3 Denver Broncos Who Donned The No. 7 Jersey
DENVER (CBS4) - The Denver Broncos have only had three players who every wore the No. 7 jersey and nobody ever will again after it was retired in John Elway's honor on Sept. 13, 1999 during halftime of a Monday night game against the Miami Dolphins. He was inducted into the Denver Broncos Ring of Fame on the same night.
The following is a look at the players who donned the No. 7 jersey for the Broncos:
1. Mickey Slaughter - Quarterback (1963-1966): He was drafted in the seventh round by the Broncos in 1963 out of Louisiana Tech. He switched to No. 14 in 1965. He started only seven games for the Broncos in 1963 and 1965.
2. Craig Morton - Quarterback (1977-1982): He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys fifth overall in the 1965 NFL draft out of the University of California. He was also drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the 10th round of the 1965 AFL draft. He wore No. 14 for the Dallas Cowboys (1965-1974) and No. 15 for the New York Giants (1974-1976). Morton joined the Broncos at 34 years old in 1977 and revived his career and became the first quarterback in NFL history to start the Super Bowl for two different teams (Dallas in Super Bowl V and Denver in Super Bowl XII)
3. John Elway - Quarterback (1983-1998): He was drafted first overall by the Baltimore Colts in 1983 out of Stanford. He didn't want to play for the Colts and threatened to play baseball instead. A trade was made to send him to Denver and the rest is history. Elway actually had three career receptions -- one for a touchdown. He also had seven career punts -- the last one in 1991. He only lost more than seven games in a season once (1990). Elway won two Super Bowls and is a first ballot Hall of Famer (2005). No. 7 is retired in his honor. He's currently General Manager and Executive Vice President of Football Operations for the Broncos.
- By Brian Madden, CBS4 Sports
