EXCLUSIVE: Cliff Branch and Nebraska fans - The Lost Tapes of Boulder in the 1970's
*Editors note- The following recording with Cliff Branch was lost in 2018 and recently recovered. BuffsBeat was given permission by the Branch family to use the audio. We're appreciative of them for allowing us to tell his story.
Cliff Branch left an impeccable legacy in the NFL. Colorado's first player to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame spent 14 seasons as a member of the Los Angeles Raiders, winning three Super Bowls under famed owner Al Davis.
Before Branch's "Speed Kills" days, he made a name for himself as a flashy wide receiver and world-class track star at Colorado. A 10.0-second time in the 100 meters at the 1972 NCAA Outdoor Championship has gone unbroken at CU half-a-century later. He was entrenched into the Buffaloes culture and was one of the favorites of head coach Eddie Crowder.
It was the same era Colorado found themselves in heavily-contested battles with Nebraska, sparking a long-standing rivalry with the neighbors from the East. Both teams were ranked five times when facing each other in a ten-year span starting in 1967. The Cornhuskers took home two national championships (1970, 1971) during that time as well.
The 1971 college football season will go down as one of the best for the Big Eight's with Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Colorado finishing in the top three. The only time in history teams from the same conference took the top spots.
Branch talked about the rivalry between Colorado and Nebraska. He fondly remembered how things were in Boulder in the 70's and gave us an idea of how the landscape in college athletics has evolved over the past fifty years. However, there are some things that will never change.
"We had a fifty thousand seat stadium, and (Nebraska) is bringing twenty thousand people over to the game. It was that big of a rivalry," Branch noted.
"We always got two comp tickets, and it was really illegal for us to scalp our tickets, but we scalped our tickets to the Nebraska fans to get F---- money." It was very illegal to do that, but we did it. Because Nebraska fans were looking for tickets and we could scalp our tickets and make two hundred dollars off them. That was a F---- lot of money."
Branch went on to say,"That's the way it was when Nebraska came to Boulder."
This was long before NIL was ever considered by the NCAA. Branch had to make due with a small stipend handed down by CU every month. In fact, it's the equivalent of $121 in today's economy. That's it.
"Back in those days, the university would give us fifteen dollars per month, and that would be for your laundry fee, Branch The NCAA committed (CU) to give us fifteen dollars per month. You're talking about fifteen dollars... We couldn't wait every first of the month to get that fifteen dollars. Because fifteen dollars in 1969, 70, 71 (seasons) would go a long way."
Branch left CU after the 1971 season. He was an All-Pro three straight seasons (1974-76) and made four Pro Bowls during the course of his NFL career. He finally earned his place in Canton as part of the 2022 class. An honor Branch had hoped for but wasn't able to see happen. He passed away in 2019 at the age of 71.
The rivalry between Colorado and Nebraska continues this year. A week two match-up in Boulder featuring Deion Sanders' Buffs and Matt Rhule's Huskers on FOX's Big Noon Saturday.