After missing a couple of years to care for his terminally ill mother, he returned to school and found out that he excelled at football.

That touchdown won the first-ever American Football League game, as the Broncos defeated the Boston Patriots.

In the 1961 season opener at War Memorial Stadium against the Buffalo Bills, Mingo threw a touchdown pass, from the halfback position, to help the Broncos win 22-10: a 50-yarder to Lionel Taylor in the first quarter.

Mingo holds the Broncos' franchise record for the longest touchdown run, an 82-yarder against the Raiders in 1962.

[5] On September 14, 2014, Mingo, along with Dan Reeves and Rick Upchurch, was inducted into the Broncos Ring of Fame.