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When Apollo 13 launched on April 13, 1970 in attempt to reach the outskirts of space and explore the moon, the massive shuttle traversed away from Earth with its astronauts tucked safely away in hopes of exploring new boundaries and gaining a further glimpse into the reality of the unknown.

What began as a journey of hope and ambition for mankind eventually led to a nearly disastrous ending where everything imaginable that could have went wrong, did.

Nearly 40 years after the historical NASA crisis rocked the nation and the world, a similar path has been forged by the Denver Broncos, who ended their 2009 season in the midst of similar fate: Everything that could have possibly went wrong, did.

Now, comparing a football season to an event that held human lives at stake is a little far-fetched, but the dynamics of the situation are somewhat congruent. The Broncos' tale of adversity and defeat was like watching that of a tragic hero in a dramatic play: An exceptional amount of errors were made in the team's actions that lead sporadically to their downfall. One NFL analyst and commentator labeled Denver's vast eradication from the postseason as "watching a car wreck in slow-motion".

Whatever you want to call it, watching Denver's impressive 6-0 start fade away like a ghost, game after game and week after week, was quite hard to swallow for any Broncos fan. Skepticism continued to run high even after the Broncos managed to rush out of the gates with three sufficient wins in a row by defeating Cleveland, Oakland and Cincinnati, who are considered some of the weaker franchises among the NFL. Denver managed to surprise heavy critics, however, when they defeated powerhouse teams of New England and San Diego, with their victory over the Patriots coming in a suspenseful overtime match-up. Denver appeared to have reached a level of play that's required not only to be playoff-bound, but to be a contender for the Super Bowl.

The momentum the Broncos achieved was short lived, though, as they began to acquire losses in dramatic fashion after experiencing extended time off as the Bye week came and went. Once the decline of play set in due to sideline disputes among players, followed by communication issues with newly acquired head coach Josh McDaniels, Denver was never able to recover their status as playoff-bound, much less their reigning title as conference leaders.

With the Super Bowl just around the corner, Denver has managed to slip out of the headlines, and the only attention that's been thrown their way has to do with personnel changes for next season.

I believe the Broncos have the foundation and building blocks to make some noise next year, but as I have said before, the NFL is a growing organism in that it evolves and adapts constantly. What makes football such a unique team sport is that success only comes with consistency and unity. It's a game that requires all 11 players working together and carrying out their given assignments on every play and in every game, consistently.

I will always reflect back on this season for Denver as the ‘successful failure,' like Apollo 13 was for NASA. Everything went wrong and the goal was never achieved but at the same time, growth, perseverance and success only come in situations when people are faced with adversity and struggle.