Rocky Brougham is shown as part of the San Jose Mercury News’ coverage of the Super Bowl in 1988. Better known as the Colorado Leprechaun, or Rocky the Leprechaun, Brougham was an unparalleled super fan in the glory days of the Denver Broncos. Brougham passed away on May 4 at age 75.
Courtesy photo
The lore of the Denver Broncos runs about as deep as any team to ever exist in the National Football League.
From the dominant “Orange Crush” defense in the ‘70s, to John Elway’s strenuous road to eventual Super Bowl success, to the Russell Wilson fiasco, Broncos fans have seen it all.
Many who watched the team over the years may have caught a glimpse, or several, of near Avengers-level super-fans in the crowd or on TV. These larger-than-life characters, like the Barrel Man, added an unparalleled stimulus shot to the home crowd, helping spur the Broncos to success behind the thunderous cheers they helped orchestrate.
Perhaps the most famous of all was Rocky the Leprechaun — a small, orange and blue-donned man with a huge personality who lit a fire in the Broncos’ home crowd for decades. His real name was Glen Scott Brougham, and he crossed the other side of the rainbow on May 4 at age 75.
“Leprechauns never die, so I’ll keep doing it ‘til I never do,” Brougham said in a famous Denver7 Broncos Fan of the Week video in 2013.
But what many people don’t know is that this persona of Brougham’s was created long before he cheered on the Broncos from the stands.
A twinkle in his eye for travel
“His start as a leprechaun was in Springfield, Missouri,” said Linda Brougham Cardella, his sister. “So, he went to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. After that, he moved to Springfield, Missouri and managed a store called Taum Sauk Wilderness Outfitters. And somehow the leprechaun character was created, and he led the Springfield, Missouri, St. Patty’s Day Parade.”
Brougham used his shorter stature to bring joy to everyone around him, she said, while others who may be “cursed with shortness” may become bitter about it.
That often took the shape of teaching kindergartners the colors of the rainbow in full leprechaun regalia, or bringing in the spirit of the Irish every March, no matter where he was, which could have been a lot of places.
Brougham’s love of travel was born in a childhood of road trips, vacations in the mountains and visiting national parks.
By the time he passed, he’d visited all 50 states and all seven continents.
“Our summer family vacations were a big deal in my family,” Cardella said. “It was a part of our family history/heritage. My brothers were all Boy Scouts, which had a big influence on Rocky. We started out camping in tents. Then, after a very rainy Fourth of July weekend, my mother said enough of camping in tents, and my parents bought The Little Champ, a trailer that slept six. So they pulled the little Champ behind our station wagon for a month as we traveled to all the National Parks out west. That was an education of its own. These trips had a profound impact on his history and all of us.”
Becoming Rocky
One vacation in particular brought the family to Colorado, near the Four Corners in Cortez. Brougham, called Scott by his family in his early years, loved collecting rocks.
“And so, here our station wagon would be full of these rocks,” Cardella said. “And my great aunt had a cabin. She lived in the southwest corner of Colorado, and she had a cabin in the mountains near Dolores. So we would go and stay at the cabin for a week or two, and that was kind of like home base. She gave him the nickname Rocky, and it really stuck as he got older.”
When Taum Sauk Wilderness Outfitters closed, Brougham moved to Golden, almost looking for an excuse to get back to Colorado, Cardella said.
He immediately sprang back into action, leading the Denver St. Patrick’s Day parade and frequenting Broncos games, where he quickly made a name for himself as a super-fan.
“So they really were two separate characters,” Cardella said. “It was Rocky the Leprechaun. Which he, you know, would wear that costume to lead St. Patty’s Day parade. And then the Denver Broncos, he had a different costume, which was blue and orange. But still wore the leprechaun. He was Rocky the Leprechaun dressed as a Broncos cheerleader, basically.”
Rocky Brougham was the Colorado Leprechaun for over 25 years, bringing spirit and joy to St. Patrick’s Day parades, teaching children the colors of the rainbow or leading the cheers for the Denver Broncos.
Courtesy photo
The hijinks in the parades would get creative, said his longtime girlfriend, Hillary Hutson.
“One of my favorite things was when he was in the parades, he would go along behind the horses, and he had gold spray paint,” said Hutson. “So he’d spray, you know, the poop that they left, and it would be gold nuggets.”
Brougham would go on to attend several Super Bowls, his mischievous laugh contagious among the Broncos faithful, adding a different air to the games that children and fans really fed off of.
“He would always call us and say, ‘ Hey, turn on the news. I’m going to be on, you know, channel, blah, blah, blah,’” said Cardella, who lives in Chicago. “And I would tell all my friends, you know. ‘Yeah, my brother, he’s, he’s the Colorado Leprechaun.’ They’re like, ‘What?’ And then I’d send them the picture, and they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, he really is the leprechaun.’ He was always the life of the party.”
An artist and entrepreneur
While Brougham carried joy with him everywhere he went, it wasn’t always fun and games. He had a strong business acumen, chasing opportunities and experiences.
He searched for life in everything, Cardella said.
“What people don’t know about him is he was an entrepreneur,” Cardella said. “I mean, not only was he Rocky the Leprechaun, but he created the Lucky Lure Christmas Trees (a business in Evergreen). He was a poet. He sold promotional advertising products. So he did a lot, you know?”
Christmas was always a big deal in the Brougham household, Cardella said.
“When I was a little girl, he dressed up like Santa’s elf and would knock on our windows to check whether we were naughty or nice,” Cardella said. “We would go walking in the neighborhood and see the elf running in between houses. It was magical to me as a little girl. I think this is how and when the Leprechaun spirit was birthed.”
So it’s not shocking Brougham went back to that idea with Lucky Lure Christmas Trees.
The elf character was resurrected, like putting on an old coat, and his energy added to the spirit of the holiday. Hutson said of all the attention, fame and fun that came with being the Colorado Leprechaun, Lucky Lure was perhaps his proudest feat.
“I think he was most proud of Luckylure Christmas Trees because it brought so many people joy,” Hutson said. “He got energy from it, I think. You know, it was just so fun and happy that he was energized by it.”
A family-first, spiritual side
Brougham called many places home. Missouri would always hold a spot in his heart, Cardella said. So would Moab, Utah, a place he’d escape to from the snow or cold for the last 15 years or so.
But throughout his near-constant traveling, he would never miss a phone call and was adamant about keeping in touch with family, despite having a sister in Chicago, brothers in Seattle, or whatever the case may be.
“He was so good at keeping in touch with us because we all live all over,” Cardella said. “My youngest daughter got married a year and a half ago, and I asked him to walk me down the aisle. That was an honor to me … he was a loving, good, big brother. He was the patriarch of our family.”
That patriarchal attitude permeated beyond his immediate family. Brougham’s energy was unmatched and uncontainable, she said.
Rocky Brougham was honored by the State of Colorado House of Representatives for bringing cheer and charity to Denver’s communities for over 25 years.
Courtesy photo
It was a gift.
“Our parents raised us, you know, we were a Christian family, and they raised us to love the Lord and to serve other people,” Cardella said. “And I think that this was his way of, you know, serving, by being just the way he was. He spread joy and laughter wherever he went. So there was a spiritual side to Rocky. And I think that comes out in his poetry.”
Cardella recalled a hawk flying above them at their father’s funeral. After noticing the bird, Brougham sat down and finished a full poem about the experience and its significance. It took five minutes.
This wasn’t a one-off; he’d constantly have inspiration flowing from him in one way or another.
“He just developed a love for nature. And so when he would get out in the national parks, he was with God,” Cardella said. “His poems, I believe, are God-inspired. He just had that spiritual connection with our creator that was really a God-given gift, because it would just flow out of him.”
What does Cardella believe he was most proud of in his life?
“I would say his family heritage,” she said. “I went to his home in Evergreen after he died, and next to his bed, on his nightstand, was a picture of my family at Christmas when we were little. And he had a wall in his home, not only with all the articles about him as a leprechaun, but also our family history.”
Brougham traveled to England to visit a castle built in his family’s heritage. He eagerly shared his findings with Cardella and his brothers.
“He had it on the wall with all the history of it and everything else. So, he researched our family tree and heritage, and would call and say, ‘Okay, you guys, this is our great grandparents and our great aunts and uncles,’ and drew up the family tree,” she said. “He wanted us to know. And he was very proud of his heritage. Family was very important to him.”
A layered legacy left behind
Hundreds of social media messages flooded the feeds when it was announced that Brougham had died. First, the Barrel Man, and now the Colorado Leprechaun.
A vintage, warm-and-fuzzy history of the super-fan era was fading. But stitched into the very history of the Denver Broncos, in all the team’s ups and downs and long path to glory, Brougham carved out a permanent spot.
“I remember going with him once, you know, and he was all dressed up,” Cardella said. “And here I am with my big brother, and he’s got his flag and everything, and he’s running here and there. He’s hard to keep up with. He had so much energy. I’m like, ‘That’s my brother.’ But I was very proud of him.”
Through every stop across the land, Rocky was remembered and honored by those he came in contact with.
Rocky the Leprechaun was recognized as a Mile High Hero by the American Red Cross in 2000 after he helped raise $23,000 for victims of the Buffalo Creek Fire and Flood in 1996.
The State of Colorado House of Representatives recognized him for bringing “cheer and charity to Colorado’s citizens.”
March 14 became “Rocky Brougham Day” in Springfield, Missouri, in 2015.
Brougham wrote and published two Poetry in the Parks books, and often said he “traveled the world in search of wonderful places.”
For many Broncos fans and those lucky enough to know Brougham, it’s a blessing he decided to call Colorado — just one of those wonderful places — home for the majority of his life.
“It came from God. It’s God-given,” Cardella said. “We are all born with God-given gifts. And God says, use them to bring joy and spread love to people, you know? That’s the only way I can explain it. He had a gift, and he used it.”