Broncos 50th anniversary team named

The Broncos announced their 50th anniversary team, voted on by fans on the Broncos' Web site. They will honor the members during the Oct. 11 game against the Patriots. Here are the members and a comment:

QB: John Elway. Who did you expect, Craig Morton?

RB: Floyd Little, Terrell Davis. Two very deserving choices. Little could get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame early next year. Davis deserves to be in.

WR Ed McCaffrey, Rod Smith. Smith was a no-brainer, he holds all of Denver's receiving records. The main competition for McCaffrey would have been Lionel Taylor, who had more yards than McCaffrey in two fewer years in a less passer-friendly era.

TE: Shannon Sharpe. I have utmost respect for the reporters who vote on the Pro Football Hall of Fame. However, leaving Sharpe out of this year's class was a travesty.

OL: T Matt Lepsis, T Gary Zimmerman, G Keith Bishop, G Mark Schlereth, C Tom Nalen. Hard to argue any of these choices. Glad to see Lepsis, who I always thought was very underrated, get his due.

DL: E Simon Fletcher, E Rich Jackson, T Trevor Pryce, T Rubin Carter. Barney Chavous and Lyle Alzado had good cases as well, but once again, these are four very deserving players.

LB: Karl Mecklenburg, Randy Gradishar, Tom Jackson. Other than Lionel Taylor, my biggest problem might be leaving Al Wilson off this team. It's tough to remove either of these three off the team, but Wilson - a five-time Pro Bowler and the heart and soul of the defense during his time here - should have been included.

DB: CB Champ Bailey, CB Louis Wright, S Steve Atwater, S Dennis Smith. Done and done. All four are no-brainers.

Specialists: K Jason Elam, P Tom Rouen, KR Rick Upchurch. Again, no problem with these picks. Rouen was a mainstay for many years and was a solid punter for the two Super Bowl title teams.

Along with the first team, the Broncos are also announcing a 50th Anniversary second team.

The second team-offense has Craig Morton lining up at quarterback, with Otis Armstrong and Sammy Winder at running back, Haven Moses and Lionel Taylor at wide receiver, and Riley Odoms at tight end. Rounding out the unit is the offensive line of Ken Lanier and Dave Studdard at offensive tackle, Ben Hamilton and Paul Howard at guard and Billy Bryan at center.

The second-team defense has a line of Rulon Jones and Alfred Williams at defensive end, and Greg Kragen and Paul Smith at defensive tackle. Al Wilson, Bill Romanowski and D.J. Williams are at linebacker. Ray Crockett and Willie Brown are the second-team cornerbacks, while Steve Foley and Goose Gonsoulin round out the defense at safety.

The second-team specialists are Jim Turner at kicker, Mike Horan at punter, and Billy Thompson at returner.