Sports Team History

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Search in posts
Search in pages
  • Home
  • Sports History
    • Baseball History
    • Basketball History
    • College History
    • Football History
    • Hockey History
    • Soccer History
  • Greatest Player Polls
  • STH News

Denver Gold Team History

NFL Logo Tourney
Sports Market History
Sports News History
Denver Gold




  • 1983
  • 1985
  • Denver Gold Team Photo

    Gold Team Formation

    The team’s original owner, Denver real estate mogul Ron Blanding, held fast to USFL founder David Dixon’s original blueprint for the league. He kept tight controls on expenses (including player salaries) while heavily marketing the team in the Rockies. The Gold’s original coach was Red Miller, who led the National Football League’s Denver Broncos to their first-ever Super Bowl. However, ...
    Read More
    See Full Story
  • Denver Gold- Vincent White

    Competing with the Broncos

    Unfortunately, just after Davis took over, the USFL announced that it would switch to a fall schedule for the 1986 season. Knowing that the Gold could not even begin to compete directly with the Broncos, Spedding was one of two owners (the other being Tampa Bay Bandits owner John F. Bassett) to vote to stay on a spring schedule. His ...
    Read More
    See Full Story

Gold Primary Logos

History of the Gold

The Denver Gold was a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second major professional football league in the United States, playing a springtime season, from 1983 to 1985. The Gold played their home games at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado; co-tenants in the spring with the Triple-A Denver Zephyrs baseball team (Denver Bears prior to 1984).

When the USFL was first organized, league officials identified Denver as a critical market. However, they had a difficult time finding an owner. Ultimately, the league's first operations chief, John Ralston, got in touch with local real estate magnate Ron Blanding, an old friend from his days as head coach of the National Football League's Denver Broncos. After some pleading, Blanding agreed to sign on.

Blanding was easily the poorest owner in the league. He held fast to USFL founder David Dixon's original blueprint for the league, keeping tight controls on expenses (including player salaries) while heavily marketing the team in the Rockies.

The Gold's original coach was Red Miller, who led the Broncos to their first-ever Super Bowl and had known Blanding for several years. Miller was still a very popular figure in the area; fans were still smarting at how the Broncos fired him after the 1980 season. However, Miller bristled at Blanding's bargain-basement approach to running the team. The players used rented cars from Rent-a-Wreck, some of which were in rather a poor condition. They had to rely on bare-bones meals, traveled to training camp in old school buses, and only had 100 uniforms for the 120 men they invited to camp. Blanding also balked at signing any of the Gold's first seven picks in the 1983 draft. It got to the point that an irate Miller once threatened to quit unless Blanding decided to "act like a fucking owner of a professional football team."





Established
1983

City
Denver

League History
1983 – 1985 / United States Football League

Team History
1983 – 1985 / Denver Gold

Nickname
Gold – There’s gold in those Rockies. Refers to the “Gold Rush” in early years of our country. The Denver franchise using the nickname "Gold" is perfect with their close proximity to the Rocky Mountains.

Original USFL Team
Yes

Final USFL Team
No

Team’s Final Outlook
Doug Spedding knew that the Gold could not hope to compete with the Broncos; shortly after the 1985 season, he cut a deal to merge the Gold with the Jacksonville Bulls.

Championship
USFL Championship 0

Stadium
1983 – 1985 / Mile High Stadium

Owner
1984 – 1985 / Doug Spedding
1983 / Ron Blanding

Coaches
1985 / Mouse Davis (11 wins – 8 losses)
1983 – 1984 / Craig Morton (12 wins – 12 losses)
1983 / Red Miller (4 wins – 7 losses)

Who is the greatest Denver Gold?
  • Add your greatest player

To qualify as the greatest player for this team, the player must have played one season for this team. If not, we will remove the player.
* verifies that player has played for this team as an added player by a fan.

Accomplishments
1985 / Division Championship Game (vs Memphis Showboats 7 – 48)
Averaged 41,736 in 1983, 33,953 in 1984 and 14,446 in 1985 (51,706 seat stadium)

*Blue is this team’s history

Football Score

Sports News History

Sports News Worth Knowing

RSS Headline News

  • Rodman tops list of 21 best women players 21 or under
  • Celtics vs. Heat live score, updates, highlights from Game 5 of Eastern Conference Finals
  • 4-star Troy Bowles has his top eight programs, Rutgers football makes the cut
  • Arizona lands top international hoops prospect
  • Warriors vs. Mavericks live score, updates, highlights from Game 4 of Western Conference Finals

Sports Market History

Sports Team Marketplace of Champions!

Sports Team Water Bottles

  • NCAA Auburn Tigers Glass Water Bottle with Carrying HandleNCAA Auburn Tigers Glass Water Bottle with Carrying Handle
    Make sure this fitsby entering your model number. ✔️【OFFICIALLY LICENSED NCAA PRODUCT】Designed with your favorite…
  • Fanatic NCAA Baylor Bears Stainless Steel Water Bottle
    SHOW OFF YOUR SCHOOL SPIRIT - Whether you're a student, alumni, or superfan, show off…
  • Duck House NCAA Ohio State Buckeyes Glass Water BottleDuck House NCAA Ohio State Buckeyes Glass Water Bottle
    ✔️【OFFICIALLY LICENSED NCAA PRODUCT】Designed with your favorite team’s authentic logo/colors and bears the official holographic…
  • Tervis NCAA Clemson Tigers Water Bottle
    Double-wall insulation to keep hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold BPA free <p>The post…
  • Tervis Alabama Crimson Tide Insulated Tumbler Cup
    Printed with eco-friendly plant-based inks or powder coated with BPA-free material directly on the stainless…

USFL Logo Battle

USFL Logo Battle

USFL Teams
Menu
  • Birmingham Stallions
  • Houston Gamblers
  • Michigan Panthers
    • Oakland Invaders
  • New Jersey Generals
  • New Orleans Breakers
    • Portland Breakers
    • Boston Breakers
  • Philadelphia Stars
    • Baltimore Stars
  • Pittsburgh Maulers
  • Tampa Bay Bandits
  • Past Teams
    • Arizona Outlaws
      • Arizona Wranglers
      • Oklahoma Outlaws
    • Chicago Blitz
    • Denver Gold
    • Jacksonville Bulls
    • Los Angeles Express
    • Memphis Showboats
    • Orlando Renegades
      • Washington Federals
    • San Antonio Gunslingers

STH News

"Latest Sports Team History News"

Best Stadiums in the Premier League History

May 26, 2022

The Epic Transformation of the Toronto Raptors

May 23, 2022

Greatest and Biggest Comebacks in NFL History

May 19, 2022

The Best Teams in the NBA in the 21ST Century

May 18, 2022

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Search in posts
Search in pages
Sports Logo History
Sports News History
Sports Market History
  • About
  • Contact
  • Disclaimer Sports Team History
  • Privacy Policy

Sports Team History
© 2013 - 2022 Sports Team History
Managed by Sports History Group
  • Home
  • Sports History
    • Baseball History
    • Basketball History
    • College History
    • Football History
    • Hockey History
    • Soccer History
  • Greatest Player Polls
  • STH News