The offseason’s odd jobs for Broncos back in the day

The Denver Broncos have concluded their offseason workout programs, and players and coaches are currently some time off over the next month before the rigors of the NFL season truly begin.

The league year has expanded over the last couple of decades and now, between lifting and various camps, being an NFL player became a full-time job — but it was not always so.

For much of the first century of pro football, the game was largely a six-month job.

Believe it or not, but once upon a time there were no offseason programs in the NFL. There was no official lifting program, and many teams did not even have weight rooms.

Back in the day, before salaries and traning sophistication were what they are now, players often had to supplement their NFL wages with another job of some sort.

I can remember sitting at my desk, probably about 1979, and seeing defensive end Lyle Alzado in the hallway. I remember saying something like, “Lyle! Great to see you! What are you doing here?”

He explained that he had come in to take care of a couple of business matters, but the key to the exchange was my surprise in seeing him. The players just were not around much in those offseason days.

I remember the moments when I was a college student at camp for the student paper and noticing that as the players reported, they greeted each other much like guys who had bonded, but then did not see each other for six months. That was because that was exactly the case.

So what did players do in that six-month period?

Several Broncos were taken into the executive training programs at the Adolph Coors Company in Golden, a group that included future Hall of Famer Floyd Little, future Ring of Fame wide receiver Haven Moses and quarterback John McCormick.

For some, it was a one-year-and-done program, or a couple of offseasons, but McCormick stayed with Coors and retired as a president of the company.

For a lot of guys in those early years it was all about making a few bucks before football began, but some grew and…