In a perfect world, teams would be able to hold onto their legendary players for their entire career. Fans wouldn't have to say goodbye to their favorites or have a closet full of jerseys of players that no longer play for the team.
The Broncos have been fortunate to have many of their greats play their entire careers in Denver. John Elway, Rod Smith, Terrell Davis, Randy Gradishar, Louis Wright, Karl Mecklenburg and Simon Fletcher all played for the Broncos and the Broncos only.
But there were other players who we had to watch wear another jersey for at least one season. We recently took a look at players who played for the Broncos and looked weird wearing orange and blue. Here, we will look at Broncos who just don't look right playing anywhere else.
This list will not include Hall-of-Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe. Although seeing him play for the Baltimore Ravens (and win a Super Bowl while doing so) didn't sit right, he did come back to Denver and finish up there.
For the four players on this list, they will always be Broncos but they finished their careers in another place and playing in front of another fanbase.
Legendary Broncos players we hated to see end their careers somewhere else: Von Miller
Broncos fans desperately wanted to see Von Miller, the team's all-time sacks leader, finish his career in Denver. Von wanted that too.
But in 2021, as the team continued to sink further and further into the abyss, general manager George Paton knew he was going to have to make a big move. So that season, just ahead of the league's trading deadline, he traded him to the Los Angeles Rams.
In return, the Broncos received second and third-round picks in the 2022 draft. Miller was sent to a contender and it paid off for the Rams as they won the Super Bowl that year. The following offseason, Miller took a massive, six-year, $120 million deal from the Buffalo Bills, where he still currently plays.
During a game against the Detroit Lions last Thanksgiving, Miller suffered a knee injury that ended up being a torn ACL. He missed the rest of the season and will now enter year 13 in the league at 34 years old.
Since Miller is still playing, he could always return in the same way that Sharpe did to Denver, but that is unlikely under anything more than a one-day contract before he retires.
But Miller will always be a Bronco. And if you need proof of that, watch this. You can't help but smile.
Legendary Broncos players we hated to see end their careers somewhere else: Jason Elam
Without any doubt, Jason Elam is the greatest kicker in Broncos history. He is the franchise's all-time leading scorer with 1,786 points, nearly double the amount of Brandon McManus, who is No. 2 on that list. Only seven players in league history have scored more total points than Elam.
Elam spent 17 seasons in Denver after being a third-round pick out of Hawaii in 1993. But following the 2007 season, he was signed by the Atlanta Falcons as a free agent. But during his second year there in 2009, he was clearly not the strong, accurate kicker that he once was and after missing seven of his 15 field-goal attempts that season, the Falcons waived him before the season was over.
Elam signed a one-day contract to retire with the Broncos following that season. He was later elected to the team's Ring of Fame in 2016.
Legendary Broncos players we hated to see end their careers somewhere else: Steve Atwater
Steve Atwater is among the greatest Broncos players ever, having a stellar career after being selected in the first round of the 1989 draft. He spent 10 seasons with the Broncos and became one of the most complete, hard-hitting safeties in league history.
Atwater went to eight Pro Bowls and played in three Super Bowls for the Broncos. But after winning back-to-back Super Bowls in 1997 and 1998, he signed a free-agent deal with the New York Jets ahead of the 1999 season.
Atwater played in just 12 games for the Jets and looked like a much different player than the one that fans had become accustomed to seeing in orange and blue. He retired following that season after signing a one-day contract with the Broncos.
Atwater was elected to the team's Ring of Fame in 2005 and then in 2020, he was enshrined forever in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Legendary Broncos players we hated to see end their careers somewhere else: Demaryius Thomas
This one was rough.
Demaryius Thomas was one of the more well-liked Broncos players of all-time and he sits at No. 2 behind Rod Smith in basically every receiving statistic in team history.
The former first-round pick was a true professional and one of the guys that was the glue that held the team together. When Peyton Manning was around, Thomas was one of the best wide receivers in all of football.
But by 2018, that had started to erode. The Broncos were a team going in the wrong direction. They had Case Keenum and quarterback and had drafted two receivers (Courtland Sutton, DaeSean Hamilton) in the first four rounds of that year's draft.
With Emmanuel Sanders also still on the roster, the Broncos chose to move Thomas in a trade ahead of that season's trade deadline. He was sent to the Houston Texans along with a seventh-round pick for a fourth and seventh-round pick in return.
His first game as a member of the Texans happened to be against the Broncos, a game that Houston won.
That would be his only season in Houston, however. He spent time with the New England Patriots and the Jets but never came close to being the player he was in Denver.
In June 2021, Thomas officially announced his retirement from the game. Just six months later, he tragically passed away at just 33 years old.