Denver Broncos Fans Outraged over Joe Flacco Banner at Sports Authority Field

Fans of the Denver Broncos have spent the better part of the past eight months trying to put what happened on January 12, 2013 out of their minds.

They seethed about Joe Flacco's touchdown pass to Jacoby Jones that tied the divisional round playoff game between the Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos. They grumbled about the Peyton Manning interception that led to a Baltimore victory.

They raged when the Ravens won the Super Bowl, and looked forward to sweet, sweet revenge when the Ravens visit Denver to kick off the season on Thursday, September 5.

Well, now they're angry again, only this time the object of their anger is the NFL itself.

That's because the league, in their infinite wisdom, decided that as part of publicizing the season opener it was somehow a good idea to put a huge Joe Flacco banner up.

On the outside of Sports Authority Field. In Denver.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, this was not well received by people in Colorado.

In fact, according to Frank Schwab of Yahoo! Sports, some fans have already gone so far as to petition the NFL to remove the banner via Change.org.

"

Take the Joe Flacco signage off my Mile High Stadium! Broncos Nation will not endure this detestable and audacious act. Who in their right mind thought that we would just let this fly?! We stand united against your unbearable Joe Flacco signage.

"

The real kicker here is that the fans (so far at least) have reacted in a much more balanced manner than some members of the Denver media.

Reporter Vic Lombardi of Denver's CBS affiliate taped over a Flacco banner downtown and posted a video showing his "artwork."

Then, after reading angry tweets from Ravens' fans, Lombardi thought it might be a good idea to see how far into his mouth he could get his foot.

Stay classy, Vic.

The irony of all this, of course, is that Denver fans are getting all worked up about something happening before a game that shouldn't be in Denver in the first place.

The defending Super Bowl champions have opened the season at home the past several years, but a scheduling conflict with the Baltimore Orioles resulted in the Ravens going on the road to kick things off.

Regardless, while the banner on the stadium may be up for a little while, the other ones scattered around the city appear to be on borrowed time.

Please Recycle.

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