As the temperature crept toward 90 degrees on the first morning of Broncos training camp, the only thing harder to find than a speck of shade on the grassy berm above the team’s practice fields was a fan wearing a Joe Flacco jersey.

If Flacco is the answer to the team’s quarterback woes, the good folks of Broncos Country seem reluctant to buy the idea. After having dreams of greatness dashed by Brock Osweiler, Paxton Lynch and Case Keenum, can you really blame them?

Truth be told, in a sport where quarterback is the thing that matters most, I don’t recall so little fan buzz on Day 1 of Broncos camp since before Josh McDaniels got run out of this dusty old cowtown.

But after surveying the surprisingly sparse crowd in attendance Thursday, while counting replica jerseys that saluted former Denver quarterbacks John Elway (of course!), Peyton Manning (he’s still PFM around here) and even Brian Griese (say what?), I finally found 64-year-old John Mahoney in the shadow of a goal post, wearing the No. 5 Flacco will don for the Broncos.

“It cost me 40, maybe 50 bucks. I think I got it on sale,” explained Mahoney, attending camp for the first time in his life, after recently retiring from a career as an engineer. “To be honest, I bought this Flacco jersey because he’s old, and I’m kind of old myself. I’m hoping this the year an old man brings the playoffs back home to Denver.” Broncos training camp • Training camp primer

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Entering his 12th NFL season, maybe Flacco’s best football is behind him. But even at age 34, it was hard for Joe to maintain his cool while standing and chatting with Elway between 11-on-11 reps at practice.

“I grew up watching John Elway,” Flacco said. “While we’re kind of colleagues now and we’re sharing the same field, there’s still a little bit of that kid in you that (thinks) ‘Oh man, John Elway’s standing right next to me.’ So you try to act as normal as possible and go ahead and shoot the breeze and just act like you’re a normal person.”

That’s precisely why I asked Flacco a question that gnawed at the belly of everyone from Griese to Keenum:

Is it harder to play quarterback in Elway’s town?

“I think it’s a really cool opportunity, to be honest with you,” Flacco replied. “Listen, I know John’s the man around here. Hopefully, there’s room for a couple more people.”

To anyone paying attention a year ago during training camp, Keenum was exposed as an imposter, trying to fake it as a legitimate NFL starting quarterback, before he threw his first interception in a Denver uniform.

While the trending arrow in Flacco’s career has generally pointed in the wrong direction since 2015, the Super Bowl ring in his pocket gives the longtime Baltimore starting QB a quiet, easy confidence that Keenum struggled mightily and unconvincingly to impersonate.

“I think Joe’s at a time in his career that he has that calm demeanor,” said Broncos coach Vic Fangio, who, like his quarterback, believes shirt sleeves were invented to hide emotion rather than reveal it. “When things are going good, it’s ‘Joe Cool.’ And if things aren’t going well, ‘Joe doesn’t care that much, or he’s not getting fired up.’ That’s how Joe is … He is not going to be a guy who loses his emotions. But, trust me, inside his brain and belly, (the competitive fire is) turning for him.”

Try to forget the arm strength on the pass that unceremoniously dumped Denver from the playoffs during the 2012 season. It is Flacco’s cool – not to mention ability to muffle the outside noise, even when linebacker Von Miller buzzes a press conference, loudly trying to distract his new teammate – that gives this new QB a chance to not only survive, but perhaps even thrive, in Elway’s town.

To crowd-source the validity of my little theory, I take you back to the grassy berm, where 1,257 Broncomaniac’s crazy enough to come watch practice in blazing heat tried to convince themselves Elway finally has guessed correctly in choosing Flacco as his quarterback. Related Articles Broncos Briefs: Phillip Lindsay doubtful to play Sunday, but progressing from toe injury

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Figuring that any fan sweating through a faded, old Griese jersey must be a die-hard believer in Denver’s chances of returning to the playoffs for the first time since Super Bowl 50, I asked Tim Shumaker how much faith he places in Flacco.

“Oh, I’ve got jerseys of all the quarterbacks. Elway, Jay Cutler, Tim Tebow, even (Kyle) Orton. I never throw my Broncos stuff away. And I wear ’em almost every day, like taking my vitamins,” said Shumaker, pausing to consider his choices in attire.

“You could say I just go through quarterbacks … kinda like the Broncos do.”

Here’s hoping Flacco can lead enough joyous, game-winning drives to end the sad parade.