Preparing to announce first Broncos game sends ESPN’s Chris Fowler down memory lane

Chris Fowler and his family moved to Colorado Springs in 1977, but rooting for the Broncos wasn’t on his mind. The franchise had never made the playoffs (three winning seasons in 17 years) and had never been on his radar (he was a Green Bay fan).

That quickly changed, though.

“It was just before high school and I knew about their futility and I wasn’t a Broncos fan at all,” he said. “At first, when they were making their run to the Super Bowl (after the ’77 season) and the whole ‘Orange Crush Mania,’ was beginning, I was like, ‘These people are crazy. I’m not on board with this. This team never wins.’

“But then you couldn’t help but get caught up in it. I got swept away in it. There were so many colorful personalities, the energy in the stadium was just amazing and so when the Super Bowl came, I was all in emotionally.”

Fowler was happy to re-live those times this week as he prepared to call his first Broncos game; he and Kirk Herbstreit will lead the ESPN broadcast Saturday against Kansas City. A graduate of Palmer High School in Colorado Springs (1980) and CU (1985) who spends part of the year in Breckenridge, Fowler’s Colorado ties still run deep.

“I have a lot of good memories of that stadium and certainly the old Mile High,” he said in a phone interview Thursday before flying to Denver. “I definitely still consider (Colorado) home.”

Fowler was born in the Denver area and grew up in Rockford, Ill., and State College, Pa., before moving to Colorado Springs. As a student at CU, he interned for Ron Zappolo and Les Shapiro to enter the Denver television scene.

Fowler joined ESPN in 1986 and has worked there ever since, most notably as the host of “College Game Day” from 1990-2014. He added tennis in 2003 and college football play-by-play in 2014.

Chiefs-Broncos is part of a whirlwind schedule for Fowler, who called the Orange Bowl on Dec. 31 and the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, and will go straight from Denver to Indianapolis for Monday’s Alabama-Georgia national title game.

Fowler said he spent Sunday-Tuesday preparing for the college game and shifted into NFL mode on Wednesday.

“We know much more about Georgia and Alabama than we do any NFL team,” he said. “This is anything but normal prep for an NFL game. I would have liked to sit down and watch a lot more tape and talk to a lot more players. It’s the kind of challenge you’re flattered to have.”

Because of the Broncos’ roster changes, Fowler admitted his “(game-calling) chart is chaotic. My chart will look a lot more like a college board than I thought it would. I do think calling college football is the ultimate challenge because of the sheer number of players. I enjoy the pace of a typical NFL game where you can weave a few more things in.

“Sometimes, when you’re doing a high-tempo college game, a story consists of one line about somebody’s background. I think we’ll have more of an opportunity (to tell stories), but the obligation is to present this to NFL viewers and not filter it through a college lens.”

Fowler said he didn’t call a college game involving Broncos quarterback Drew Lock (Missouri) or Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (Texas Tech) so that has added to his anticipation.

The Broncos (7-9) are playing out the string and Kansas City (11-5) has a shot at the AFC’s top seed with a win.

“We hope for a close game, which is Denver hanging with a favored team,” Fowler said. “We knew we were going to do one of these Saturday games and it would be a very full platter, but once I found out it would be this game and I would have a chance to be back there, it was exciting. I just wish it meant more for the Broncos.”