In October 1999, Michael Huntley went to his dial-up modem, heard the familiar screeching sound and waited patiently for a website to come up. He then put his name on the Broncos’ season-ticket waiting list.

It was a bit of a lark since Huntley was living in Illinois at the time. But he had grown up in Denver as a big Broncos fan, so he figured what the heck.

“We just happened to move back to Denver 10 years ago,’’ Huntley said. “I never thought I’d live here again. And last year, after 25 years, we made it to the top of the season-ticket list.”

Huntley, 58, who now lives in Castle Rock, was informed in 2024 that he finally was eligible to buy Broncos season tickets. So he plopped down $1,800 apiece for a pair and ended up going to every home game last year.

Huntley plans to also attend each home game this year, having upgraded his season tickets to $2,000 apiece. Denver’s season gets underway Sunday against the Tennessee Titans at Empower Field at Mile High.

Huntley, a supervisory patent examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office in Denver and a part-time pastor, is a model of patience. And for anybody who wants to buy Broncos season tickets, that’s what you need to be.

The Broncos have sold out every game since moving from the AFL into the NFL in 1970, a streak of 453 regular-season and playoff games that is the longest in NFL history for a team in a single city. They began a season-ticket waiting list in the early 1970s.

“Before the internet, you’d call or go down to the ticket office and they’d say, ‘Sorry we’re sold out,’’’ former Broncos public relations director and longtime team historian Jim Saccomano said of those wanting season tickets long ago. “You’d say, ‘Can I put my name on the waiting list?’ They’d said, ‘You’re number 41,400,’ or something like that.”

There are now more than 105,000 names on the waiting list, and fans can add their names to it online for free. With the Broncos having an annual season-ticket renewal rate of around 98%, not many become available each year at Empower Field, which has a capacity of 76,125. The average wait time can be as short as 15 years or as long as the 25 years Huntley experienced.

“This is an extremely privileged position that we find ourselves in and just a reflection of what an outstanding fan base that we have,’’ said Broncos senior vice president of strategy and business intelligence Jesse Nading, a former Colorado State and NFL linebacker who grew up in the Denver area. “We have one of the longest wait lists in North American sports and it’s something that we certainly really appreciate. … It’s just a reflection of the passion that the Denver (area) and beyond has for Broncos country.”

The only NFL team with a much longer waiting list than the Broncos is the Green Bay Packers, who can claim more than 150,000 on it. Teams with similar long waiting lists as Denver are the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Huntley, a graduate of the Air Force Academy, was working as a pastor in 1999 in Champaign, Ill., when he put his name on the list. He said he would periodically check the progress he made in moving up, especially after he moved back to the Denver area in 2015.

“A couple of years ago, we finally got an email saying you’re in the last group,’’ Huntley said. “But there were no tickets left when my group came up. But then last year we got the tickets.”

Huntley’s son was three months old when his father put his name on the waiting list. Now, Adam Huntley is 26 and for the second straight year he can go to Broncos games with his dad.

Remembering Thomas

On Oct. 19, during a game against the Giants, the Broncos will have a reunion for the 2015 team that won Super Bowl 50, and late wide receiver Demaryius Thomas will be inducted into their Ring of Fame.

Peyton Manning, who was Thomas’ teammate from 2012-15, has been reminding former Broncos coaches and teammates about the importance of the event. Gary Kubiak, Denver’s head coach from 2015-16, said the Hall of Fame quarterback recently sent a message out about Thomas, who died in 2021.

“He and Peyton were very close,’’ Kubiak said. “(Payton) sent out something through a text regarding him and his career and just some things to keep him on everybody’s mind as we grow closer to that special time (next month) for his family.”

Thomas played in the NFL from 2010-19, including being with the Broncos from 2010-18 and making five Pro Bowls. Kubiak said he is “very dearly missed.”

What I’m hearing

• Legendary coach Mike Shanahan, who won Super Bowls with the Broncos in the 1997 and 1998 seasons, expects them to be the hunt for a championship this season. “You got to start with the defense,’’ he said. “And they helped themselves in free agency and in the draft. And they helped themselves on offense as well as defense. I know they want to get their run game going a little better than last year. But they’ve got a chance to win the big one, and that’s what their goal is. … It’s going to be fun watching the Broncos this year.”

• Broncos defensive lineman Jordan Jackson is fired up for Sunday’s opener. “It’s going to fun after seeing how crazy it was just for the preseason Arizona game (on Aug. 16 at Empower Field),’’ he said. “This home opener is going to be insane. I’m excited.’’ Jackson, who played at Air Force, is entering his second season on Denver’s 53-man roster after being on New Orleans’ practice squad in in 2022 and the Broncos’ practice squad in 2023.

What I’m seeing

• Denver’s Bo Nix knows all about what it’s like for a quarterback to make his NFL debut on the road. As a rookie in last season’s opener, Nix went 26 for 42 for just 138 yards with two interceptions and had a season-low passer rating of 47.5 in a 26-20 loss at Seattle. Now it’s Cam Ward’s turn. After being the No. 1 pick by the Titans in last April’s draft, he will make his debut at Denver. “It can be tough for a rookie to go on the road for the first time, but you have to think that they’re practicing it and trying to handle it themselves,’’ Nix said. Tennessee coach Brian Callahan didn’t deny that “there’s going to be plenty of things that (Ward is) going to see that maybe he hasn’t seen.”

•