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Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquartered in Dove Valley, Colorado.

The team began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL) and joined the NFL as part of the merger in 1970. The Broncos are currently owned by the Walton-Penner group. Since 2001, the Broncos have played their regular season home games at Empower Field at Mile High; Denver previously played its home games at Mile High Stadium from its inception in 1960 through the 2000 season.

The Broncos were barely competitive during their 10-year run in the AFL and their first three years in the NFL. They did not have a winning season until 1973 and qualified for their first playoffs in 1977, eventually advancing to Super Bowl XII that season. Since 1975, the Broncos have become one of the NFL's most successful teams, having suffered only eleven losing seasons. They have won eight AFC Championships, and three Super Bowl championships ( (XXXII), (XXXIII),  (50), and share the NFL record for most Super Bowl losses (5 – tied with the New England Patriots). The Broncos have nine primary members enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: John Elway, Floyd Little, Shannon Sharpe, Gary Zimmerman, Terrell Davis, Champ Bailey, Steve Atwater, and Randy Gradishar, along with late club owner Pat Bowlen.

According to Forbes, the Broncos are valued at $4.65 billion in July 2022 making them the twelfth most-valuable team in the NFL.

Bob Howsam/Gerald Phipps era (1960–1980)
The Denver Broncos were founded on August 14, 1959, when minor league baseball owner Bob Howsam was awarded an American Football League (AFL) charter franchise. The Broncos won the first-ever AFL game over the Boston Patriots 13–10, on September 9, 1960. Seven years later on August 5, 1967, they became the first-ever AFL team to defeat an NFL team, with a 13–7 win over the Detroit Lions in a preseason game. However, the Broncos were not successful in the 1960s, winning more than five games only once (7–7, 1962), compiling a .290 record during the ten seasons of the AFL.

Denver came close to losing its franchise in 1965, until a local ownership group took control, and rebuilt the team. The team's first superstar, "Franchise" Floyd Little, was instrumental in keeping the team in Denver, due to his signing in 1967 as well as his Pro Bowl efforts on and off the field. The Broncos were the only original AFL team that never played in the title game, as well as the only original AFL team never to have a winning season while a member of the AFL during the upstart league's 10-year history.

In 1972, the Broncos hired former Stanford University coach John Ralston as their head coach. In 1973, he was the UPI's AFC Coach of the Year, after Denver achieved its first winning season at 7–5–2. In five seasons with the Broncos, Ralston guided the team to three winning seasons. Though Ralston finished the 1976 season with a 9–5 record, the team, as was the case in Ralston's previous winning seasons, still missed the playoffs. Following the season, several prominent players publicly voiced their discontent with Ralston, which soon led to his resignation.

Red Miller, a long-time assistant coach, was hired and along with the Orange Crush Defense (a nickname originated in 1977, also the brand of the popular orange-flavored soft drink) and aging quarterback Craig Morton, took the Broncos to what was then a record-setting 12–2 regular-season record and their first playoff appearance in 1977, and ultimately made their first Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl XII, in which they were defeated by the Dallas Cowboys (Morton's former team), 27–10.

Edgar Kaiser/Pat Bowlen era (1981–2018)
In 1981, Broncos' owner Gerald Phipps, who had purchased the team in May 1961 from the original owner Bob Howsam, sold the team to Canadian financier Edgar Kaiser Jr., grandson of shipbuilding industrialist Henry J. Kaiser. In 1984, the team was purchased by another Canadian, Pat Bowlen, who placed team ownership into a family trust sometime before 2004 and remained in day-to-day control until his battle with Alzheimer's disease forced him to cede the team to Joe Ellis in 2014.

Dan Reeves years (1981–1992)
Dan Reeves became the youngest head coach (37) in the NFL when he joined the Broncos in 1981 as vice president and head coach. Quarterback John Elway, who played college football at Stanford, arrived in 1983 via a trade. Originally drafted by the Baltimore Colts as the first pick of the draft, Elway proclaimed that he would shun football in favor of baseball (he was drafted by the New York Yankees to play center field and was also a pitching prospect), unless he was traded to a selected list of other teams, which included the Broncos. Prior to Elway, the Broncos had over 24 different starting quarterbacks in its 23 seasons to that point.

Reeves and Elway guided the Broncos to six post-season appearances, five AFC West divisional titles, three AFC championships and three Super Bowl appearances (Super Bowl XXI, XXII and XXIV) during their 12-year span together. The Broncos lost Super Bowl XXI to the New York Giants, 39–20; Super Bowl XXII to the Washington Redskins, 42–10; and Super Bowl XXIV to the San Francisco 49ers, 55–10; the latter score remains the most lopsided scoring differential in Super Bowl history. The last year of the Reeves-Elway era were marked by feuding, due to Reeves taking on play-calling duties after ousting Elway's favorite offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan after the 1991 season, as well as Reeves drafting quarterback Tommy Maddox out of UCLA instead of going with a wide receiver to help Elway. Reeves was fired after the 1992 season and replaced by his protégé and friend Wade Phillips, who had been serving as the Broncos' defensive coordinator. Phillips was fired after a mediocre 1994 season, in which management felt he lost control of the team.

Mike Shanahan years (1995–2008)
In 1995, Mike Shanahan, who had formerly served under Reeves as the Broncos' offensive coordinator, returned as head coach. Shanahan drafted rookie running back Terrell Davis. In 1996, the Broncos were the top seed in the AFC with a 13–3 record, dominating most of the teams that year. The fifth-seeded Jacksonville Jaguars, however, upset the Broncos 30–27 in the divisional round of the playoffs, ending the Broncos' 1996 run.

Super Bowl XXXII champions (1997)
During the 1997 season, Elway and Davis helped guide the Broncos to their first Super Bowl victory, a 31–24 win over the defending champion Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXII. Though Elway completed only 13 of 22 passes, throwing one interception and no touchdowns (he did, however, have a rushing touchdown), Davis rushed for 157 yards and a Super Bowl-record three touchdowns to earn the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award—this while overcoming a severe migraine headache that caused him blurred vision.

Super Bowl XXXIII champions (1998)
The Broncos repeated as Super Bowl champions the following season, defeating the Atlanta Falcons (led by Elway's longtime head coach Dan Reeves) in Super Bowl XXXIII, 34–19. Elway was named Super Bowl MVP, completing 18 of 29 passes for 336 yards, with an 80-yard touchdown to wide receiver Rod Smith and one interception. John Elway retired following the 1998 season, and Brian Griese started at quarterback for the next four seasons. After a 6–10 record in 1999, mostly due to a season-ending injury to Terrell Davis, the Broncos recovered in 2000, earning a Wild Card playoff berth, but losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens. After missing the playoffs the following two seasons, former Arizona Cardinals' quarterback Jake Plummer replaced Griese in 2003, and led the Broncos to two straight 10–6 seasons, earning Wild Card playoff berths both years. However, the Broncos went on the road to face the Indianapolis Colts in back-to-back seasons and were blown out by more than 20 points in each game, allowing a combined 90 points.

In the years following the back-to-back championships, a league investigation revealed that the team had cheated the salary cap in both seasons and the 1996 season by deferring additional money to Elway and Davis outside of the salary cap. In addition, they purposefully avoided waiving certain players before a certain date. Denver claimed the moves did not give them additional competitive advantage. Between two separate punishments, they were stripped of their third-round picks in both the 2002 and 2005 drafts and fined nearly $2 million combined.

Plummer led the Broncos to a 13–3 record in 2005 and their first AFC West division title since 1998. After a first-round bye, the Broncos defeated the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, 27–13, denying New England from becoming the first NFL team ever to win three consecutive Super Bowl championships. They were the first team to beat the Patriots in the playoffs during the Tom Brady era. The Broncos' playoff run came to an end the next week, after losing at home to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship game, 34–17. The Steelers went on to win Super Bowl XL.

The Broncos' defense began the first five games of the 2006 season allowing only one touchdown — an NFL record that still stands. ESPN commentator and Super Bowl-winning quarterback Joe Theismann gave the 2006 defense the name "Bad Blue" on Monday Night Football as they played the Ravens. However, the team struggled down the season stretch. Plummer led the team to a 7–2 record, but struggled individually with inconsistent performance and more interceptions than touchdown passes. As a result, he would be replaced by rookie quarterback Jay Cutler. Cutler went 2–3 as a starter, and the Broncos finished with a 9–7 record, losing the tiebreaker to the Kansas City Chiefs for the final playoff spot. Cutler's first full season as a starter in 2007 became the Broncos' first losing season since 1999, with a 7–9 record.

The 2008 season ended in a 52–21 loss at the San Diego Chargers, giving the Broncos an 8–8 record and their third straight season out of the playoffs. Mike Shanahan, the longest-tenured and most successful head coach in Broncos' franchise history, was fired after 14 seasons.

Josh McDaniels years (2009–2010)
On January 11, 2009, two weeks after Shanahan was fired, the Broncos hired former New England Patriots' offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels as the team's new head coach. Three months later, the team acquired quarterback Kyle Orton as part of a trade that sent Jay Cutler to the Chicago Bears.

Under McDaniels and Orton, the Broncos jumped out to a surprising 6–0 start in 2009. However, the team lost eight of their next ten games, finishing 8–8 for a second consecutive season and missing the playoffs. The next season (2010), the Broncos set a new franchise record for losses in a single season, with a 4–12 record. McDaniels was fired before the end of the 2010 season following a combination of the team's poor record and the fallout from a highly publicized videotaping scandal. Running backs coach Eric Studesville was named interim coach for the final four games of the 2010 season. He chose to start rookie first-round draft choice Tim Tebow at quarterback for the final three games.

John Fox years (2011–2014)
Following the 2010 season, Joe Ellis was promoted from chief operating officer to team president, while John Elway returned to the organization as the team's executive vice president of football operations. In addition, the Broncos hired John Fox as the team's 14th head coach. Fox previously served as the Carolina Panthers' head coach from 2002 to 2010.

Following a 1–4 start to the 2011 season, Tim Tebow replaced Kyle Orton as the Broncos' starting quarterback, and "Tebow Time" was born. Tebow led the Broncos with toughness, determination and miraculous come-from-behind victories which gave the Broncos hope and were the catalyst for better things to come. Tebow led the Broncos to an 8–8 record and garnered the team's first playoff berth and division title since 2005. The Broncos defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card round on a memorable 80-yard touchdown pass from Tebow to wide receiver Demaryius Thomas on the first play of overtime, setting a record for the fastest overtime in NFL history. However, the Broncos lost to the New England Patriots in the Divisional round.

In March 2012, the Broncos reached an agreement on a five-year, $96 million contract with former longtime Indianapolis Colts' quarterback Peyton Manning, who had recently missed the entire season following multiple neck surgeries. This resulted in the Broncos subsequently trading incumbent quarterback Tim Tebow to the New York Jets. The Broncos finished with a 13–3 record and the AFC's No. 1 seed in the 2012 playoffs, but were defeated by the Baltimore Ravens in the Divisional round.

Like in 2012, the 2013 Broncos finished with a 13–3 record and the AFC's No. 1 seed. The Broncos broke all offensive records and QB Peyton Manning shattered many quarterback records that season as well. In the 2013 playoffs, they defeated the San Diego Chargers in the Divisional round and the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship. However, the Broncos lost to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII by a score of 43–8, the Broncos' first Super Bowl berth since winning back-to-back Super Bowls in 1997 and 1998.

Prior to the start of the 2014 season, the Broncos announced that Pat Bowlen, the team's owner since 1984, relinquished control of the team due to his battle with Alzheimer's disease, resulting in team president Joe Ellis and general manager John Elway assuming control of the team. The Broncos finished the 2014 season with a 12–4 record and the AFC's No. 2 seed. However, the Broncos were defeated by the Indianapolis Colts in the Divisional round of the 2014 playoffs, marking the third time in four seasons that the Broncos lost in the Divisional round of the playoffs. Quarterback Peyton Manning had been playing with strained quadriceps for the final month of the 2014 season.

Gary Kubiak years (2015–2016)
On January 12, 2015, one day after the divisional playoff loss to the Colts, the Broncos and head coach John Fox mutually agreed to part ways. Fox left the Broncos with a .719 winning percentage in his four seasons as the Broncos' head coach—the highest in franchise history. One week later, the Broncos hired Gary Kubiak as the team's 15th head coach. Kubiak served as a backup quarterback to executive vice president/general manager John Elway from 1983 to 1991, as well as the Broncos' offensive coordinator from 1995 to 2005.

Shortly after Kubiak became head coach, the Broncos underwent numerous changes to their coaching staff and players, including the hiring of defensive coordinator, defensive mastermind Wade Phillips, under whom the Broncos' defense went from middle of the road to being ranked No. 1 in the NFL. By the 2015 season, it would go on to be considered one of the greatest NFL defenses of all time — along with the 1985 Bears, 2000 Ravens and 2002 Buccaneers. The Broncos finished with a 12–4 record and the AFC's No. 1 seed, despite Peyton Manning having his worst statistical season since his rookie year with the Indianapolis Colts in. Backup quarterback Brock Osweiler started the last six games of the regular season due to Manning suffering from a foot injury. Manning led the Broncos throughout the playoffs. The Broncos defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 23–16 in the Divisional Round and the New England Patriots 20–18 in the AFC Championship. They were victorious against the Carolina Panthers 24–10 in Super Bowl 50 for their third Super Bowl title.

On March 7, 2016, quarterback Peyton Manning retired after 18 NFL seasons during a press conference at the team's Dove Valley headquarters.

Following Manning's retirement, the Broncos scrambled to find the team's next starting quarterback after backup quarterback Brock Osweiler departed on a four-year contract to the Houston Texans. The Broncos acquired Mark Sanchez from the Philadelphia Eagles and selected Paxton Lynch during the 2016 draft. Sanchez, Lynch and second-year quarterback Trevor Siemian competed for the starting quarterback spot during the off-season and preseason. Prior to the regular season, Sanchez was released and Siemian was named the starter. The Broncos finished the season 9–7 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2010.

On January 2, 2017, coach Gary Kubiak announced his retirement, citing health as the main reason for retiring.

Vance Joseph years (2017-2018)
The Broncos hired Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Vance Joseph as head coach on January 11, 2017. The Broncos finished 5–11 in 2017 as a result of an unimpressive offense led by a quarterback committee of Trevor Siemian, Brock Osweiler, and Paxton Lynch.

In an effort to address poor production from the offense, the Broncos signed quarterback Case Keenum on March 14, 2018, and traded away Trevor Siemian to the Minnesota Vikings on March 19, 2018.

On May 1, 2018, the Broncos signed local undrafted free agent running back Phillip Lindsay, who became a fan favorite due to his underdog mentality, explosive play style and local roots. Lindsay became the first undrafted player in NFL history with 100+ scrimmage yards in each of their first two games and on December 18, 2018, Lindsay was voted to the 2019 Pro Bowl, making him the first undrafted offensive rookie in NFL history to be voted to a Pro Bowl.

After getting off to a strong start, their 2018 season was up and down, eventually finishing with a 6–10 record and placing third in the AFC West. Coupled with the 5–11 season in 2017, the Broncos had back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since 1971–1972. Shortly after the conclusion of the regular season, head coach Vance Joseph was fired after recording a poor 11–21 record in two seasons.

Vic Fangio years (2019–2021)
On January 10, 2019, the Broncos hired Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to become the 17th head coach in franchise history. Fangio was chosen over Mike Munchak, the Broncos' offensive line coach. Fangio received a four-year contract with a team option for an additional season.

On February 13, 2019, Joe Flacco was announced as the new starting quarterback. On October 6, 2019, the Broncos defeated the Los Angeles Chargers for their 500th win, bringing their win–loss record to 500–432.

On December 1, 2019, the Broncos started Mizzou rookie quarterback Drew Lock for the first time. He led the Broncos to a 4–1 record to end the 2019 season. The Broncos finished 2nd place in the AFC West Division at 7–9, missing the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year. In five games, Lock finished with 1,020 passing yards, seven touchdowns, and three interceptions.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 NFL season did not have a preseason or full training camps, which likely contributed to an abnormally large amount of injuries that plagued the Broncos and other NFL teams. Star linebacker Von Miller suffered a season-ending ankle tendon injury before the regular season started, and starting wide receiver Courtland Sutton suffered a season-ending torn ACL during a week two game.

On November 29, 2020, after all three of the Broncos' quarterbacks were placed in COVID-19 protocol, the Broncos were forced to turn to undrafted wide receiver and former college quarterback Kendall Hinton as the emergency quarterback. Hinton completed only one pass for 13 yards in 9 attempts—the fewest pass completions in a single game in franchise history—and was intercepted twice. The Broncos' only scoring play was a 58-yard field goal by placekicker Brandon McManus in a 31–3 loss to the New Orleans Saints. In July 2021, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced that Hinton's quarterback wristband would be added to the Hall of Fame as part of a display.

The Broncos finished the 2020 season with a record of 5–11, last in the AFC West, and missed the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year.

Following another season of uninspiring quarterback performances, the Broncos were the subject of multiple quarterback trade rumors during the 2021 offseason. Aaron Rodgers and Deshaun Watson were two names rumored to be of interest for the Broncos, but ultimately the Broncos traded for quarterback Teddy Bridgewater on April 28, 2021. Bridgewater won the subsequent quarterback competition between himself and Drew Lock during the preseason, and he was named the Broncos' starting quarterback on August 25, 2021.

The Broncos also made notable improvements in the defensive secondary, signing former All-Pro cornerback Kyle Fuller and cornerback Ronald Darby, as well as drafting Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II with the ninth overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Running back Phillip Lindsay was replaced by UNC rookie running back Javonte Williams, who was drafted in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Broncos.

On October 31, 2021, Peyton Manning (who won two AFC Championships, Super Bowl 50, and an NFL MVP during his four seasons as a Bronco) was inducted to the Broncos' Ring of Fame during a game against Washington.

On November 1, 2021, the Broncos traded franchise legend Von Miller to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for a 2nd and 3rd round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. At the time of the trade, Miller was the longest-tenured Bronco on the team, and the only remaining non-special teams player from Denver's Super Bowl 50 roster.

After another mediocre performance in the 2021 season with the Broncos going 7–10, head coach Vic Fangio was dismissed on January 8, 2022, after losing to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Nathaniel Hackett season (2022)
The Broncos announced the hiring of Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett as head coach on January 27, 2022.

The Broncos then announced on February 1, 2022, that they were now up for sale and that they would be parting ways with the Bowlen family, the former owners of the franchise.

Hackett's first hire as head coach was Justin Outten as offensive coordinator. He was hired on February 2, 2022.

On March 16, 2022, the Broncos traded Drew Lock, Noah Fant, Shelby Harris, Denver's 2022 first-round pick (No. 9), its 2022 second-round pick (No. 40), its 2023 first- and second-round picks, and its 2022 fifth-round round pick for Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks' 2022 fourth-round pick.

On June 7, 2022, the Broncos announced that the Walton-Penner family, led by Rob Walton, had entered in an agreement to acquire the Denver Broncos for $4.65 billion. The NFL approved the bid on August 10, 2022, with the Broncos introducing Carrie Walton Penner, Greg Penner, Mellody Hobson, Condoleezza Rice, and Lewis Hamilton to the ownership group.

On December 26, with the Broncos sitting at 4–11 following a 51–14 Christmas Day loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Hackett was fired and replaced by interim head coach Jerry Rosburg. Hackett became the fifth head coach to not finish his first season after Lou Holtz in 1976, Pete McCulley in 1978, Bobby Petrino in 2007, and Urban Meyer in 2021.

Sean Payton years (2023–present)
On January 31, 2023, Sean Payton reported that he had accepted the head coaching job for the Denver Broncos, and he was officially hired as head coach for the 2023 season three days later.

The season started 1–5, including a loss to the Miami Dolphins 70–20 in week 3. However after a loss to the New York Jets, the team rallied back to .500 with wins against the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs; their first victory against the Chiefs since 2015. However after a loss to the Houston Texans, the Broncos would fall to 7–7. The Broncos would lose to the New England Patriots at home on Christmas Eve to fall to 7–8. After the loss to the Patriots, reports came out about contract disputes over an injury clause, and Russell Wilson was benched for the final two games of the season. The Broncos finished the 2023 season with a record of 8–9 their best record since 2016, third in the AFC West, and missed the playoffs for the eighth consecutive year.

Divisional
The Denver Broncos have three AFC West rivals—the Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers. All teams, along with the Broncos, were charter members of the American Football League (AFL), with each team placed in the AFL Western Division. The Broncos were barely competitive during the AFL years (1960–69), going a combined 10–49–1 against the Chiefs, Chargers and Raiders.

Las Vegas Raiders
Arguably the most heated divisional matchup for Denver; the Broncos' rivalry with the Raiders was ignited in, when the Broncos advanced to their first Super Bowl by defeating the defending champion Raiders in the 1977 AFC Championship. The rivalry intensified in the mid-1990s, when Mike Shanahan was hired as the Broncos' head coach in 1995. Shanahan coached the Raiders in before being fired four games into the  season. The Raiders currently hold a 70–54–2 series lead over the Broncos, including 1–1 in the playoffs.

Kansas City Chiefs
The Broncos have had several memorable matchups with the Kansas City Chiefs, particularly during the years in which John Elway was the Broncos' starting quarterback (1983–98). The Broncos defeated the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in the divisional round of the 1997 NFL playoffs, en route to their first Super Bowl victory. The Chiefs currently hold a 69–55 series lead over the Broncos, including the aforementioned 1997 divisional playoff game.

Los Angeles Chargers
Unlike their records against the Chiefs and Raiders, the Broncos currently have a winning record against the Los Angeles Chargers, with a 70–54–1 series lead, including 1–0 in the playoffs. The Broncos pulled off one of the largest comebacks in Monday Night Football history, when Peyton Manning led the Broncos from a 24–0 halftime deficit to a 35–24 win at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium during the season. The two teams met in the playoffs for the first time on January 12, 2014, at Denver's Sports Authority Field at Mile High, with the Broncos winning 24–17.

Historical
Aside from the aforementioned AFC West teams, the Broncos have had intra-conference rivalries over the years with the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots. The Broncos and Seattle Seahawks were also former AFC West rivals from 1977 to 2001, after which Seattle was realigned to the NFC West.

Cleveland Browns
The Broncos had a brief rivalry with the Browns that arose from three AFC championship matches in 1986, 1987 and 1989. In the 1986 AFC Championship, quarterback John Elway led The Drive to secure a tie in the waning moments at Cleveland Municipal Stadium; the Broncos went on to win in 23–20 in overtime. One year later, the two teams met again in the 1987 AFC Championship at Mile High Stadium. Denver took a 21–3 lead, but Browns' quarterback Bernie Kosar threw four touchdown passes to tie the game at 31–31 halfway through the 4th quarter. After a long drive, John Elway threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to running back Sammy Winder to give Denver a 38–31 lead. Cleveland advanced to Denver's 8-yard line with 1:12 left, but Broncos' safety Jeremiah Castille stripped Browns' running back Earnest Byner of the football at the 2-yard line—a play that has been called The Fumble by Browns' fans. The Broncos recovered it, gave Cleveland an intentional safety, and went on to win 38–33. The two teams met yet again in the 1989 AFC Championship at Mile High Stadium, which the Broncos easily won by a score of 37–21. The Broncos did not win the Super Bowl after any of the championship games where they defeated the Browns, losing by an aggregate of 136–40.

Pittsburgh Steelers
As of the end of the season, the Broncos and Steelers have met in postseason play eight times, tied with five other pairings for the second–most frequent playoff matchups in NFL playoff history. The Broncos currently own a 5–3 playoff record vs. the Steelers. Perhaps the most memorable postseason matchup occurred in the 1997 AFC Championship, in which the Broncos defeated the Steelers 24–21 at Three Rivers Stadium, en route to their first Super Bowl victory. Eight years later, the Steelers returned the favor at INVESCO Field at Mile High, defeating the Broncos 34–17 in the 2005 AFC Championship, and subsequently won Super Bowl XL. In the Wild Card round of the 2011 playoffs, in a game dubbed The 3:16 game, the Broncos stunned the Steelers 29–23 on the first play of overtime, when quarterback Tim Tebow connected with wide receiver Demaryius Thomas on an 80-yard game-winning touchdown pass. The teams met again in the Divisional round of the 2015 playoffs at Denver, where the Broncos defeated the Steelers 23–16 on their way to a victory in Super Bowl 50.

New England Patriots
The Broncos and Patriots met twice annually during the American Football League (AFL) years from 1960 to 1969, and played in the first-ever AFL game on September 9, 1960. Since, the two teams have met frequently during the regular season, including nine consecutive seasons from 1995 to 2003. As of the end of the season, the two teams have met in the playoffs five times, with the Broncos owning a 4–1 record. The teams' first playoff match on January 4, 1987, was John Elway's first career playoff win, while the teams' second playoff match on January 14, 2006, game was the Broncos' first playoff win since Elway's retirement after the 1998 season. The game was also notable for Champ Bailey's 100-yard interception that resulted in a touchdown-saving tackle by Benjamin Watson at the 1-yard line. On October 11, 2009, the two teams met with former Patriots' offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels as the Broncos' head coach. Both teams wore their AFL 50th anniversary jerseys. The game featured a 98-yard drive in the fourth quarter, with a game-tying touchdown pass from Kyle Orton to Brandon Marshall, followed by an overtime drive led by Orton that resulted in a 41-yard game-winning field goal by Matt Prater. The two teams met in the Divisional round of the 2011 playoffs, with the Patriots blowing out Tim Tebow and the Broncos by a score of 45–10. The Broncos' rivalry with the Patriots later intensified when longtime Indianapolis Colts' quarterback Peyton Manning became the Broncos' starting quarterback from 2012 to 2015. Manning and Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady maintained a legendary rivalry from until Manning's retirement after the  season. Though Brady dominated Manning in regular season play, winning nine of twelve meetings, Manning won three of five playoff meetings, including the Broncos' 26–16 win in the 2013 AFC Championship and the Broncos' 20–18 win in the 2015 AFC Championship.

Seattle Seahawks
The Broncos had an old rivalry with the Seattle Seahawks, who were members of the AFC West from 1977 to 2001, prior to the Seahawks' move to the NFC West as part of the NFL's re-alignment. During the 25 years in which the Seahawks resided in the AFC West, the Broncos went 32–18 against the Seahawks, including a loss at Seattle in the 1983 NFL playoffs. Since 2002, the Broncos have won three of five interconference meetings, and the two teams met in Super Bowl XLVIII on February 2, 2014, with the Seahawks winning by a score of 43–8.

Facilities
For most of their history, the Denver Broncos played in Mile High Stadium. The AFL Broncos played at the University of Denver's Hilltop Stadium from time to time, including the first victory of an AFL team over an NFL team: The Broncos beat the Detroit Lions on August 5, 1967, in a preseason game. The team has sold out every home game (including post-season games) since the AFL–NFL merger in, with the exception of two replacement games during the strike (but both were sold out before the strike).

During home games, the attendance is announced to the crowd, along with the number of no-shows (the fans subsequently boo the no-shows). The fans are also known to chant "IN-COM-PLETE!" every time the visiting team throws an incomplete pass. The stadium's legendary home-field advantage is regarded as one of the best in the NFL, especially during the playoffs. The Broncos had the best home record in pro football over a 32-year span from 1974 to 2006 (191–65–1). Mile High Stadium was one of the NFL's loudest stadiums, with steel flooring instead of concrete, which may have given the Broncos an advantage over opponents, plus the advantage of altitude conditioning for the Broncos. In, the team moved into then-named Invesco Field at Mile High, built next to the former site of the since-demolished Mile High Stadium. Sportswriter Woody Paige, along with many of Denver's fans, however, often refused to call the stadium by its full name, preferring to use "Mile High Stadium" because of its storied history and sentimental import. Additionally, The Denver Post had an official policy of referring to the stadium as simply "Mile High Stadium" in protest, but dropped this policy in 2004.

Prior to the 2011 season, Englewood-based sporting goods retailer Sports Authority claimed the naming rights of Invesco Field, which became known as Sports Authority Field at Mile High. However, in the summer of 2016, Sports Authority went bankrupt, the stadium was renamed Broncos Stadium at Mile High, and the Broncos sought out a naming rights sponsor until September 2019 when they agreed to rename the stadium Empower Field at Mile High.

The altitude has also been attributed as part of the team's home success. The stadium displays multiple references to the stadium's location of 5280 ft above sea level, including a prominent mural just outside the visiting team's locker room. The team training facility, the UCHealth Training Center (formerly known as the Paul D. Bowlen Memorial Broncos Centre), is a state-of-the-art facility located in Dove Valley. With 13.5 acre of property, the facility hosts three full-size fields, a complete weight and training facility, and a cafeteria.

In their more than half-century of existence, the Broncos have never been shut out at home, a streak of over 400 games as of the season.

In late 2012, the Broncos announced that the stadium would receive $30 million upgrades including a new video board in the south end zone three times larger than the previous display. The renovations were finished before kickoff of the 2013 season.

1968–1996

When the Broncos debuted in, their original uniforms drew were said to have drawn as much attention as their play on the field. They featured white and mustard yellow jerseys, contrasting brown helmets, brown pants, and vertically striped socks. Two years later, the team unveiled a new logo featuring a bucking horse and changed their team colors to orange, royal blue and white. The uniform consisted of white pants, orange helmets, and either orange or white jerseys.

In, the Broncos debuted a design that became known as "Orange Crush". Their logo was redesigned so that the horse was coming out of a "D". Additionally, the helmets were changed to royal blue, and the sleeves had thin stripes with other minor modifications added. From 1969 to 1971, and again from 1978 to 1979, the team wore orange pants with their white jerseys. In 1975, the face masks were changed to white from grey.

The Broncos wore their white jerseys at home throughout the season, as well as for  home games against the San Diego Chargers and Dallas Cowboys, the latter in hopes to bring out the "blue jersey jinx" which has followed the Cowboys for decades. (The Broncos won 41–20.) The Broncos wore their white jerseys for home games against the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Raiders and Cincinnati Bengals, but did not wear white at home again for two decades — see next section.

In, in honor of the 75th anniversary season of the NFL, the Broncos wore their throwback uniforms for two games—a Week 3 home game against the Raiders and a road game at the Buffalo Bills the following week.

1997–2011
The Broncos radically changed their logo and uniforms in, a design that the team used until 2023. The new logos and uniforms were unveiled on February 4, 1997. Navy blue replaced royal blue on the team's color scheme. The current logo is a profile of a horse's head, with an orange mane and navy blue outlines. The Broncos' popular live animal mascot Thunder was the inspiration to incorporate a horse-head profile as part of the logo on the team's helmets. During a February 4, 1997, press conference introducing the new logo, the team president and the art director for Nike, who were the creators of the new design, described it as "a powerful horse with a fiery eye and mane."

The Broncos began wearing navy blue jerseys, replacing their longtime orange jerseys that had been the team's predominant home jersey color since 1962. This new uniform design features a new word mark, numbering font and a streak that runs up and down the sides of both the jerseys and the pants. On the navy blue jerseys, the streak is orange, with an orange collar and white numerals trimmed in orange, while on the road white jerseys, the streak is navy blue, with a thin orange accent strip on both sides, a navy collar and navy numerals trimmed in orange; the helmet facemasks became navy blue. When they debuted, these uniforms were vilified by the press and fans, until the Broncos won their first-ever Super Bowl in the new design that same season. The navy blue jerseys served as the team's primary home jersey until the end of the season — see next section.

In, the Broncos introduced an alternate orange jersey that is a mirror image of the aforementioned navy blue jerseys, but with orange and navy trading places. Like the road white jerseys, the white pants with the navy blue streaks running down the sides are worn with this uniform. This jersey was used only once in the 2002 and seasons, and were used twice per season from 2008 to 2011. Mike Shanahan, the team's head coach from 1995 to 2008, was not a big fan of the alternate orange jerseys. The Broncos previously wore orange jerseys as a throwback uniform in a Thanksgiving Day game at the Dallas Cowboys in.

The team also introduced navy blue pants in, with orange side streaks to match with the navy blue jerseys. Though they were part of the uniform change in 1997 (in fact, they were worn for a couple of 1997 preseason games) and most players wanted to wear them, the only player who vetoed wearing them was John Elway, thereby delaying their eventual introduction. From 2003 to 2011, these pants were primarily used for select prime-time and late-season home games (excluding the season), and since, are used exclusively with the now-alternate navy blue jerseys — see next section.

On November 16, 2003, the Broncos wore their white jerseys at home for the first time since, in a game vs. the San Diego Chargers. This was compensation for a uniform mix-up, after the teams' first meeting at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium in Week 2 earlier that season, when the Chargers were the team that was supposed to declare their uniform color. The Chargers were planning to wear their white jerseys, but the visiting Broncos came to the stadium in white, and were fined $25,000 by the NFL as a result. When the two teams met at INVESCO Field at Mile High later that season (Week 11), the NFL allowed the visiting Chargers to choose their uniform color in advance, and they chose navy blue, forcing the Broncos to wear their white jerseys at home.

In, in honor of their 50th anniversary season as one of the eight original American Football League teams, the Broncos wore their 1960 throwback uniforms (brown helmets, mustard yellow and brown jerseys) for games against two fellow AFL rivals—a Week 5 home game vs. the New England Patriots, as well as the following week at the San Diego Chargers.

2012–2023

Beginning in, the orange jerseys that served as the alternate colored jerseys from 2002 to 2011 became the primary home jersey, while the navy blue jerseys that served as the primary home jersey from 1997 to 2011 switched to alternate designation. The change was made due to overwhelming popularity with the fans, who pressured the Broncos to return to orange as the team's primary home jersey color. Since the 2012 uniform change, the team has worn the alternate navy blue jerseys for at least one home game per season, with the exception of, in which the Broncos wore their alternate navy blue uniforms for an October 6, 2013, road game at the Dallas Cowboys, which the Broncos won in a shootout, 51–48. The team will either wear the navy blue or the white pants – with the orange side stripes – to match with the alternate navy blue jerseys. The team initially did not wear the white pants with the orange side stripes, until a November 1, 2015, game vs. the Green Bay Packers, in which the Broncos wore said design to match the uniform ensemble that was used during the team's Super Bowl XXXII win over the Packers. On October 30, 2022, the Broncos debuted a new combination of white jerseys and alternate navy blue pants in an NFL London Game at the Jacksonville Jaguars, with mismatched side stripes of navy blue (white jersey) and orange (navy blue pants).

As the designated home team in Super Bowl 50, the Broncos – who have a 0–4 Super Bowl record when using their standard orange jerseys – chose to wear their white jerseys as the designated "home" team.

In, the Broncos' unveiled a new Color Rush uniform, which the team wore for a Thursday Night game at the San Diego Chargers on October 13, 2016. The uniform kit contained the following features: orange pants, which the team wore for the first time since 1979, orange socks and shoes, along with block-style numerals trimmed in navy blue that mirrored the team's 1968–1996 uniform style. Due to the NFL's one-helmet rule implemented in 2013, the helmets remained the same, with the team temporarily replacing the modern primary logo with the throwback "D-horse" logo. The same uniform was used for a Thursday night game against the Indianapolis Colts during the season and again during a 2018 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. In a Week 2 game vs. the Washington Commanders in 2023, the Broncos wore their white jerseys at home for the first time since 2003, to honor the 25th anniversary of the Super Bowl XXXIII team. In 2023, the Color Rush uniforms were paired with a white alternate helmet, again using the modernized "D-horse" logo, and were discontinued at the end of that season, with the arrival of a new uniform kit in 2024—see next section.

2024–present
On April 22, 2024, the Broncos unveiled a simpler uniform design, eliminating the mismatched jersey and pant stripes that characterized their 1997 redesign and reverting to a more vintage block number style and letters inspired by the signage of Colorado's national parks. The set consists of a primary home orange and road white uniform, and an alternate navy blue uniform; all uniforms could be worn with either orange, white or navy blue pants. The striping on the uniform is a nod to the Rocky Mountains. The primary helmets remain navy blue while the alternate remains white; both feature the current Broncos logo with triangle clusters on top to represent Denver's elevation. The Broncos also unveiled a throwback 1977 "Orange Crush" uniform along with the royal blue "D-horse" helmet; this is due to the NFL allowing teams with new uniforms to unveil a second alternate helmet this season.

Retired numbers
† Note: No. 18 was re-issued for Peyton Manning after Tripucka gave his approval; it was used by Manning from the 2012 season until his retirement after the 2015 season. Manning's name was added to the retired number's banner as an honorable mention.

Ring of Fame
The Broncos have a Ring of Fame on the Level 5 facade of Empower Field at Mile High, which honors the following:

50th Anniversary Team
The Denver Broncos announced the club's 50th anniversary team on September 15, 2009. The anniversary team was voted on by users at DenverBroncos.com from June 6 to September 4, 2009.

Head coaches
The current head coach is Sean Payton, who was hired for the 2023 season. His predecessor was Nathaniel Hackett. On December 26, 2022, ownership announced that Hackett had been fired after he led the team to a disappointing 4–11 record despite entering the season with high expectations.

In the media and popular culture

 * Tim McKernan, a.k.a. Barrel Man, began wearing a barrel in 1977 after making a $10 (equivalent to $ in ) bet with his brother, Scott, that by wearing one he could get on television. McKernan won the bet, and the barrel he had painted to look like an Orange Crush soda can became his signature costume, and resulted in him becoming one of the Broncos' most recognized fans and a popular mascot. McKernan died on December 5, 2009.
 * The animated television show South Park, set in Park County, often mentions the Denver Broncos; show creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone both grew up in Colorado as devout Broncos fans.
 * In The Simpsons season 5 episode Cape Feare, when the family are to be given new identities, Homer imagines himself as John Elway, scoring a (consolation) touchdown against San Francisco. Conversely, in the 1996 episode "You Only Move Twice", Hank Scorpio gives Homer Simpson the Denver Broncos as a thank-you gift for helping him. However, Homer complains that he wanted to own the Dallas Cowboys, as the Broncos team that just arrived are playing very sloppy football on his front lawn (a reference to the team losing four Super Bowl appearances, three by significant margins including Super Bowl XII against Dallas). Incidentally, the Broncos were 13–3 in the 1996 season, and won the Super Bowl the next two seasons. Only two seasons later in the Super Bowl-centric episode "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday", Homer chooses Denver as his Super Bowl XXXIII pick over Moe's choice of the Atlanta Falcons. In the episode, "The Bonfire of the Manatees", Homer picks the Broncos to win the Super Bowl over the Seattle Seahawks. The two teams later did play against each other in Super Bowl XLVIII which aired on Fox, the U.S. home of The Simpsons; but the result was a Seahawks victory instead.
 * In the 1979 Mork & Mindy episode "Hold That Mork", Mork's character, played by Robin Williams, became the first male cheerleader in Broncos' history. As a member of the "Pony Express", he trotted out on the field at Mile High Stadium during an actual Broncos' game vs. the New England Patriots on November 11, 1979. The episode aired exactly two weeks later.
 * Many former Broncos are now in broadcasting, including Shannon Sharpe, Mark Schlereth, Alfred Williams, Tom Jackson, Ed McCaffrey, Brian Griese, David Diaz-Infante, Terrell Davis and Brandon Stokley. Some former Broncos work in radio, KKFN and KDFD in Denver, Colorado.
 * Former tight end and wide receiver Nate Jackson has written and published two nonfiction books, Slow Getting Up and Fantasy Man. His writing about the NFL has appeared in Slate, Deadspin, The Daily Beast, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and BuzzFeed, among others. Jackson also co-hosts the Caveman Poet Society.

Radio and television
The Broncos' flagship radio station is currently KOA, 850AM, a 50,000-watt station owned by iHeartMedia. Dave Logan is the play-by-play announcer, with former Broncos' wide receiver Ed McCaffrey serving as the color commentator beginning in 2012, replacing Brian Griese. Ed McCaffrey was replaced by Rick Lewis. Until 2010, preseason games not selected for airing on national television were shown on KCNC, channel 4, which is a CBS owned-and-operated station, as well as other CBS affiliates around the Rocky Mountain region. On May 26, 2011, the Broncos announced that KUSA channel 9, an NBC affiliate also known as 9NEWS in the Rocky Mountain region, will be the team's new television partner for preseason games.

In 2011, the Broncos began a partnership with KJMN, 92.1 FM, a leading Spanish language radio station owned by Entravision Communications (EVC). The partnership also includes broadcasting rights for a half-hour weekly TV show on KCEC, the local Univision affiliate operated by Entravision Communications.

title: Denver Broncos


text:
D

D, or d, is the fourth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is dee (pronounced ), plural dees.

History
The Semitic letter Dāleth may have developed from the logogram for a fish or a door. There are many different Egyptian hieroglyphs that might have inspired this. In Semitic, Ancient Greek and Latin, the letter represented ; in the Etruscan alphabet the letter was archaic but still retained. The equivalent Greek letter is delta, Δ.

The minuscule (lower-case) form of 'd' consists of a lower-story left bowl and a stem ascender. It most likely developed by gradual variations on the majuscule (capital) form 'D', and is now composed as a stem with a full lobe to the right. In handwriting, it was common to start the arc to the left of the vertical stroke, resulting in a serif at the top of the arc. This serif was extended while the rest of the letter was reduced, resulting in an angled stroke and loop. The angled stroke slowly developed into a vertical stroke.

English
In English, $⟨d⟩$ generally represents the voiced alveolar plosive.

D is the tenth most frequently used letter in the English language.

Other languages
In most languages that use the Latin alphabet, $⟨d⟩$ generally represents the voiced alveolar or voiced dental plosive.

In the Vietnamese alphabet, it represents the sound in northern dialects or  in southern dialects. In Fijian, it represents a prenasalized stop.

In some languages where voiceless unaspirated stops contrast with voiceless aspirated stops, $⟨d⟩$ represents an unaspirated, while $⟨d⟩$ represents an aspirated. Examples of such languages include Icelandic, Scottish Gaelic, Navajo and the pinyin transliteration of Mandarin.

Other systems
In the International Phonetic Alphabet, $⟨t⟩$ represents the voiced alveolar plosive.

Other uses

 * In the hexadecimal (base 16) numbering system, D is a number that corresponds to the number 13 in decimal (base 10) counting.
 * The Roman numeral D represents the number 500.
 * Unit prefix d, meaning one tenth.
 * D is the grade below C but above E/F in the school grading system.
 * D is the international vehicle registration code for Germany (also .de as its top-level domain).
 * In Cantonese: Because the lack of Unicode CJK support in early computer systems, many Hong Kongers and Singaporeans used the capitalized D to represent 啲 (lit. 'a little').
 * In the Gregory-Aland system for cataloging Biblical manuscripts, D can refer to documents in the Western text-type tradition, either Codex Bezae or Codex Claromontanus.
 * d. is the standard abbreviation for the Penny (British pre-decimal coin) (from denarius)

Descendants and related characters in the Latin alphabet

 * Ɖ ɖ : African D
 * Ð ð : Ð|Latin letter Eth
 * D with diacritics: Đ đ Ꟈ ꟈ Ḋ|Ɗ ɗ Ḋ ḋ Ḍ|Ḍ ḍ Ḑ|Ḑ ḑ Ḓ|Ḓ ḓ Ď|Ď ď Ḏ|Ḏ ḏ
 * Phonetic symbols related to D:
 * Symbols related to D used in the IPA:
 * Symbols related to D used in the Uralic Phonetic Alphabet: ᴅ ᴰ ᵈ
 * Superscript IPA letters: 𐞋 𐞌 𐞍
 * Other phonetic symbols related to D: ȡ ᵭ ᶁ ᶑ
 * Ƌ ƌ : Ƌ|D with topbar
 * 𝼥 : D with mid-height left hook – Used by the British and Foreign Bible Society in the early 20th century for romanization of the Malayalam language.
 * Ꝺ ꝺ : Insular D is used in various phonetic contexts

Ancestors and siblings in other alphabets

 * 𐤃 : Semitic letter Dalet, from which the following symbols originally derive:
 * Δ δ : Greek letter Delta, from which the following symbols originally derive:
 * : Coptic letter Delta
 * Д д : Cyrillic letter De
 * 𐌃 : Old Italic D, the ancestor of modern Latin D
 * : Runic letter dagaz, which is possibly a descendant of Old Italic D
 * Runic letter thurisaz, another possible descendant of Old Italic D
 * : Gothic letter daaz, which derives from Greek Delta

Derived signs, symbols and abbreviations

 * ₫ : Đồng sign
 * ⅆ : Unicode symbol for d used as derivative symbol
 * ∂ : ∂|the partial derivative symbol, $$\partial$$

Computing
The Latin letters $⟨d⟩$ and $⟨D⟩$ have Unicode encodings and. These are the same code points as those used in ASCII and ISO 8859. There are also precomposed character encodings for $⟨d⟩$ and $⟨D⟩$ with diacritics, for most of those listed above; the remainder are produced using combining diacritics.

Variant forms of the letter have unique code points for specialist use: the alphanumeric symbols set in mathematics and science, plosive sounds in linguistics and halfwidth and fullwidth forms for legacy CJK font compatibility.

Other
In British Sign Language (BSL), the letter 'd' is indicated by signing with the right hand held with the index and thumb extended and slightly curved, and the tip of the thumb and finger held against the extended index of the left hand.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: D


text:
Delta (letter)

Delta (uppercase Δ, lowercase δ; δέλτα, délta, ) is the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 4. It was derived from the Phoenician letter dalet 𐤃. Letters that come from delta include Latin D and Cyrillic Д.

A river delta (originally, the delta of the Nile River) is so named because its shape approximates the triangular uppercase letter delta. Contrary to a popular legend, this use of the word delta was not coined by Herodotus.

Pronunciation
In Ancient Greek, delta represented a voiced dental plosive. In Modern Greek, it represents a voiced dental fricative, like the "th" in "that" or "this" (while in foreign words is instead commonly transcribed as ντ). Delta is romanized as d or dh.

Uppercase
The uppercase letter Δ is used to denote: \frac{y_2 - y_1}{x_2 - x_1} = \frac{\Delta y}{\Delta x}, $$ the average change of y per unit x (i.e. the change of y over the change of x). Delta is the initial letter of the Greek word διαφορά diaphorá, "difference". (The small Latin letter d is used in much the same way for the notation of derivatives and differentials, which also describe change by infinitesimal amounts.)
 * Change of any changeable quantity, in mathematics and the sciences (in particular, the difference operator ); for example, in $$
 * The Laplace operator:
 * $$\Delta f = \sum_{i=1}^n {\frac{\partial^2 f}{\partial x_i^2}}.$$
 * The discriminant of a polynomial equation, especially the quadratic equation:
 * $$\Delta = b^2 - 4ac.$$
 * The area of a triangle
 * $$\Delta = \tfrac{1}{2} a b \sin{C}.$$
 * The symmetric difference of two sets.
 * A macroscopic change in the value of a variable in mathematics or science.
 * Uncertainty in a physical variable as seen in the uncertainty principle.
 * An interval of possible values for a given quantity.
 * Any of the delta particles in particle physics.
 * The determinant of the matrix of coefficients of a set of linear equations (see Cramer's rule).
 * That an associated locant number represents the location of a covalent bond in an organic compound, the position of which is variant between isomeric forms.
 * A simplex, simplicial complex, or convex hull.
 * In chemistry, the addition of heat in a reaction.
 * In legal shorthand, it represents a defendant.
 * In the financial markets, one of the Greeks, describing the rate of change of an option price for a given change in the underlying benchmark.
 * A major seventh chord in jazz music notation.
 * In genetics, it can stand for a gene deletion (e.g. the CCR5-Δ32, a 32 nucleotide/bp deletion within CCR5).
 * The American Dental Association cites it (together with omicron for "odont") as the symbol of dentistry.
 * The anonymous signature of James David Forbes.
 * Determinacy (having a definite truth-value) in philosophical logic.
 * In mathematics, the symbol ≜ (delta over equals) is occasionally used to define a new variable or function.

Lowercase

The lowercase letter δ (or 𝛿) can be used to denote:
 * A change in the value of a variable in calculus
 * A functional derivative in functional calculus
 * An auxiliary function in calculus, used to rigorously define the limit or continuity of a given function
 * The Kronecker delta in mathematics
 * The degree of a vertex (graph theory)
 * The Dirac delta function in mathematics
 * The transition function in automata
 * Deflection in engineering mechanics
 * The force of interest in actuarial science
 * The chemical shift of nuclear magnetic resonance in chemistry
 * The relative electronegativity of different atoms in a molecule, δ− being more electronegative than δ+
 * Text requiring deletion in proofreading; the usage is said to date back to classical times
 * In some of the manuscripts written by Dr. John Dee, the character of delta is used to represent Dee
 * A subunit of the F1 sector of the F-ATPase
 * The declination of an object in the equatorial coordinate system of astronomy
 * The dividend yield in the Black–Scholes option pricing formula
 * Ratios of environmental isotopes, such as 18O/16O and D/1H from water are displayed using delta notation – δ18O and δD, respectively
 * The rate of depreciation of the aggregate capital stock of an economy in an exogenous growth model in macroeconomics
 * In a system that exhibits electrical reactance, the angle between voltage and current
 * Partial charge in chemistry
 * The maximum birrefringence of a crystal in optical mineralogy.
 * An Old Irish voiced dental or alveolar fricative of uncertain articulation, the ancestor of the sound represented by Modern Irish dh

Computer encodings

 * Greek Delta / Coptic Dalda

 * Latin Delta

 * Technical and Mathematical symbols

 * Mathematical Delta

These characters are used only as mathematical symbols. Stylized Greek text should be encoded using the normal Greek letters, with markup and formatting to indicate text style.

title: Delta (letter)


text:
Digamma

Digamma or wau (uppercase: Ϝ, lowercase: ϝ, numeral: ϛ) is an archaic letter of the Greek alphabet. It originally stood for the sound but it has remained in use principally as a Greek numeral for 6. Whereas it was originally called waw or wau, its most common appellation in classical Greek is digamma; as a numeral, it was called episēmon during the Byzantine era and is now known as stigma after the Byzantine ligature combining σ-τ as ϛ.

Digamma or wau was part of the original archaic Greek alphabet as initially adopted from Phoenician. Like its model, Phoenician waw, it represented the voiced labial-velar approximant and stood in the 6th position in the alphabet between epsilon and zeta. It is the consonantal doublet of the vowel letter upsilon, which was also derived from waw but was placed near the end of the Greek alphabet. Digamma or wau is in turn the ancestor of the Latin letter F. As an alphabetic letter, it is attested in archaic and dialectal ancient Greek inscriptions until the classical period.

The shape of the letter went through a development from through ,  ,  ,  to  or  , which at that point was conflated with the σ-τ ligature. In modern print, a distinction is made between the letter in its original alphabetic role as a consonant sign, which is rendered as "Ϝ" or its modern lowercase variant "ϝ", and the numeric symbol, which is represented by "ϛ". In modern Greek, this is often replaced by the digraph στ.

Mycenaean Greek

The sound existed in Mycenean Greek, as attested in Linear B and archaic Greek inscriptions using digamma. It is also confirmed by the Hittite name of Troy, Wilusa, corresponding to the Greek name *Wilion, classical Ilion (Ilium).

Classical Greek
The sound was lost at various times in various dialects, mostly before the classical period.

In Ionic, had probably disappeared before Homer's epics were written down (7th century BC), but its former presence can be detected in many cases because its omission left the meter defective. For example, the word ἄναξ ("(tribal) king, lord, (military) leader"), found in the Iliad, would have originally been ϝάναξ (and is attested in this form in Mycenaean Greek ), and the word οἶνος ("wine"), are sometimes used in the meter where a word starting with a consonant would be expected. Further evidence coupled with cognate-analysis shows that οἶνος was earlier ϝοῖνος (compare Cretan Doric ibêna and Latin vīnum, which is the origin of English wine ). There have been editions of the Homeric epics where the wau was re-added, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but these have largely fallen out of favour.

Aeolian was the dialect that kept the sound longest. In discussions by ancient Greek grammarians of the Hellenistic era, the letter is therefore often described as a characteristic Aeolian feature.

Loanwords that entered Greek before the loss of lost that sound when Greek did. For instance, Oscan Viteliu ('land of the male calves', compare vitulus 'yearling, male calf') gave rise to the Greek word Italia. The Adriatic tribe of the Veneti was called in Ἐνετοί. In loanwords that entered the Greek language after the drop of, the phoneme was once again registered, compare for example the spelling of Οὐάτεις for vates.

Pamphylian digamma
In some local (epichoric) alphabets, a variant glyph of the letter digamma existed that resembled modern Cyrillic И. In one local alphabet, that of Pamphylia, this variant form existed side by side with standard digamma as two distinct letters. It has been surmised that in this dialect the sound may have changed to labiodental  in some environments. The F-shaped letter may have stood for the new sound, while the special И-shaped form signified those positions where the old   sound was preserved.

Numeral
Digamma/wau remained in use in the system of Greek numerals attributed to Miletus, where it stood for the number 6, reflecting its original place in the sequence of the alphabet. It was one of three letters that were kept in this way in addition to the 24 letters of the classical alphabet, the other two being koppa (ϙ) for 90, and sampi (ϡ) for 900. During their history in handwriting in late antiquity and the Byzantine era, all three of these symbols underwent several changes in shape, with digamma ultimately taking the form of "ϛ".

It has remained in use as a numeral in Greek to the present day, in contexts comparable to those where Latin numerals would be used in English, for instance in regnal numbers of monarchs or in enumerating chapters in a book, although in practice the letter sequence ΣΤ΄ is much more common.

Epigraphy
Digamma was derived from Phoenician waw, which was shaped roughly like a Y. Of the two Greek reflexes of waw, digamma retained the alphabetic position, but had its shape modified to, while the upsilon retained the original shape but was placed in a new alphabetic position. Early Crete had an archaic form of digamma somewhat closer to the original Phoenician,, or a variant with the stem bent sidewards. The shape, during the archaic period, underwent a development parallel to that of epsilon (which changed from  to "E", with the arms becoming orthogonal and the lower end of the stem being shed off). For digamma, this led to the two main variants of classical "F" and square.

The latter of these two shapes became dominant when used as a numeral, with "F" only very rarely employed in this function. However, in Athens, both of these were avoided in favour of a number of alternative numeral shapes.

Early handwriting

In cursive handwriting, the square-C form developed further into a rounded form resembling a "C" (found in papyrus manuscripts as, on coins sometimes as  ). It then developed a downward tail at the end and finally adopted a shape like a Latin "s"  These cursive forms are also found in stone inscriptions in late antiquity.

Conflation with the στ ligature
In the ninth and tenth centuries, the cursive shape digamma was visually conflated with a ligature of sigma (in its historical "lunate" form) and tau ( +  = ,  ). The στ-ligature had become common in minuscule handwriting from the 9th century onwards. Both closed and open  forms were subsequently used without distinction both for the ligature and for the numeral. The ligature took on the name of "stigma" or "sti", and the name stigma is today applied to it both in its textual and in the numeral function. The association between its two functions as a numeral and as a sign for "st" became so strong that in modern typographic practice in Greece, whenever the ϛʹ sign itself is not available, the letter sequences στʹ or ΣΤʹ are used instead for the number 6.

Typography
In western typesetting during the modern era, the numeral symbol was routinely represented by the same character as the stigma ligature (ϛ). In normal text, this ligature together with numerous others continued to be used widely until the early nineteenth century, following the style of earlier minuscule handwriting, but ligatures then gradually dropped out of use. The stigma ligature was among those that survived longest, but it too became obsolete in print after the mid-19th century. Today it is used only to represent the numeric digamma, and never to represent the sequence στ in text.

Along with the other special numeric symbols koppa and sampi, numeric digamma/stigma normally has no distinction between uppercase and lowercase forms, (while other alphabetic letters can be used as numerals in both cases). Distinct uppercase versions were occasionally used in the 19th century. Several different shapes of uppercase stigma can be found, with the lower end either styled as a small curved S-like hook, or as a straight stem, the latter either with a serif or without one. An alternative uppercase stylization in some twentieth-century fonts is, visually a ligature of Roman-style uppercase C and T.

The characters used for numeric digamma/stigma are distinguished in modern print from the character used to represent the ancient alphabetic digamma, the letter for the [w] sound. This is rendered in print by a Latin "F", or sometimes a variant of it specially designed to fit in typographically with Greek ( Ϝ ). It has a modern lowercase form ( ϝ ) that typically differs from Latin "f" by having two parallel horizontal strokes like the uppercase character, with the vertical stem often being somewhat slanted to the right or curved, and usually descending below the baseline. This character is used in Greek epigraphy to transcribe the text of ancient inscriptions that contain "Ϝ", and in linguistics and historical grammar when describing reconstructed proto-forms of Greek words that contained the sound.

Glyph confusion

Throughout much of its history, the shape of digamma/stigma has often been very similar to that of other symbols, with which it can easily be confused. In ancient papyri, the cursive C-shaped form of numeric digamma is often indistinguishable from the C-shaped ("lunate") form that was then the common form of sigma. The similarity is still found today, since both the modern stigma (ϛ) and modern final sigma (ς) look identical or almost identical in most fonts; both are historically continuations of their ancient C-shaped forms with the addition of the same downward flourish. If the two characters are distinguished in print, the top loop of stigma tends to be somewhat larger and to extend farther to the right than that of final sigma. The two characters are, however, always distinguishable from the context in modern usage, both in numeric notation and in text: the final form of sigma never occurs in numerals (the number 200 being always written with the medial sigma, σ), and in normal Greek text the sequence "στ" can never occur word-finally.

The medieval s-like shape of digamma has the same shape as a contemporary abbreviation for καὶ ("and").

Yet another case of glyph confusion exists in the printed uppercase forms, this time between stigma and the other numeral, koppa (90). In ancient and medieval handwriting, koppa developed from through ,  ,  to. The uppercase forms and  can represent either koppa or stigma. Frequent confusion between these two values in contemporary printing was already noted by some commentators in the eighteenth century. The ambiguity continues in modern fonts, many of which continue to have glyph similar to for either koppa or stigma.

Names
The symbol has been called by a variety of different names, referring either to its alphabetic or its numeral function or both.

Wau
Wau (variously rendered as vau, waw or similarly in English) is the original name of the alphabetic letter for in ancient Greek. It is often cited in its reconstructed acrophonic spelling "ϝαῦ". This form itself is not historically attested in Greek inscriptions, but the existence of the name can be inferred from descriptions by contemporary Latin grammarians, who render it as vau. In later Greek, where both the letter and the sound it represented had become inaccessible, the name is rendered as βαῦ or οὐαῦ. In the 19th century, vau in English was a common name for the symbol ϛ in its numerical function, used by authors who distinguished it both from the alphabetic "digamma" and from ϛ as a στ ligature.

Digamma
The name digamma was used in ancient Greek and is the most common name for the letter in its alphabetic function today. It literally means "double gamma" and is descriptive of the original letter's shape, which looked like a Γ  (gamma) placed on top of another.

Episemon
The name episēmon was used for the numeral symbol during the Byzantine era and is still sometimes used today, either as a name specifically for digamma/stigma, or as a generic term for the whole group of extra-alphabetic numeral signs (digamma, koppa and sampi). The Greek word "ἐπίσημον", from ἐπί- (epi-, "on") and σήμα (sēma, "sign"), literally means "a distinguishing mark", "a badge", but is also the neuter form of the related adjective "ἐπίσημος" ("distinguished", "remarkable"). This word was connected to the number "six" through early Christian mystical numerology. According to an account of the teachings of the heretic Marcus given by the church father Irenaeus, the number six was regarded as a symbol of Christ, and was hence called "ὁ ἐπίσημος ἀριθμός" ("the outstanding number"); likewise, the name Ἰησοῦς (Jesus), having six letters, was "τὸ ἐπίσημον ὄνομα" ("the outstanding name"), and so on. The sixth-century treatise About the Mystery of the Letters, which also links the six to Christ, calls the number sign to Episēmon throughout. The same name is still found in a fifteenth-century arithmetical manual by the Greek mathematician Nikolaos Rabdas. It is also found in a number of western European accounts of the Greek alphabet written in Latin during the early Middle Ages. One of them is the work De loquela per gestum digitorum, a didactic text about arithmetics attributed to the Venerable Bede, where the three Greek numerals for 6, 90 and 900 are called "episimon", "cophe" and "enneacosis" respectively. From Beda, the term was adopted by the seventeenth century humanist Joseph Justus Scaliger. However, misinterpreting Beda's reference, Scaliger applied the term episēmon not as a name proper for digamma/6 alone, but as a cover term for all three numeral letters. From Scaliger, the term found its way into modern academic usage in this new meaning, of referring to complementary numeral symbols standing outside the alphabetic sequence proper, in Greek and other similar scripts.

Gabex or Gamex
In one remark in the context of a biblical commentary, the 4th century scholar Ammonius of Alexandria is reported to have mentioned that the numeral symbol for 6 was called gabex by his contemporaries. The same reference in Ammonius has alternatively been read as gam(m)ex by some modern authors. Ammonius as well as later theologians discuss the symbol in the context of explaining the apparent contradiction and variant readings between the gospels in assigning the death of Jesus either to the "third hour" or "sixth hour", arguing that the one numeral symbol could easily have been substituted for the other through a scribal error.

Stigma
The name "stigma" (στίγμα) was originally a common Greek noun meaning "a mark, dot, puncture" or generally "a sign", from the verb στίζω ("to puncture"). It had an earlier writing-related special meaning, being the name for a dot as a punctuation mark, used for instance to mark shortness of a syllable in the notation of rhythm. It was then co-opted as a name specifically for the στ ligature, evidently because of the acrophonic value of its initial st- as well as the analogy with the name of sigma. Other names coined according to the same analogical principle are sti or stau.

Computer encodings

 * Greek Digamma / Stigma

 * Coptic Digamma

title: Digamma


text:
Dose

Dose or Dosage may refer to:

Music

 * Dose (Gov't Mule album), 1998
 * Dose (Latin Playboys album)
 * Dosage (album), by the band Collective Soul
 * "Dose" (song), a 2018 song by Ciara
 * "Dose", song by Filter from the album Short Bus

Science

 * Dose (biochemistry), a measured quantity of a medicine, nutrient, or pathogen which is delivered as a unit.
 * Dosage form, a mixture of active and inactive components used to administer a medication
 * Dosing, feeding chemicals or medicines when used in small quantities
 * Effective dose (pharmacology), a dose or concentration of a drug that produces a biological response
 * Absorbed dose, a measure of energy deposited in matter from ionizing radiation
 * Equivalent dose, a measure of cancer/heritable health risk in tissue from ionizing radiation
 * Effective dose (radiation), a measure of cancer/heritable health risk to the whole body from ionizing radiation
 * Median lethal dose, a measure of the lethal dose of a chemical agent, toxin, adiation, or pathogen
 * DOSE, an acronym for dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins, the four main chemicals associated with happiness in humans

Other

 * Dosa or dose, a thin pancake or crepe originating from South India
 * Dose (magazine), a free daily Canadian magazine
 * Döse, town in Lower Saxony, Germany
 * Gerd Dose (1942–2010), professor of English literature at the University of Hamburg

title: Dose