2002 Denver Broncos season

2002 Denver Broncos season
OwnerPat Bowlen
General managerTed Sundquist and Mike Shanahan
PresidentPat Bowlen
Head coachMike Shanahan
Home stadiumInvesco Field at Mile High
Results
Record9–7
Division place2nd AFC West
PlayoffsDid not qualify
All-ProsNone
Pro BowlersDE Trevor Pryce
LB Al Wilson

The 2002 season was the Denver Broncos' 43rd in professional football and their 33rd in the National Football League.

With the sudden retirement of Terrell Davis in the preseason, Denver had to rely on rookie Clinton Portis, who provided an instant spark to the Broncos running game. Despite his contribution, however, the Broncos finished with a 9–7 record and narrowly missed the postseason.

Offseason

Additions Subtractions
TE Shannon Sharpe (Ravens)
T Blake Brockermeyer (Bears) S Eric Brown (Texans)
DT Lional Dalton (Ravens) RB Tony Carter (Packers)
S Izell Reese (Cowboys) QB Gus Frerotte (Bengals)
T Ephraim Salaam (Falcons) LB Bill Romanowski (Raiders)
FB Detron Smith (Colts)
T Trey Teague (Bills)
RB Terrell Davis (retirement)

NFL draft

2002 Denver Broncos draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 19 Ashley Lelie  Wide receiver Hawaii
2 51 Clinton Portis *  Running back Miami
3 96 Dorsett Davis  Defensive tackle Mississippi State from New England viaWashington and Baltimore
4 131 Sam Brandon  Safety UNLV from New England
5 144 Herb Haygood  Wide receiver Michigan State from Jacksonville via New England
6 191 Jeb Putzier  Tight end Boise State
7 228 Chris Young  Safety Georgia Tech from Atlanta
7 231 Monsanto Pope  Defensive tackle Virginia
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Undrafted free agents

2002 undrafted free agents of note
Player Position College
Charlie Adams Wide receiver Hofstra
Will Bartholomew Fullback Tennessee
Jared Peck Tackle North Dakota State
Jason Scukanec Center BYU
Lenny Walls Cornerback Boston College

Personnel

Staff / Coaches

2002 Denver Broncos staff

Front office

  • President and chief executive officer – Pat Bowlen
  • General manager – Ted Sundquist
  • Director of football administration – Neal Dahlen
  • Director of pro personnel – Rick Smith
  • Director of college scouting – Jim Goodman

Head coaches

  • Executive vice president of football operations/head coach – Mike Shanahan
  • Assistant head coach/offensive line – Alex Gibbs
  • Assistant to head coach – George Dyer

Offensive coaches

  • Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks – Gary Kubiak
  • Running backs – Bobby Turner
  • Wide receivers – Karl Dorrell
  • Tight ends – Brian Pariani
  • Offensive line – Rick Dennison
  • Offensive assistant – Pat McPherson
Defensive coaches
  • Defensive coordinator – Ray Rhodes
  • Defensive line – Jacob Burney
  • Assistant defensive line/pass rush specialist – Keith Millard
  • Linebackers – Larry Coyer
  • Secondary – David Gibbs
  • Nickel backs – Ron Milus
  • Defensive assistant – Steve Watson

Special teams coaches

  • Special teams – Frank Bush
  • Special teams assistant – Anthony Lynn

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning – Rich Tuten
  • Assistant strength and conditioning – Greg Saporta
  • Assistant strength and conditioning – Cedric Smith

Roster

2002 Denver Broncos roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)
  • 71 Blake Brockermeyer T
  • 65 Cooper Carlisle T
  • 64 Lennie Friedman G
  • 50 Ben Hamilton C
  • 79 Steve Herndon G
  • 78 Matt Lepsis T
  • 62 Dan Neil G
  • 74 Ephraim Salaam T

Defensive linemen (DL)

  • 92 Bertrand Berry DE
  • 91 Lional Dalton DT
  • 96 Dorsett Davis DE
  • 91 Chester McGlockton DT
  • 75 Monsanto Pope DT
  • 95 Kavika Pittman DE
  • 93 Trevor Pryce DE
  • 99 Montae Reagor DT
  • 97 Keith Washington DE
Linebackers (LB)
  • 55 Keith Burns MLB
  • 52 Ian Gold OLB
  • 51 John Mobley OLB
  • 59 Donnie Spragan OLB
  • 56 Al Wilson MLB

Defensive backs (DB)

  • 42 Sam Brandon SS
  • 31 Kelly Herndon CB
  • 28 Kenoy Kennedy SS
  • 23 Willie Middlebrooks CB
  • 24 Deltha O'Neal CB
  • 33 Jimmy Spencer CB
  • 37 Tyrone Poole CB
  • 43 Izell Reese FS
  • 25 Denard Walker CB
  • 35 Lenny Walls CB

Special teams (ST)

  •  1 Jason Elam K
  •  4 Micah Knorr P
  • 48 Mike Leach LS
Practice squad
  • 12 Charlie Adams WR
  • 15 Frank Rice WR
  • 57 Jashon Sykes LB
  • 67 Chris Watton G
  • 32 Chris Young S

Reserve

Rookies in italics
53 active, 6 reserve, 5 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 8 St. Louis Rams W 23–16 1–0 Invesco Field at Mile High 75,710
2 September 15 at San Francisco 49ers W 24–14 2–0 3Com Park 67,685
3 September 22 Buffalo Bills W 28–23 3–0 Invesco Field at Mile High 75,359
4 September 30 at Baltimore Ravens L 23–34 3–1 Ravens Stadium 69,538
5 October 6 San Diego Chargers W 26–9 4–1 Invesco Field at Mile High 75,065
6 October 13 Miami Dolphins L 22–24 4–2 Invesco Field at Mile High 75,941
7 October 20 at Kansas City Chiefs W 37–34 (OT) 5–2 Arrowhead Stadium 78,446
8 October 27 at New England Patriots W 24–16 6–2 Gillette Stadium 68,436
9 Bye
10 November 11 Oakland Raiders L 10–34 6–3 Invesco Field at Mile High 76,643
11 November 17 at Seattle Seahawks W 31–9 7–3 Seahawks Stadium 65,495
12 November 24 Indianapolis Colts L 20–23 (OT) 7–4 Invesco Field at Mile High 75,075
13 December 1 at San Diego Chargers L 27–30 (OT) 7–5 Qualcomm Stadium 66,357
14 December 8 at New York Jets L 13–19 7–6 The Meadowlands 78,521
15 December 15 Kansas City Chiefs W 31–24 8–6 Invesco Field at Mile High 75,947
16 December 22 at Oakland Raiders L 16–28 8–7 Network Associates Coliseum 62,592
17 December 29 Arizona Cardinals W 37–7 9–7 Invesco Field at Mile High 75,164

Game summaries

Week 3: vs. Buffalo Bills

Week 3: Buffalo Bills (1–1) at Denver Broncos (2–0) – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bills 0 7 31323
Broncos 7 7 7728

at Invesco Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado

Game information

Week 5: vs. San Diego Chargers

Week 5: San Diego Chargers (4–0) at Denver Broncos (3–1) – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Chargers 0 0 369
Broncos 7 12 0726

at Invesco Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado

  • Date: October 6
  • Game time: 2:05 p.m. MDT
  • Game weather: 57 °F (14 °C), relative humidity 45%, wind 9 mph
  • Game attendance: 75,065
  • Referee: Dick Hantak
  • TV announcers (CBS): Ian Eagle and Solomon Wilcots
  • Box score, Game Book
Game information

Week 6: vs. Miami Dolphins

Week 6: Miami Dolphins (4–1) at Denver Broncos (4–1) – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Dolphins 0 7 01724
Broncos 6 3 31022

at Invesco Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado

Game information

Week 7: at Kansas City Chiefs

Week 7: Denver Broncos (4–2) at Kansas City Chiefs (3–3) – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34OTTotal
Broncos 3 3 1414337
Chiefs 7 6 147034

at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

  • Date: October 20
  • Game time: 12:00 p.m. CDT
  • Game weather: Sunny, 51 °F (11 °C)
  • Game attendance: 78,446
  • Referee: Bill Leavy
  • TV announcers (CBS): Kevin Harlan, Randy Cross, and Beasley Reece
  • Recap, Game Book
Game information

Week 8: at New England Patriots

Week 8: Denver Broncos (5–2) at New England Patriots (3–3) – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Broncos 7 14 0324
Patriots 0 7 3616

at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

  • Date: October 27, 2002
  • Game time: 4:15 p.m.
  • Game weather: Sunny, 60 °F (16 °C)
  • Game attendance: 68,436
  • Referee: Tom White (123)
  • TV announcers (CBS): Greg Gumbel, Phil Simms, and Armen Keteyian
  • Recap, Game Book
Game information

Week 13: at San Diego Chargers

Week 13: Denver Broncos (7–4) at San Diego Chargers (7–4) – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34OTTotal
Broncos 10 7 73027
Chargers 0 24 03330

at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California

  • Date: December 1
  • Game time: 1:05 p.m. PST
  • Game weather: 65 °F (18 °C), relative humidity 68%, wind 7 mph
  • Game attendance: 66,357
  • Referee: Tony Corrente
  • TV announcers (CBS): Dick Enberg, Dan Dierdorf and Bonnie Bernstein
  • Box score, Game Book
Game information

Week 14: at New York Jets

Week 14: Denver Broncos (7–5) at New York Jets (6–6) – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Broncos 3 10 0013
Jets 0 6 31019

at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

  • Date: December 8, 2002
  • Game time: 4:15 p.m.
  • Game attendance: 78,521
  • Referee: Tom White (123)
  • TV announcers (CBS): Dick Enberg, Dan Dierdorf, and Bonnie Bernstein
  • Recap, Game Book
Game information

Week 15: vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Week 15: Kansas City Chiefs (7–6) at Denver Broncos (7–6) – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Chiefs 0 0 141024
Broncos 14 0 14331

at Invesco Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado

  • Date: December 15
  • Game time: 3:05 p.m. CST/2:05 p.m. MST
  • Game weather: Mostly cloudy, 54 °F (12 °C)
  • Game attendance: 75,947
  • Referee: Bill Carollo
  • TV announcers (CBS): Dick Enberg, Dan Dierdorf, and Bonnie Bernstein
  • Recap, Game Book
Game information

Standings

AFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(1) Oakland Raiders 11 5 0 .688 4–2 9–3 450 304 W2
Denver Broncos 9 7 0 .563 3–3 5–7 392 344 W1
San Diego Chargers 8 8 0 .500 3–3 6–6 333 367 L4
Kansas City Chiefs 8 8 0 .500 2–4 6–6 467 399 L1

References