Orange Crush Defense was the 3-4 defense of the
Denver BroncosThe Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently a member of the American Football Conference Western Division in the National Football League . The Broncos began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League and joined...
during the 1970s. It was one of the top defenses of its time with
LinebackerA Linebacker is a position in American and Canadian football that was invented by football coach Fielding Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
s
Randy GradisharRandy Charles Gradishar is a former college and professional American football linebacker who played in the 1970s and 1980s. Randy Gradishar is currently the Director of Corporate Communications for the Phil Long Dealerships in Colorado...
and
Tom JacksonThomas Jackson also referred to "TJ" or Tommy is an NFL analyst for ESPN and a former Pro Bowl linebacker for the Denver Broncos.-College:...
, with Gradishar as a potential Hall of Famer.
Orange Crush Defense was the 3-4 defense of the
Denver BroncosThe Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently a member of the American Football Conference Western Division in the National Football League . The Broncos began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League and joined...
during the 1970s. It was one of the top defenses of its time with
LinebackerA Linebacker is a position in American and Canadian football that was invented by football coach Fielding Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
s
Randy GradisharRandy Charles Gradishar is a former college and professional American football linebacker who played in the 1970s and 1980s. Randy Gradishar is currently the Director of Corporate Communications for the Phil Long Dealerships in Colorado...
and
Tom JacksonThomas Jackson also referred to "TJ" or Tommy is an NFL analyst for ESPN and a former Pro Bowl linebacker for the Denver Broncos.-College:...
, with Gradishar as a potential Hall of Famer.
Other key Crushers were defensive linemen
Lyle AlzadoLyle Martin Alzado was a professional American football defensive lineman of the National Football League who played 15 seasons for the Denver Broncos, Cleveland Browns and Oakland Raiders. He was drafted in the 4th round of the 1971 NFL Draft by the Broncos...
, and
Rubin CarterRubin Carter is a former defensive tackle in the National Football League for the Denver Broncos, and a former College football head coach. He is the father of Andre Carter.-Florida A&M:...
, linebackers
Bob SwensonRobert Charles Swenson played college football for the University of California. He joined the National Football League in 1975 as an undrafted free agent and played professional football as a linebacker for the Denver Broncos. Commenting on the draft for Sports Illustrated in 1978, Swenson said...
and
Joe RizzoJoe Rizzo is a former linebacker of the Denver Broncos. He played for the Broncos from 1974 to 1980 and was a starter in Super Bowl XII and member of the Orange Crush Defense. He had 9 career interceptions. He was part of one of the most dominant linebacking corps in NFL history...
, and defensive backs Billy Thompson and Louis Wright.
Joe CollierJoel D. Collier is a former American football coach. He was head coach of the American Football League's Buffalo Bills from 1966 through part of 1968, compiiling a 13–16–1 record....
was the defensive co-ordinator, defensive line coach Stan Jones (HOF '91), and head coach
Red MillerRobert "Red" Miller was a professional football coach with the Denver Broncos.- Early life and career :Miller was born and raised in Macomb, Illinois and attended Macomb Public Schools and Western Illinois University, where he was later a star player and coach for the Leathernecks football team...
.
In their
Super Bowl XIISuper Bowl XII was an American football game played on January 15, 1978 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1977 regular season...
season in 1977, The Crush had the NFL's number-one defense against the rush though the Broncos were 27th out of 28 teams against the pass.
The team derived their name from their orange, blue and white uniforms and a popular soft drink,
Orange CrushCrush is a soft drink brand that originated as Ward's Orange Crush , which was invented by Clayton J. Powel of Los Angeles, California in 1916....
.
The Orange Crush uniforms were replaced in 1997 by the team's current Nike/Perisco Blue uniforms.
Sources: