Broncos Super fan "PonchoMan" doesn't mind the travel to see his favorite team
When it's Broncos gameday that means DB PonchoMan, or simply PonchoMan, is amongst Broncos Country.
"Win, lose, or draw, if you had as much fun as I've had every game, you would not miss one," he said.
And he really hasn't. Only missed two games since 2006. Those games were last year because of a medical procedure.
PonchoMan is the fan name. The real name is Randy Emmons. He started using ponchos after the 2006 season because simply they were warm, he said. But he wanted to make them Broncos personal. Once fans saw him, they simply called him "PonchoMan."
"I have four of them," Emmons said.
The ponchos have patches of old Broncos logos and past Super Bowl patches.
"We keep all the losses down here and all the wins up here," said Emmons laughing.
Emmons has been attending games since 1996 but became a full-fledged ticket holder in 2006. He's attended two Super Bowls: 48 and 50. One of his many claims to fame was being in the Super Bowl 50 photo, near Peyton Manning.
"There really isn't much of anything I haven't done," said Emmons.
Emmons lives in Grand Junction. And he travels 254 miles each way just to see games.
"We leave gameday morning. We're up at 5 a.m., out the door at 6 a.m. and then we're here by 10 a.m.," he said.
In Grand Junction, Emmons owns three restaurants.
"I do, they're called Randy's Southside Diners. They're all named after me," he said.
And you bet there is Broncos memorabilia inside.
"My one in Grand Junction has the 2014 record-breaking offensive receivers with Peyton Manning, I had signed at the games myself personally. So I needed a place to hang them up, so what better place than where people can see them," he said.
Randy also has a classic truck painted in Broncos orange, a 1951 Ford. Emmons is also a member of the Professional Football Ultimate Fan Association, a recognition from the NFL Hall of Fame. And he's got the ring to prove it.
"Barrel Man was inducted in the class of 1999, and I was inducted in Canton, Ohio at the Hall of Fame class of 2018," Emmons said. "For them to recognize us as fans, you know, the Hall of Fame to recognize us and actually partner with us, and then invite us to events, are just things I never thought I'd ever get to experience."
Another one of Emmons' highlights was introducing Patrick Surtain on the NFL stage during the draft in Cleveland in 2001.
But whether it's at the draft, Super Bowls, on the field or even being on TV, PonchoMan is there.
"It makes me feel like I'm part of something bigger. Something bigger than myself. And with a fandom that reaches across the United States. I didn't realize how many Denver Broncos fans there were," he said.
