The Mile High Ultimate Tailgate Crew carries a piece of Broncos history into Lot C every home Sunday.   Its story began in 1985 with Jay “Hatman Jay” Hocking and his wife Valerie cooking steaks on a portable grill outside the original Mile High Stadium, but the circle soon widened to include Tim “Barrel Man” McKernan, one of the most recognizable fans in Denver.   Ron and Rob Woodworth later arrived with the Bronco Limo, families became intertwined, and what had once been just a few friends eating before the game developed into a community spanning multiple generations.   The names and faces have changed over four decades, but the gathering itself has remained remarkably intact.   Children who once followed their parents through the parking lot now return as adults, grandchildren have joined them, and another Broncos season still means finding the same football family waiting outside the stadium.

Since 2003, that family has gathered on the south side of Empower Field at Mile High in Lot C, RV Spot 17, a space with its own connection to the group's history.   The spot was originally assigned to Barrel Man by the Broncos before eventually passing it to Lora Woodworth, and on a typical gameday 80 to 100 friends and family members cycle through it.   Nathan Hocking handles the cooking, often greeting arrivals with food before they have fully settled into the group.   Green chile on the grill, Scotch eggs, grinder sandwiches, and Nathan's habit of wrapping just about anything in bacon have become familiar parts of the menu, while Kelly makes the rounds with Jell-O shots, as classic rock plays through the sound system built into the barbecue trailer.   There is no admission charge.  People are there because somewhere along the way they became connected and the tailgate opened its arms to embrace them.

Some traditions carry the memory of people who helped shape the tailgate.   Valerie Hocking once operated a gas-powered blender that produced mudslides and margaritas, a familiar piece of the setup that was retired after her passing rather than simply handing it to someone else.   Hatman Jay still gathers the crew for his pregame pep speech before raising a Fireball toast, providing a moment each week when the conversations stop and everyone turns toward one of the people who helped start it all.   Jay's connection with Barrel Man also gave the tailgate an unusual role beyond Denver.   After McKernan was selected for the inaugural VISA Hall of Fans at the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Jay later joined him among its honorees, their parking lot became a natural destination for visiting Hall of Fans and eventually members of the Pro Football Ultimate Fan Association.   A gathering that began among Broncos friends had quietly become a place where some of the country's most recognizable football fans could find familiar company in Denver.

The crew measures its success differently today.   People have been lost along the way, new people have taken their places, and the group describes itself as growing and shrinking at the same time.   What matters is that the tradition survives those changes without losing its scale or personality.   Ninety-six-year-old Betty Doyle still arrives in the orange Bronco Limo, surrounded by younger generations who help carry forward something that started when the Broncos were still playing at the old Mile High.   There is enough room for everyone without becoming anonymous, and enough history that most people standing there can connect a face, a ritual, or a story to an earlier chapter of the tailgate.   That balance has allowed the Mile High Ultimate Tailgate Crew to age without becoming old.

Its place in the Tailgating Hall of Fame rests in that continuity.   Broncos football has moved across stadiums, generations, championship teams, rebuilding years, celebrated personalities, and painful losses since Jay and Valerie first brought their portable grill to the parking lot in 1985.   This tailgate has moved through all of it with the relationships intact, preserving the memory of people such as Barrel Man and Valerie while leaving room for Nathan, Kelly, Betty, the Woodworth family, and the generations still coming behind them to shape what happens next.   Mile High Ultimate Tailgate Crew represents something increasingly valuable in NFL fan culture: a gameday tradition inherited rather than recreated, passed from one generation of Broncos fans to another in the same way families pass down their seats, their stories, and their loyalty.