He grew up in New York and went to college at the University of Maryland. Billy Van Heusen was all east coast until he stepped off a plane in Denver in 1968 and saw the Front Range for the first time. His goal as an undrafted free agent became not just to make the Broncos roster, but to stay in Denver. He did both.
In 2019, Billy was named to the Broncos All-Time Top 100 Team. He played 9 seasons in Denver and was a top 10 NFL punter in 5 of those years. He was quite athletic at other positions as well: he had 82 catches as a wide receiver, scored 11 touchdowns and averaged 20 ½ yards per catch. He also carried the ball on occasion. As a running back he had 13 carries for 171 yards and 1 touchdown (a 66-yard return on a fake punt).
In the middle of his NFL career in 1972, like most players in that era, Billy started a second job when he got his Colorado real estate license. He dabbled in real estate for the next few years until he realized he was done with football in 1977. The wrap on his career was not by choice: after the 1976 season some controversy boiled up regarding how some players felt after they were told their head coach John Ralston was being retained. The player’s thoughts about Ralston made it to the media and Billy saw the writing on the wall when he was called out for it. Despite Ralston not being retained as head coach, Billy was cut on the last day of training camp in 1977.
After his playing career was over, Billy stayed in Denver and real estate became his full-time job. He’s still going strong today with his Billy Van Heusen Team.
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