That all changed on Sunday morning when Morton left the hospital.

"Sunday morning it was very, very cold, but it was sunny," Morton says. "A lifelong friend of mine, Leon Hewley, came to the hospital and picked me up. I got up and I could barely walk. He said, 'What are you thinking?' I said, 'I don't know if I can do this or not.' Leon said, 'You've worked your whole life to do this. You cannot afford not to play.' He said, 'You know, you just have to do this.' I said, 'Well, get me to the stadium.'"

Morton arrived at the stadium early, spent an hour and a half in the whirlpool and otherwise just laid on the training table.

Eventually he went to his locker and got dressed, except for his shoes. The venerable quarterback could not touch his feet.

"Red [Miller] came over to me and said, 'What do you think?'" Morton says. "And I said, 'Coach, if you can tie my shoes, I'll play.' So the head coach tied my shoes. I wonder if any quarterback has ever said that for a championship game."

That season, Morton had been the final piece of the puzzle for the Broncos, and he played like it against the Raiders.

He told Moses to "go to the corner" against Oakland safety Jack Tatum. Moses was the team's star wide receiver and the other half of what had become known as "The M & M Connection." He caught it and went 74 yards down the east sideline for a touchdown.

That gave Denver a 7-3 lead, which the team never relinquished.

The Orange Crush defense played inspired ball against the Raiders and held Oakland scoreless for the rest of the first half. In the third quarter, fullback Jon Keyworth scored to expand the lead to 14-3.

Denver's final points came on a 12-yard pass from Morton to Moses, as the future Ring of Fame duo connected once again.