Former Broncos DE Brison Manor, who starred in Denver’s ‘Orange Crush’ defense dies at 70 

Former Denver Broncos defensive end Brison Manor has died at the age of 70, according to an announcement from the team on Wednesday. 

Manor helped the Denver make it to their first Super Bowl appearance in 1977, before suffering a defeat to the Dallas Cowboys.

He appeared in 13 games that season while recording four sacks in the regular season and a recovered a fumble in the AFC Championship win over the Raiders.

Manor played with the Broncos for eight seasons in the NFL from 1976-84 before being traded to the Buccaneers during his final season in the league.

‘We’re considered one of the best defenses ever in the NFL,’ Manor said in 2018 of Denver’s ‘Orange Crush defense.’

He played eight seasons in Denver and recorded 22 of 23 career sacks with the Broncos

‘When your defense has a nickname, you know you were good. … Teams couldn’t run against us at all. We played reckless. We didn’t really care about our bodies. We were flying all over the field. It was a fun time, because people were scared of us.’

Manor’s most productive season of his career came in 1979, when he started all 16 of the Broncos’ games and recorded 6.5 sacks and a fumble recovery.

Throughout the entirety of his career Manor appeared in 113 games, starting 36, and totaled 23 sacks. 22 of those 23 career sacks came during his time in Denver.

Before starting his NFL journey Manor starred for then-Arkansas Razorbacks defensive line coach and future Hall of Famer Jimmy Johnson. 

Manor posted 173 total tackles across his junior and senior seasons, before he was drafted in the 15th round of the NFL Draft by the New York Jets.

He was released by New York before signing with the Broncos the following season.

Manor was eventually inducted into the University of Arkansas Hall of Honor in 2011 and the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2018 following his stellar career.