In December 2004, James Chavez was on his way to see the Denver Broncos play in Kansas City when he made an unlikely discovery. He had accidentally brought his Darth Vader costume on the roadtrip, having left it in the car after Halloween.
His next steps were obvious. He painted the Sith lord's mask and chest plate orange, then wore it to the game. The Broncos lost, 45-17, but people loved the costume. He wore it again to the team's next home game — and pretty soon he realized he was onto something big.
"I wore it again, and next I was in the Denver Post, the Rocky Mountain News! People were just coming up to me all over the place. The Broncos office came up to me, asked me for my name, phone number, wanted to do commercials with me," he told us. "That's when it started."
The Force is still going strong in 2024. The Broncos won their first game of the regular season on Sunday, igniting hopes that this could be the year the team turns it around.
And Chavez, now 58 years old, is hoping for his own winning season, too. The Orange Vader is on a quest to be named the Broncos' fan of the year.
What is the Super Bowl of super-fandom?
The NFL has hosted fan-of-the-year contests since 2020. Each season, the league receives thousands of nominations from which to select each team's top fan. Winners get a trip to the Super Bowl to mingle with die-hard peers from around the country. The NFL then selects a league-wide winner from that pool.
Ron Katz, who's known for dressing "head-to-toe" in orange, won the Broncos' top spot in 2021.
"I just had one person nominate me. I believe the Broncos had over 2,000 nominations in 2021, out of the 30,000 or so for the NFL," he told us over the phone. "It was very humbling."
Katz was nominated by a colleague who thought he deserved recognition for "various random acts of kindness" he'd committed around town. Katz also has been an advocate for former players, pushing for their inclusion in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
It's commitment like that, he said, that's crucial to win the league's attention. Yes, fans should bleed orange and blue, but Katz said the NFL is looking for a someone with story — like Juan Olivares, who was recognized in 2022 for leading Broncos fanatics in Mexico City, where he lives.
"They're looking for substance in the nomination," Katz told us.
Anyone seeking the title should keep that in mind, he added.
"Be authentic, be genuine," he said. "Show who your really are, and how you pay it forward."
Orange Vader is for the children.
Isabel Chavez says her husband's transformation into Orange Vader happened right before they got married. He didn't bring the alter-ego to the wedding — though he did wear the costume when they renewed their vows for their 15th anniversary.
At first, she didn't think her husband's forceful new persona would affect her much. Then he started getting recognized at the grocery store, even without the costume.
"Everyone's like, 'Oh my God! its Orange Vader,'" she recalled. "I was like, 'Woah!'"
Before long, strangers started recognizing her as "Vader’s wife," as they became staples at tailgates outside of the stadium at Mile High. With frequent TV appearances, the orange lord's legend grew. They decided to put that fame to use.
James Chavez grew up in Westwood, where his family didn't always have the money for little league or youth football. Isabel worried about girls from lower-income families who missed out on similar opportunities. So they started Orange Vader's Future for the Kids Foundation, leaning on their status as local celebrities to attract donations that could support access to sports.
"That's what the whole point of Orange Vader is," Isabel Chavez said. "There’s the black, which is the dark side, and then theres us, which is the orange side, the bright side that brings positivity and love. And that's what we're about."
The formal foundation — registered in 2016 — followed years of volunteering and coaching that helped create a community around the couple. Chavez started working with Ralph "The Limo Driver" Williams, another well-known superfan, as his "partner in crime." They would get requests to show up in costume to all kinds of fundraisers and events to make people smile.
"There's some superfans that got one or two charities that they support, but we supported them all. Anytime people called us to do something, we were there," Williams told us. "There's no duo as great as Limo Driver and Orange Vader, because we both are two people that care about people."
Williams said Chavez deserves some recognition for the many years he's invested into the community and his fandom. Orange Vader and Limo Man, he added, should both be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, just like Williams' mentor, Tim "Barrel Man" McKernan.
Chavez said being named fan of the year would be pretty sweet — but he'll be OK either way.
"I don't go out there and try to get recognized for it. I just do it because that's who I was," he said. "If it happens, it happens. That's on God's will."
And, honestly, this super-fan doesn't need the team to win, either.
"We're Denver Bronco fans no matter what, win or lose," he said on a recent Sunday afternoon. "But we're here together."
