The Denver Broncos are doing more than just stacking wins this season-they’re turning the postgame locker room into a full-blown party. And not just any party.
We're talking fog machines, flashing lights, and music so loud it could shake the rafters. Welcome to “Club Dub,” the Broncos’ new victory celebration that’s quickly becoming one of the most unique-and chaotic-traditions in the NFL right now.
It’s the brainchild of a team that’s finding its rhythm under head coach Sean Payton, and the players are all in. After a win, the Broncos’ locker room transforms into a nightclub-style celebration, complete with a smoke machine that fills the space with fog before most players have even gotten their pads off.
“In college, you come in and you’re blasting the music, but here it’s the smoke with the music,” said safety Devon Key. “Sometimes you walk in the locker room, and you can’t see anything.
You’re searching for your locker and everything before you even process, ‘Hey, we just won the game. It’s time to celebrate!’”
That disorienting fog is all part of the fun-and sometimes, the confusion. Linebacker Justin Strnad recalled one of the more surreal moments tied to the celebration, and ironically, it came after a loss.
Denver had just dropped a heartbreaker to the Colts, 29-28, in a game that ended with a special teams miscue and a penalty that cost them a win. But for a brief moment, it felt like a party was about to break out.
“When we hit the field goal against Indianapolis, the first one, I guess the smoke started rolling into the locker room,” Strnad said. “When the (leveraging) penalty happened, we actually came into the locker room and people were trying to wave the smoke out.
Obviously, I wish we had won, but that was a funny memory. It was a crazy time, for sure.”
That kind of chaos isn’t accidental-it’s by design. The Broncos want their postgame celebrations to be loud, memorable, and unmistakable.
Last season, after a win over the Panthers, the fog machine set off the fire alarm system at Empower Field. The sirens were quickly shut off, but the flashing emergency lights kept going as Coach Payton made his way to the press room.
A little mayhem, it seems, is part of the Broncos’ new identity.
And if this sounds familiar, it should. Payton brought a similar vibe to New Orleans during his time with the Saints, where the team installed a $30,000 sound system to pair with a fog machine and light display.
The goal? Turn the locker room into a celebration zone that could be heard from down the hall-and maybe even across the stadium.
“We felt it was important, especially on the road, that everyone that could possibly hear our locker room celebrating (was) like, ‘What is going on in there?’” Payton said back when he took the Broncos job in 2023. “That is creating culture with the right people, with the right details.”
It’s not just about the party-it’s about building something bigger. A winning culture.
A team that enjoys the grind and celebrates the payoff. Sure, it might give opponents a little extra motivation-nobody wants to hear the other team celebrating like they just won the Super Bowl-but at the end of the day, if it helps the Broncos play loose, stay connected, and keep winning, it’s hard to argue with the results.
They won’t be able to fire up the fog machine in Las Vegas this weekend when they take on the Raiders, but if all goes according to plan, Club Dub will be back in full effect when the Broncos return home for matchups against the Packers and Jaguars. And if the lights start flashing and the smoke starts rolling, you’ll know exactly what just happened.