Unfortunately, it took a little longer for Denver to fall in love with Floyd Little. He had that unimpressive rookie season during which he gained only 381 yards and averaged less than three yards per run. For the third time in a row, Denver finished in last place, winning just three games and losing eleven in 1967. Floyd was as disappointed with himself as were the Bronco fans.
"I was never used to losing," he said. "I never lost a game in high school or at prep school, and I think we lost a total of five at Syracuse. But you got to crawl before you can walk. Things could have been tougher. They always can be tougher."
Always a hard worker, Little put in an even greater effort in 1968. "Counting variations, we had a thousand plays," Little recalled. "It took me a while to learn them, and it was hard to get my timing right carrying only once in a series. Even at that, I could have made a lot more yardage improvising. But the coach was building a team and he insisted I run the plays as designed and hit the holes even when they weren't there. That was tough to take. I was used to getting ten yards a crack, and I had to learn that sometimes one is hard to get. But soon our young blockers began improving and I was averaging five a crack. Now I can see it was all worthwhile,"
Little also had to make important psychological adjustments. "One of the things you learn as a pro is that the other guys are good, too, and they're gonna beat you on some plays," he explained. "You've got to just forget it and fight back on the next play. You've got to take the long view of the season. You have to psyche yourself to do your best no matter what. That's what you're being paid for."
By the last half of his second season it all began to come together for Little, and he started to dazzle pro fans as he had the people who watched him in college.
"I remember one play in one game late in that 1968 season, " he said. "It wasn't the length of the run, which was short, or the game, which was just another game, but it was the execution of the play. It was perfect. Looking back on it, I seem to see it in slow motion. All the blocks worked. The hole was there. I hit it just right. Just like on the blackboard. All of a sudden, all the pieces of our jigsaw puzzle were falling into place."
His teammates were quick to spot the changes in Little. Quarterback Steve Tensi pointed out, "Floyd seemed all uptight for a season or so. He seemed alone and tense. He just started to loosen up late that season and then he was really rolling." Defensive captain Dave Costa commented, "Floyd's teammates when he broke in were as green as he was, so he had no one to turn to for help. New players are afraid to bug the coaches. So he just had to find his own way through a lot of tough games."
Floyd himself recognized his new maturity and understanding of pro football. He said, "Coach Saban used to scream and holler at me. I wasn't used to it and I didn't like it and I didn't like him. But now I can see that I wasn't a complete player, and he only screamed at those he thought had a chance. I'm small and I had to learn how to block, for example. They told me to hit my man before he hit me, to stick my head into his numbers and bring my helmet up into his jaw. I tried it against Ernie Ladd [a 6-foot-9, 320-pound tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs] and couldn't reach his jaw. I had to learn technique."
Little didn't need any lessons in toughness, however. "Every time I carry the ball, I run as if it's the last time," he said. "To keep going in this game, you've got to make a distinction between pain and injury. I wouldn't play more than one game - the first one - if I let pain keep me out. Hell, every time I run off tackle I may get a minor concussion. But if I can still remember the plays, I'm going to stay in there.
"You can't tiptoe through games. If you're cautious you're through. You go all out and hope for the best. It's got to hurt when guys 220, 250, or 280 pounds land on you. You just look to be lucky." But Little had more than luck going for him. Although the Broncos did not show a corresponding rise in the standings, Little's yardage totals shot up dramatically as he became adjusted to pro ball. From 1968 to 1973 his yardage totals were 584, 729, 901, a league-leading 1,333, 859, and 979.