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Broncos choose to wear white in Super Bowl

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NEW ORLEANS - JANUARY 28: Third and ten at the San Francisco 49ers twenty five yard line, Quarterback John Elway #7 of the Denver Broncos gets hit as he misses a pass intended for wide receiver Mark Jackson, the Broncos settle for a field goal during Super Bowl XXIV at the Louisiana Superdome on January 28, 1990 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The 49ers won 55-10. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** John Elway

George Rose

Like two years ago, the Broncos are in the Super Bowl. Like two years ago, the Broncos are the home team in the Super Bowl.

Unlike two years ago, the Broncos won’t be wearing their orange jerseys during the Super Bowl.

Via the Associated Press, the Broncos have chosen to wear white in Super Bowl 50. G.M. John Elway explained the decision in simple terms.

“We’ve had Super Bowl success in our white uniforms,” Elway said.

They’ve had equal success in their blue uniforms, winning one to cap the 1997 season in blue and one to end 1998 in white. But they’ve struggled in orange, losing to the Cowboys (1977), Washington (1987), San Francisco (1989), and Seattle (2013) wearing the blend of red and yellow.

And so it’s likely more about not wearing orange (0-4) than wearing white, in which the Broncos are 1-1, the jersey color when losing to the Giants in 1986.

To the extent that any of this matters (and it doesn’t), the Panthers may welcome the chance not to wear white. Twelve years ago, they lost their only Super Bowl appearance in white jerseys.