

1972 Denver Broncos draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	5	Riley Odoms *	Tight end	Houston
3	58	Bill Phillips	LB	Arkansas State
4	102	Tom Graham	LB	Oregon
5	118	Jim Krieg	WR	Washington
8	186	Ron Estay	DT	LSU
9	214	Floyd Priester	DB	Boston University
10	239	Richard Wilkins	DE	Maryland State
11	263	Larry Brunson	WR	Colorado
12	292	Randy McDougall	DB	Weber State
13	317	Bob Warner	RB	Bloomsburg (PA)
14	342	Jerome Kundich	G	Texas-El Paso
15	370	Harold Parmenter	DT	Massachusetts
16	395	Tom Bougus	RB	Boston College
17	420	Lou Harris	RB	USC
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff / Coaches

1972 Denver Broncos staff

Front office Team Owner / Chairman of the Board – Gerald Phipps Team President – Allan Phipps Assistant General Manager/Director of Player Personnel – Fred Gehrke Director of Scouting – Carroll Hardy Head coaches Vice President/General Manager/Head Coach – John Ralston Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator/Backfield – Max Coley Wide Receivers – Dick Coury Offensive Line – Jerry Frei

Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs – Joe Collier Defensive Line – Doc Urich Linebackers – Bob Gambold Special teams coaches Special Teams – Myrel Moore

Source^[4]

Roster

1972 Denver Broncos roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 16 Mike Ernst 13 Don Horn 12 Charley Johnson 10 Steve Ramsey Running backs (RB) 11 Bobby Anderson 33 Joe Dawkins 44 Floyd Little 35 Clem Turner Wide receivers (WR) 86 Jim Krieg 25 Haven Moses 84 Rod Sherman 80 Jerry Simmons Tight ends (TE) 81 Billy Masters 88 Riley Odoms

Offensive linemen (OL) 74 Mike Current T 67 George Goeddeke G 68 Larron Jackson G 59 Larry Kaminski C 61 Tommy Lyons G 78 Marv Montgomery T 50 Bobby Maples C 64 Mike Schnitker G 75 Rick Sharp T Defensive linemen (DL) 77 Lyle Alzado DE 76 Tom Domres DT 55 Pete Duranko DE 70 Paul Smith DT 65 Lloyd Voss DE

Linebackers (LB) 53 Ken Criter 52 Fred Forsberg 58 Bill McKoy 54 Chip Myrtle 51 Mike Simone Defensive backs (DB) 28 Cornell Gordon 41 Leroy Mitchell CB 21 Randy Montgomery 23 Steve Preece S 26 George Saimes S 36 Bill Thompson CB Special teams (ST) 15 Jim Turner K 42 Billy Van Heusen

Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

The Broncos' last three home games kicked off at noon MST instead of the standard 2 p.m.

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 17	Houston Oilers	W 30–17	1–0	Mile High Stadium	51,656
2	September 24	at San Diego Chargers	L 14–37	1–1	San Diego Stadium	49,048
3	October 1	Kansas City Chiefs	L 24–45	1–2	Mile High Stadium	51,656
4	October 8	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 10–21	1–3	Riverfront Stadium	55,812
5	October 15	Minnesota Vikings	L 20–23	1–4	Mile High Stadium	51,656
6	October 22	at Oakland Raiders	W 30–23	2–4	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	53,551
7	October 29	Cleveland Browns	L 20–27	2–5	Mile High Stadium	51,656
8	November 5	at New York Giants	L 17–29	2–6	Yankee Stadium	62,689
9	November 12	at Los Angeles Rams	W 16–10	3–6	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	65,398
10	November 19	Oakland Raiders	L 20–37	3–7	Mile High Stadium	51,656
11	November 26	at Atlanta Falcons	L 20–23	3–8	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	58,850
12	December 3	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 21–24	3–9	Arrowhead Stadium	66,725
13	December 10	San Diego Chargers	W 38–13	4–9	Mile High Stadium	51,478
14	December 17	New England Patriots	W 45–21	5–9	Mile High Stadium	51,656
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Oakland Raiders	10	3	1	.750	3–2–1	7–3–1	365	248	W6
Kansas City Chiefs	8	6	0	.571	4–2	6–5	287	254	W3
Denver Broncos	5	9	0	.357	2–4	4–6	325	350	W2
San Diego Chargers	4	9	1	.321	2–3–1	4–6–1	264	344	L3