BROOMFIELD — When former Broncos players get together at alumni gatherings, they talk plenty about the old days. There’s now also a lot of talk about the future.

The Broncos are coming off a 14-3 season and a berth in the AFC Championship Game. Several current players already have spoken openly about the goal being this season to win the Super Bowl.

“I’m excited,’’ former star linebacker Karl Mecklenburg said Sunday night at the Denver Broncos Alumni Charities Gala & Golf event at the Omni Interlocken Hotel and Golf Club. “I’m a fan. … Can they win the Super Bowl? Yeah. But it’s going to come down to matchups and injuries and a whole bunch of things at the end of the season.”

The Denver Gazette talked to four Broncos Ring of Fame players at the event, including Mecklenburg, linebacker Randy Gradishar and defensive backs Dennis Smith and Steve Foley. Gradishar was enshrined in 2024 into the Pro Football of Fame.

The Broncos alumni group held a banquet Sunday to raise money and on Monday plenty of former players took to the course for a charity golf tournament. About 50 former players were on hand for the two days of events.

“It was unfortunate that Bo Nix got hurt last year. Otherwise, I think we definitely win that game,’’ Foley said of Denver’s quarterback suffering a broken right ankle in a 33-30 overtime win over over Buffalo in a Jan. 17 divisional playoff game and sitting out the 10-7 loss to New England in the AFC Championship Game on Jan. 25. “But it’s exciting in town. We’re expecting a lot of great things. We’ve got a great defense, and our offense has been getting better.”

Foley pointed to the offseason acquisition of wide receiver Jaylen Waddle from Miami. But he noted the key to the Broncos remains their dominant defense.

“We’ve got a great cast on defense,’’ said Foley, who played for Denver from 1976-86 and was inducted into the Ring of Fame in 2024. “I love (defensive coordinator) Vance Joseph in the way he comes after quarterbacks. We’ve led the league in sacks the last two years. I love it that we bring the pressure, and it sets the tone for the whole team.”

Foley said if Denver makes a Super Bowl run, the excitement level could compare to Broncomania, when the Broncos in 1977 made the playoffs for the first time in their 18 seasons before losing 27-10 to Dallas in Super Bowl XII. After losing their first four Super Bowls, the Broncos have won it all in three of their last four appearances, hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy in the 1997, 1998 and 2015 seasons.

Gradishar, who played for the Broncos from 1974-83, won’t go so far as to say 2026 could rival 1977 in terms of mass hysteria in the city. But he said if Denver makes a championship run, it would be a “new era” in enthusiasm.

“There’s a lot of excitement going on,’’ said Gradishar, inducted into the Ring of Fame in 1989. “There’s a lot of people talking about the season. I know that the fans of Colorado are looking forward to the new season to get started. .. If they win the Super Bowl, that’d be a whole different level of excitement.”

Gradishar is hopeful of Nix “being healed” and expects the Broncos to “take it easy with him.” Nix underwent surgery Jan. 20 and had a clean-up procedure in late April. While Nix didn’t participate in three Broncos organized team activities practices last week and isn’t expected to take part in OTAs Tuesday through Thursday, Denver coach Sean Payton expects him to have a “role” in a June 16-18 mandatory minicamp.

“Bo reminds me of (legendary Broncos quarterback John) Elway,’’ said Mecklenburg, who played for the Broncos from 1983-94 and was inducted into the Ring of Fame in 2001. “If it’s close at the end of the game, they win. … And the way they play defense, if you can hold a team down, you got a good chance to win.”

Mecklenburg was on the losing end of three Super Bowls. So was Smith, who played for Denver from 1981-94 and was inducted into the Ring of Fame in 2001.

Even though the Broncos came up short last season, Smith has no problem with them not having shaken up the roster much. Waddle was the only significant addition after free agency got underway in March. There is hope that some players drafted, including running back Jonah Coleman and tight end Justin Joly, can provide immediate boosts.

“I think the same cast is good enough,’’ Smith said. “When you come so close, you know you’ve got the right people. I think they’ve got the right coaches, and they still got the main guys and they added a few new weapons. I think they’re going to play even better. They’re going to be in it. All you want is a chance at the end.”’

All four former Broncos stars are hopeful of having even more to talk about when the alumni group gets together next June for another banquet and golf outing.