Forty-four years after the Denver Broncos started playing football by beating the Boston Patriots in the old AFL. The Pro Football Hall of Fame inducted a former Broncos player as a member. Since 1960 the Denver Broncos have made the playoffs eighteen times. The AFC West Division has been won by the Broncos eleven times. Of the forty-six Super Bowls, Denver has appeared in six, winning two of those games. Yet, as of 2012, only four long-term Denver Broncos have been honored by the Hall of Fame induction committee.
Before any player, coach, owner, or other contributor to pro football can be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, they must pass through several steps. The first step is being nominated. Any fan may nominate a qualified person by writing to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The main requirement for players is they have been retired from football for five years.
Next, a committee of forty-four sportswriters narrows the list of nominees. The committee is composed of one sportswriter from each NFL city, with two coming from New York City to represent both New York City teams. One member represents the Pro Football Writers of America. This member is the only one with a two year term. The other members serve until retirement or leaving the city they represent. The last eleven members represent various sports outlets and newspapers such as Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and USA Today. The committee picks seventeen finalists every year. Then, if the finalist gets eighty percent of the committee’s vote, that player becomes one of the four to seven players enshrined that year.
Senior candidates, those who retired before 1985, go through a slightly different process. A senior committee, made up of nine veteran members of the full committee, nominate only two senior players that become part of the seventeen finalists each year. Senior candidates must still gain an eighty percent vote from the full selection committee to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. For more information on the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection process, go to www.profootballhof.com.
In 2004, Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Elway opened the door for other great Broncos players to enter the hall. Others enshrined such as Willie Brown and Tony Dorsett played briefly with the Broncos and are in the Hall of Fame, but they are better known for playing with Oakland and Dallas respectively. After Elway, offensive lineman Gary Zimmerman was enshrined in 2008. In 2011 tight end Shannon Sharpe joined his Super Bowl winning teammates Elway and Zimmerman in the Hall of Fame. The only other Broncos player to enter the hall is running back Floyd Little who was enshrined in 2010 after making the ballot through the Senior Committee.
While getting into the Pro Football Hall of Fame should be an honor reserved for only the best players, why are there so few Denver Broncos players enshrined considering the team’s high level of success? Is it East Coast bias, the process, or so few slots available? There are at least six retired Denver Broncos players who deserve enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Since 1963, when the Pro Football Hall of Fame opened with the induction of seventeen players, there have been 273 people enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Only four of those players are Denver Broncos. With a long, storied, and proud history, there should be many more Broncos players enshrined. Many Denver fans believe there is an East Coast bias against Denver which plays in the Mountain Time Zone. Of the forty-four members of the selection committee, at least twenty-two, work out of the Eastern Time Zone. That is at least half of the voters. Perhaps, if there is bias, it is not overt, but merely the fact that the eastern committee members see so few Denver Broncos games.
Bias or no bias, there are six retired Denver Broncos players who deserve to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. These players are Jason Elam, Terrell Davis, Rod Smith, Steve Atwater, Randy Gradishar, and Tom Jackson. Each player compares favorably for their on-field work with players in their position and from their own era who are already in the Hall of Fame. All statistics used are from www.pro-football-reference.com
JASON ELAM – K
Jason Elam was a kicker in the NFL for seventeen seasons. Fifteen of those seasons were with the Denver Broncos. Elam was the kicker in Denver’s two Super Bowl victories and a key part of how Denver got to those Super Bowls. Jan Stenerud was a kicker in the NFL from 1967 until 1985. When Stenerud was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in1991 he was and remains the only full-time kicker there. Both Elam and Stenerud played a similar number of seasons, though many of Stenerud’s seasons had only fourteen games. Stenerud also has six Pro Bowl selections to Elam’s three. Statistically, Elam proves to be the better kicker. Elam ended his career with 1,983 points compared to Stenerud’s 1,699 points. Stenerud made 558 field goal attempts, making 373, for a 66.8% success rate. Out of 540 attempts, Elam made 436, for an 80.7% success that is far better than the kicker already in the Hall of Fame. 63yards is the longest kick Elam made, equaling an NFL record. Stenerud’s longest field goal was 55 yards. On extra points Elam was an incredible 99.4%, missing only four of his 679 attempts. Stenerud made only 96.5% of his 601 attempts, missing twenty-one. By statistics alone, kicker Jason Elam deserves to join Jan Stenerud in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
TERRELL DAVIS – RB
Terrell Davis was a running back for the Denver Broncos until a knee injury knocked him out of football in his seventh season. Davis played from 1995 to 2001. In 1998, Terrell Davis rushed for 2008 yards. This performance helped him win the NFL AP Offensive Player of the Year, AP Most Valuable Player, and a second Super Bowl victory. Davis also won the AP Offensive Player of the Year in 1996. In his first Super Bowl, Davis fought migraines to lead Denver to its first Super Bowl victory and a Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award for himself. During his seven seasons, Terrell Davis was the dominant running back in the NFL. Hall of Fame running back Gale Sayers also played for only seven seasons from 1965 to 1971. Sayers entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977. In those seven years Sayers went to four Pro Bowls compared with Davis’ three. As far as rushing yards are concerned, Davis outshines the Hall of Famer with 7,607 yards to 4,956 yards. Davis also had only twenty fumbles in his career to Sayers’ thirty-four. Davis ran for sixty touchdowns and caught five more. Sayers only had thirty-nine rushing and nine receiving touchdowns. Clearly Terrell Davis was a better running back than Gale Sayers, who resides in the Hall of Fame. Some committee members now claim Sayers should not have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, so comparing Davis to Sayers is not a good argument. Terrell Davis still matches up well against recent running back inductees Marshall Faulk, Class of 2011, and Curtis Martin, Class of 2012. Both of the inductees played four to five more seasons than Davis and they have more total yards. When comparing yards per game, Davis leads the other players with 97.5 yards per game. Martin ran for 83.9 yards per game and Faulk had only 69 yards per game. In yards per carry, again Davis is the better running back. Davis averaged 4.6 yards each of his carries. Faulk was close to Davis with 4.3 yards per carry and Martin had a respectable 4 yards per carry. Though Hall of Fame members Marshall Faulk and Curtis Martin played in a similar era as Terrell Davis, Davis was the more dominant and better running back. Terrell Davis deserves to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
ROD SMITH – WR
Rod Smith was an undrafted wide receiver who played twelve seasons with the Denver Broncos. From 1995 to 2006 Smith played in 183 games including two Super Bowl victories. Art Monk played for sixteen seasons from 1980 to 1995 and was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2008. Both men appeared in three Pro Bowls. Although Monk had four more seasons than Smith, they each have sixty-eight touchdown receptions. Smith also has a rushing touchdown. The players also have similar yards per catch with Smith’s 13.4 and Monk’s 13.5. Monk had more total yards 12,721 than Smith’s 11,389 yards, but Monk had more seasons to gain that extra yardage. Rod Smith compares favorably to a Hall of Fame receiver, and he deserves to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
STEVE ATWATER – DB
Steve Atwater was known as the Smiling Assassin. Atwater’s crushing hit on Kansas City Chief running back Christian Okoye on national television solidified the nickname and his hard-hitting reputation. For eleven seasons, 1989 to 1999, Atwater roamed the football field driving offenses crazy. Three contemporary defensive backs, Deion Sanders, Rod Woodson, and Darrell Green are all in the Hall of Fame. Though each of those players played as many as nine seasons more than Atwater, Steve Atwater compares well to them. Atwater went to eight Pro Bowls as did Sanders. Green went to seven Pro Bowls and Woodson to an incredible eleven Pro Bowls. In twenty seasons Green made 1,159 tackles, Woodson made 1,050 tackles, and Sanders a mere 492 tackles. In fewer seasons Steve Atwater made 1,074 tackles. Of these three players, only Woodson has more sacks than Atwater. Steve Atwater played in three Super Bowls and was a dominant defensive back in the NFL. Steve Atwater deserves to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
RANDY GRADISHAR – LB
Randy Gradishar played linebacker for ten seasons with the Denver Broncos from 1974 to 1983. Gradishar was a key member of the Denver Broncos’ famous Orange Crush defense of the 1970s. In 1978 Gradishar was named the AP Defensive Player of the Year. Sack statistics were not recorded until the 1982 season so Gradishar only has four and a half sacks. Chris Hanburger and Harry Carson are Hall of Fame linebackers who played in the same era as Gradishar. Carson was inducted in 2006 and Hanburger in 2011. Hanburger played fourteen seasons from 1965 to 1978 while Carson played thirteen seasons from 1976 to 1988. Each of these linebackers went to nine Pro Bowls compared to Gradishar’s seven. Hanburger and Carson have more fumble recoveries, seventeen and fourteen respectively, than Gradishar’s thirteen, but they had more seasons to get them. As far as interceptions go, Gradishar leads both Hall of Famers with twenty. Hanburger has nineteen interceptions and Carson has only eleven. During his tenure, Randy Gradishar was one of the dominant linebackers in the NFL. Randy Gradishar deserves to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
TOM JACKSON – LB
Tom Jackson played fourteen seasons in the NFL during which time he was a key member of the Denver Broncos’ Orange Crush defense. Jackson played from 1973 to 1986 and was in the same era as Hall of Famers Chris Hanburger and Harry Carson, as well as the teammate of Randy Gradishar. Like Gradishar, Jackson had twenty interceptions, which is better than either Carson’s or Hanburger’s interception numbers. Tom Jackson went to three Pro Bowls and two Super Bowls. Although sacks were not an official statistic until 1982, Jackson still ended his career with thirteen of them. Tom Jackson was a tough and dominant linebacker in the NFL in his era. Tom Jackson deserves to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
John Elway, Gary Zimmerman, Floyd Little, and Shannon Sharpe are Denver Broncos now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. They will certainly someday be joined by Champ Bailey and Peyton Manning. For some reason, possibly bias, Jason Elam, Terrell Davis, Rod Smith, Steve Atwater, Randy Gradishar, and Tom Jackson have yet to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. These six retired Denver Broncos players should be in the Hall of Fame due to their comparative statistics with members already in the hall and their importance and contributions to the sport of professional football.
