The suits at NBC were worried.

It was June 1965, the network had just signed a lengthy deal with the American Football League, and now it was stuck with a "backwater, small-market team" - the Denver Broncos.

One of NBC's first moves was to pressure the league to move the franchise from Denver to Atlanta, an untapped major league market. Although Denver was a nice city, network executives told Rocky Mountain News sports editor Chet Nelson, "There were only coyotes to the east and mountain lions to the west - and they didn't watch television."

Nearly 45 years later, Denver is one of America's premier sports cities, the cosmopolitan haven of the Rockies, Avalanche, Nuggets and Broncos and their enraptured fans, who brag about two Super Bowl championships, two Stanley Cup titles, a National League pennant and the University of Colorado's national football championship. Not to mention Coors Field, Invesco Field at Mile High and the Pepsi Center.

The transformation in Colorado's sports landscape between 1965 and today is as startling as the changes in Denver's skyline - a transformation that the Rocky Mountain News has documented, analyzed and photographed at every turn.

For decades, the staples of the Rocky's sports coverage remained unchanged: high school and local college sports, minor league baseball, the annual national AAU basketball tournament and marquee periodic events such as the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship.

Adding spice to the mix were internationally prominent athletes with local ties, such as heavyweight boxing champion Sonny Liston and Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias, who lived in Denver during some of her greatest years as an athlete, including winning the 1947 British Women's Amateur golf title.

Even by the mid-1970s, Denver retained an image as a sleepy parochial sports town. And the Broncos were known for their pumpkin-colored jerseys, vertically striped socks that had been sacrificed in a public bonfire, a cheapskate general manager who wrestled fans in the stands for loose balls and 14 nonwinning seasons in their first 14 years.

But a Super Bowl appearance during the 1977 season lifted the Broncos and Denver into the national spotlight, signaling the start of a new era.

Enter John Elway. After a news conference announcing his 1983 signing, the young quarterback turned to a Broncos official and said: "Well, I'm glad this press stuff is all done with."

The media bonanza was only beginning for the naÃve rookie. On his first day of training camp, he found 53 reporters, columnists and cameramen studying his every move. Nearly 30 reporters stayed in an adjacent Greeley dorm.

Elway made his debut at Mile High Stadium on a rainy Friday night in 1983, leading the Broncos to an exhilarating comeback win against Seattle in a preseason game.

"It's a bird, it's a plane . . . it's John Elway," screamed a front-page Rocky headline. In all, the Rocky had 10 stories, five photos and a chart on the game.

In time, Elway lifted the franchise onto his back and carried it to five Super Bowls - and the city into a new era.

But the Rockies and Avalanche were coming, signaling another transformation that came alive in Rocky headlines.

* Young provides first HR in first at-bat Opening Day in Mile High Stadium - April 10, 1993.

* Roy simply wonderful / Avalanche goalie helps bring the Stanley Cup to Colorado with performance for the ages - June 12, 1996

* AB-SALUTE-LY! With 31-24 Super Bowl win over Packers, years of frustration end for Elway, Broncos, AFC - Jan. 26, 1998

* 2 Cool! / Elway, Broncos win second Super Bowl - Jan. 31, 1999

* Rock on! Helton and Co. head to World Series - Oct. 16, 2007

Yes, Denver had become a city of champions, through good and Rocky times alike.

Latimerc@RockyMountainNews.com