Spitting bars about the Broncos brought Andrew Young back from the edge of insanity — and tacked on a worldwide football family in the process.
In 2010, Young had just spent two stints in a psychiatric hospital for what doctors later discovered was cannabis-induced psychosis. When he got out the second time, amid what he describes as “the darkest funk of my life,” the medications he was taking after being initially misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder were only adding to his depression.
But there was one combination that re-centered the longtime singer/songwriter: watching the Broncos and rapping about them.
“I lost touch with reality because of how much weed I was smoking, and that’s what landed me in the psych ward,” Young said. “But for some reason when football came on on Sundays, it was like I was me all over again. So in 2011, I put pen to paper and decided to make a song about the Broncos: “Blue and Orange,” a remix of (Wiz Khalifa’s) “Black and Yellow.”
“In my mind, I was gonna make this song and like 30 people were gonna listen to it. But I posted it and tagged some players. Soon enough, different Broncos players just started commenting and sharing amongst themselves (on social media). Next thing I know, the video has a hundred thousand views.”
That was the moment that Young became The Mad Fanatic.
He quit weed and two years later, the rapper started Bronco Gang, a fan club for Broncos diehards. What began with a few people has grown into a membership of nearly 7,000, with fans in all 50 states and over 30 countries.
Fueled by Young’s catchy lyrics about Denver’s NFL team, Bronco Gang has become an underground cultural force at the confluence of rap, football, community and relentless fandom.
“The best part about Bronco Gang is it was able to introduce me to a whole bunch of diehards that I didn’t know existed,” said Danielle Pursley, a 42-year-old Windsor resident who lives in an orange-and-blue house.
“It’s been a catalyst to bring all these people together from different parts of the stadium, different parts of the state and the country. And it was all through The Mad Fanatic’s music.”
Andrew Young, The Mad Fanatic, performs rap songs about the Denver Broncos at The Point Sports Bar and Grill in Thornton on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (Photo by McKenzie Lange/Special to The Denver Post)
A Broncos Connecticuter
My fantasy team is all Bronco, I’m always ridin’ with my squad
When it come to fandom I’m Bruce Willis, yeah homie I’m a diehard
I’m obsessed, I own it, I embrace it, that’s me
They impressed, by my songs, I make hits, every week
— The Mad Fanatic, “All The Way”
Young’s transformation into a local semi-celebrity, and his founding of a Broncos fan club that’s exploded in popularity over the past decade, is even more improbable considering the 40-year-old lives in Connecticut and just visits Denver for a few games each season.
He became a Broncos fan in middle school in 1997 because his favorite color is orange.
Ray Gurule, a 45-year-old Aurora resident who is one of the original members of Bronco Gang, said he was “kind of iffy” about an out-of-stater rapping about the Broncos and being the leader of a Denver fan club.
“But after hanging out with him and really talking with him on a personal level, I quickly saw that he really, he really loved the Broncos,” Gurule said.
Gurule was Young’s tour guide on the latter’s first trip to Denver, for the season opener against Baltimore in 2013. In the years since, the two have become close friends, underscoring a Bronco Gang trend of turning strangers into companions.
Young realized early in his tenure as The Mad Fanatic that his music had both reach and impact. He’s released 119 tracks across eight albums. His music was featured as the intro for Thursday Night Football, and he performed at Terrell Davis’ Hall of Fame induction in 2017.
He’s also recorded nearly 50 singles, including a couple this year in “Coming For The Crown” (a reference to re-claiming the AFC West amid coach Sean Payton’s outspoken Super Bowl aspirations) and “Ground The Jets” (about Denver’s matchup against the Jets in London) that are part of an evolving new album.
Even shortly after the release of his first album in 2012, childhood friend John Turner said Young was getting recognized by Broncos fans in New Haven.
“A couple of girls came up to him as we’re walking into a bar, and one of them is like, ‘Oh, my God. You’re the Mad Fanatic. You’re the guy who raps about the Denver Broncos! Can I take a picture with you?’
“I was like, ‘Yo, dude, you got fans like this?’ So that’s when I was like, ‘Oh, okay. What you’re doing with this is legit.’”
James Chavez, known as Orange Vader, left, interacts with Stormy Manuo-Villa, 4, as Nick Villa, 54, watches Andrew Young, The Mad Fanatic, perform at The Point Sports Bar and Grill in Thornton on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (Photo by McKenzie Lange/Special to The Denver Post)
Rise of Bronco Gang
Them blue-and-orange flags are necessities
You know your boy Mad always rep his team
Got them thangs on me, ain’t talkin’ weaponry
Just flags hangin’ out your boy pants like a referee
— The Mad Fanatic, “Bronco Gang”
To join Young in Bronco Gang, fans have to fill out an application online and explain how long they’ve been a Broncos fan as well as why they consider themselves a Denver diehard.
Accepted fans pay a $20 initiation fee, which includes a Bronco Gang flag featuring the club’s crest. Bronco Gang members tend to wear that flag whenever they’re out in public supporting the team. The club has four rules: no fair-weather fans, no bandwagons, no violence and that members support the team with effort, attitude, toughness, and discipline.
“I want this Bronco Gang thing to be something where if people see you with that flag, or they see you with the Bronco Gang logo on your clothes, they’re like, ‘Oh you must be a real fan — you must be part of an organization of diehards,’” Young explained.
Bronco Gang has tailgates at every home game, and many of the team’s away games, plus other gatherings that accentuate their community-driven fandom.
Last month, Bronco Gang members packed The Point Bar & Grill in Thornton for one such event that featured a performance by The Mad Fanatic.
Young took photos with Bronco Gang members and signed a cap for a young fan. He rapped in front of the hundreds who squeezed into the strip-mall bar, the crowd head-bobbing and many of them recording his every word. As he weaved through the crowd with the mic in his hand, he played several of his signature tracks, including “Coming For the Crown” as well as “We Own The West,” a single from 2016 featuring a verse by Gurule.
Cyndi Vigil, 48, shows off her commemorative Broncos Super Bowl 50 tattoo as Andrew Young, The Mad Fanatic, performs at The Point Sports Bar and Grill in Thornton on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (Photo by McKenzie Lange/Special to The Denver Post)
The latter song was apropos, considering the Broncos’ win over the Chiefs the next day gave Denver a firm grip on its control of the AFC West. At several points, Young prompted the crowd to boo the lone man in the bar clad in Chiefs gear — all in good fun, of course, as it was Young’s buddy Turner.
It was an atmosphere that Louie Nunez, a 42-year-old Thornton resident who is one of the club’s original members, said serves as evidence that Bronco Gang should be recognized as a premier subset of one of the NFL’s most rabid fanbases.
“We’re like Bills Mafia,” Nunez grinned, “but we’re better.”
Bronco Gang members aren’t lighting themselves on fire and jumping on foldable tables, but they believe their tailgates are a first-class NFL experience. The club’s main tailgate each week is in Lot C, a recognizable set-up by Bronco Gang member Scott “Flagman” Hood.
Hood usually wakes up around 3:30 a.m. and is in line for Lot C by about 5:30 a.m. Once he’s in the lot, he sets up his signature tailgate featuring 125 flags, big-screen TVs, and free food and drink for anyone who walks up — opposing fans included. That tailgate is one of several that Bronco Gang members host in the lots surrounding Empower Field.
Andrew Young, The Mad Fanatic, left, congratulates Bronco Gang member James Chavez, known as Orange Vader, after winning a raffle prize at The Point Sports Bar and Grill in Thornton on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (Photo by McKenzie Lange/Special to The Denver Post)
Outside of tailgates and an annual barbecue featuring inflatables, hoards of food and flag football games, Bronco Gang has done a significant amount of charitable work. That’s included passing out food in front of homeless shelters, toy drives during the holidays, and even a drive for food, water and clothing to send to Houston after the city was affected by Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
And just as its giveback has expanded beyond Colorado, so too has the reach of its membership.
Travis King, a 34-year-old Baltimore resident who joined Bronco Gang in 2016, likes to travel to different NFL stadiums and he always manages to find Bronco Gang members to meet up with at each one.
That included last year in Buffalo for Denver’s playoff game, when Bronco Gang members did a rendezvous at Niagara Falls, and then this year in Philadelphia when members gathered at the Rocky statue ahead of the Broncos’ comeback win over the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles.
“After meeting up at the statue, we all went and got Philly cheesesteaks together,” King said. “It’s memories from meetups like that that make nationwide, worldwide Bronco Gang what it is. Everybody wants to be together and cares about one another, and getting to know other diehards on a personal level.”
Bronco Gang member since 2014, Hugo “Gizmo” Santillan, 51, raises his beer in the air as Andrew Young, The Mad Fanatic, performs at The Point Sports Bar and Grill in Thornton on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (Photo by McKenzie Lange/Special to The Denver Post)
Impact on individual members
God gave me a vision and now my plan’s switchin’
Purpose-driven life in Christ, I’m on a mission
That’s to spread love and help those in need
See it’s really not even ’bout the team
— The Mad Fanatic, “Still Reppin’”
For two Bronco Gang members, King’s description of the club’s family hits close to home.
Hugo “Gizmo” Santillan, 51, has felt the Bronco Gang love since joining in 2014. In 2016, the club raised about $3,500 for Santillan to help with the grocery bills and rent after he couldn’t work because of two heart surgeries.
“It was a rough seven months that I was out of work,” Santillan said. “Besides my wife being by my side, Bronco Gang is the only thing that got me through that.”
Bronco Gang came through for Santillan again in 2019, when his 18-year-old son died from a fentanyl overdose. When Santillan had to go identify his son’s body, Young was one of the first people he called afterwards, and the rapper lent the grieving father his heart from afar.
“I’m not a huge religious person like Andrew is, but when Andrew speaks to me about that kind of stuff, I feel it,” Santillan said. “And then he made a song for my son. He came out for the funeral. And a couple of (Bronco Gang members) from New York came out. We had a vigil for him, and Bronco Gang came through so deep with so many people.
“That emotional support, it meant the world to me. I was really struggling. Once again, this was so much more than cheering for a football team together.”
And once again, Bronco Gang helped Santillan financially, with members fueling a GoFundMe that raised enough money to enable the family to give their son a proper service and burial.
“Bronco Gang’s been there for me in so many different ways, man,” Santillan said. “And there’s dozens more just like me.”
Gurule is another example of Bronco Gang’s beyond-the-stadium impact on its members.
Gurule spent most of his late teens and 20s in prison, serving time for grand theft auto and other crimes. By the time he got released, he was determined to put his life of lawbreaking, as well as his drug addiction and alcohol abuse, behind him.
Original Bronco Gang member Ray Gurule, center, cheers as Andrew Young, The Mad Fanatic, right, performs at The Point Sports Bar and Grill in Thornton on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (Photo by McKenzie Lange/Special to The Denver Post)
That’s when Gurule linked up with Young during the latter’s first trip to Denver, and subsequently joined Bronco Gang, a decision that he says “kept me on the straight and narrow ever since.” Santillan got Gurule a job at his auto body shop, and now Gurule has his own business in the same field.
Gurule said his first Bronco Gang barbecue gave him the family atmosphere he had been lacking his entire life.
“One memory … is playing flag football at that first barbecue, and just playing football with my (then-five-year-old) son, with all these people and us both seeing how much love was there that day,” Gurule said. “Since that moment, I don’t want to let the people down that helped bring me up.”
Bronco Gang members socialize as they wait for Andrew Young, known as Mad Fanatic, to perform at The Point Sports Bar and Grill in Thornton on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (Photo by McKenzie Lange/Special to The Denver Post)
Bronco Gang’s future
Let’s talk about the future of the gang now
Visions on the vision board, wrote them thangs down
BG mission’s buyin’ houses, that’s a major key
What we producin’, BG content for BGTV
All paid for by donations via Cause 51
Now watch this manifest before it’s all said and done
7% of profits from the merch to the mission
We cookin’ for the homeless and the churches in the kitchen
— The Mad Fanatic, “We Just Gettin’ Started”
That impact is what Young hopes to continue, and expand, in Bronco Gang’s next chapter.
As he keeps building his music following, Young wants to establish Bronco Gang as a 501(c)3 non-profit. He and other longtime members want to rekindle the group’s community service efforts, which have gone by the wayside over the past few years.
“Bronco Gang is cultivating a generational impact, and I would hate to see that end because it’s not moving forward,” Pursley said. “And part of moving forward is all of us figuring out a way to pick up that (community service) torch again.”
Andrew Young, known as Mad Fanatic, signs a fan’s Bronco jersey before he performs rap songs about the Denver Broncos at The Point Sports Bar and Grill in Thornton, Colo., on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. Mad Fanatic, of Connecticut, founded the super-fan club Bronco Gang in 2013, now with members from around the world. (Photo by McKenzie Lange/Special to The Denver Post)
In the meantime, Young is championing Cause 51, an organization he founded that allows him to raise money to continue to pursue his music dream while also giving back to select charities such as Feed Our Vets and A Precious Child in the process. Of the money that Young raises, 51% goes to charity, while the other 49% helps him make a living.
“I’m trying to be a social enterprise — I’m a for-profit artist and voice, but I’m also trying to create platforms that allow artists like myself who care to partner with their audiences and their communities to raise money for causes they believe in,” Young said.
Young’s personal touch to Bronco Gang’s ever-expanding membership is key in reaching all of his and the club’s goals.
“It’s not what he says or what he does, it’s how he makes people feel,” explained Leaf Steuernagel, 54, a Bronco Gang member from Long Island, New York. “He makes every single person he meets, comes in contact with or has a phone call with, feel special and important. It all starts with him and what he does for Bronco Gang members on a personal level.”
Andrew Young, The Mad Fanatic, stands for a portrait outside the Bronco Gang’s tailgate party at Empower Field at Mile High on Nov. 16, 2025. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)