Then Smith saw the new look.

"I'm like, 'Y'all are going to those uniforms?'" Smith said. "And I looked at them and I'm like, 'Wow, man! That is bad-ass! I'm like, 'OK, let's do this, then!'"

Smith wasn't the only one who was impressed. On February 4, 1997 -- the day the uniform set was unveiled -- then-safety Steve Atwater told The Gazette-Telegraph, "I think a lot of fans have been prepared to hate the change. But now that everything is available for everybody to see, I hope people will look for themselves and make up their own mind. I think it's a change for the better."

Atwater added, "Navy blue looks meaner than orange."

Harald Hasselbach, a defensive lineman for the Broncos at the time, also told The Gazette-Telegraph that the then-new uniforms gave the Broncos "more of an imposing look ... it just looks more intimidating."