Forty-four years after the Denver Broncos started football by beating the Boston Patriots in the old AFL. For vehicles other than targets, Fame brought in a former Broncos player as a member. Since 1960, the Denver Broncos have made the playoffs 18 times. The AFC West Division was won by the Broncos 10 times. Denver has appeared in 46 Super Bowls, winning two games. However, since 2012, only four long-term Denver Broncos have been honored by Hall of Fame induction chairs.
Before any player, coach, owner, or other contributor to football can be included in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, they must go through several steps. The first step is named. Any fan can nominate an eligible person by writing to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The main demand for players are five years retired from football.
Next, the draft narrows the number of sports writers to forty-four nominees. The committee is composed of one author from an NFL city, with two coming from New York City to represent both. New York City Parties. He represents one member of For Target Writers of America. This member is the only one with two years. The other members serve until they retire or leave the city they represent. The final eleven members represent various sports outlets and newspapers such as Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and USA Today. The council selects seventeen finalists each year. Then, if a finalist receives eighty percent of the committee’s vote, that player becomes one of four to seven players inducted that year.
Senior candidates who retired before 1985 have a slightly different process. The senior committee, which is made up of nine veteran members of the full committee, nominates only two senior players who become seventeen finalists each year. Senior candidates must still receive eighty percent of the votes cast by the full election committee to be inducted into 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 inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Elway opened the door for other great Broncos players to enter the arena. Others include Willie Brown and Tony Dorsett, who played briefly with the Broncos and are in the Hall of Fame, but are better known for playing with Oakland and Dallas, respectively. After Elway, offensive lineman Gary Zimmerman was included in 2008. In 2011 tight end Shannon Sharpe joined Super Bowl winning teammates Elway and Zimmerman in the Hall of Fame. The only other Broncos player entering the court is running back Floyd Little who was inducted in 2010 after completing the Senior Committee vote.
While entering the Pro vehicles unless targeted Hall of Fame honor is reserved for only the best players, why are there so few Denver Broncos players included considering the team a high success? Is the process trending on the East Coast, or are there so few openings available? There are at least six retired Denver Broncos players who deserve inclusion 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 inducted into the Hall of Fame. Only four of these players are Denver Broncos. With a long, legendary, and proud history, there should be more Broncos players included. Many Denver fans believe that there is an Eastern bias against Denver because it plays in the Mountain Time Zone. Of the forty-four members of the election, at least twenty-two are drawn from the Eastern Time Zone. that is at least half of the voters. Maybe if it’s interest, it’s not over, but it’s just that members of the Eastern Conference see so few Denver Broncos games.
Biased or not, there are six retired Denver Broncos players who deserve to be included 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 his performance on the field favorably to players at his position and age 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. He was the kicker in Denver’s two Super victories and a key part of Denver’s Super Bowls. Ian Stenerud was a kicker in the NFL from 1967 to 1985. Since Stenerud, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991 and remains the only full-time kicker there. Both Elam and Stenerud played the same number of seasons, although many of Stenerud’s seasons had only fourteen games. Stenerud also has six picks for the Bowl to Elam’s three. Statistically, Elam proves to be the better kicker. Elam finished 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’s 436, a success rate of 80.7% is far better than the kicker already in the Hall of Fame. 63 yards is the longest kick made by Eliam, an NFL record. Stenerud’s longest field goal was 55 yards. In 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 21. By statistics alone, kicker Jason Elam deserves to join Ian 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 the seventh leg. at the time Davis from 1995 to 2001. In 1998, Terrell Davis rushed for 2008. This performance helped him win the NFL AP Offensive Player of the Year, AP Sports Most Valuable Player, and his second Super Bowl victory. Davis also won the Offensive Player of the Year in 1996. In the first Super Bowl, Davis battled migraines. leading Denver to its first Super Bowl victory and the Super Bowl Most Valuable Players award for himself. For seven seasons, Terrell Davis was the dominant running back in the NFL. Hall of Fame running back Gale Sayers also played for just 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 along with Davis’ three. In terms of rushing yards, Davis outshines the Hall of Famer with 7,607 yards to 4,956 yards. Davis also had only 20 fumbles in Sayers’ 34 career. Davis ran for sixty touchdowns and caught five more. They only had 39 rushing and nine receiving touchdowns. Clearly, Terrell Davis was a better running back than Gale Sayers, who resides in the Hall of Fame. Some members now say that Sayers should not be inducted into the Hall of Fame, so comparing Davis to Sayers is not a good argument. Terrell Davis still matches up well against recent returning inductees Marshall Faulk, Class of 2011, and Curtis Martin, Class of 2012. Both draft picks have played four to five more times than Davis and have the same number of yards. When comparing yards per game, Davis leads other players with 97.5 yards per game. Martin was averaging 83.9 yards per game and Faulk had only 69 yards per game. On the other hand, Davis again runs better. Davis averaged 4.6 yards per carry. Faulk was close behind Davis with 4.3 yards per carry and Martin had a respectable 4 yards per carry. Although Hall of Fame members Marshall Faulk and Curtis Martin played at a similar age as Terrell Davis, Davis is more dominant and a better running back. Terrell Davis deserves to be included in the Pro Gospel Hall of Fame.
ROD SMITH – WR
Rod Smith was an undrafted 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 was inducted sixteen times from 1980 to 1995 and was inducted into the Pro Bowls Hall of Fame in 2008. Both men have appeared in three Pro Bowls. Although Monk had four more seasons than Smith, they each had sixty-eight touchdown receptions. Smith also has a rushing touchdown. Players also have similar yards with Smith’s 13.4 and Monk’s 13.5. Monk had 12,721 more yards than Smith, but Monk had more times to gain that yardage. Rod Smith compares favorably to a Hall of Fame receiver, and is worthy of being included in the Pro Target Hall of Fame.
STEVE THE WATER – DB
Steve Atwater was known as the Smiling Killer. Atwater’s crushing blow to Kansas City Chiefs running back Christian Okoye solidified his nickname and toughness reputation on national television. For 11 seasons, from 1989 to 1999, Atwater ran the offense on the football field. Three current defensive backs, Deion Sanders, Rod Woodson, and Darrell Green are all in the Hall of Fame. Since each of these players played nine more seasons than Atwater, Steve Atwater compares well to them. Atwater went to eight Pro Bowls just like Sanders did. Green seven Pro Bowls and Woodson to an incredible eleven Pro Bowls. In the 20th season, Green made 1,159 tackles, Woodson made a thousand tackles, Sanders made a mere 492 tackles. In fewer seasons, Steve Atwater made 1,074 tackles. Of those 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 included in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
RANDY GRADISHAR – LB
Randy Gradishar played linebacker ten seasons with the Denver Broncos from 1974 to 1983. Gradishar was a key member of the Denver Broncos’ famous Golden Crush defense of the 1970s. In 1978 Gradishar was named AP Defensive Player of the Year. A sack statistic not recorded until the 1982 season, Gradishar has only four and a half sacks. Chris Henburger 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, both of these streaks totaling 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’ve had more time to get them. As far as interceptions go, Gradishar leads both Hall of Famers with 20. Hanburger has nineteen interceptions and Carson only has eleven. During his tenure, Randy Gradishar was one of the NFL’s leaders in linebackers. Randy Gradishar deserves to be included in the Gospel 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 Henburger and Harry Carson, as well as teammate Randy Gradishar. Like Gradishar, Jackson had 20 interceptions, which is better than the interception numbers of either Carson or Henburger. Tom Jackson 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 inclusion in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
John Elway, Gary Zimmerman, Floyd Small, and Shannon Sharpe are the Denver Broncos currently on the pro roster. They will certainly be joined at some point by Champ Bailey and Peyton Manning. For some reason, Jason Elam, Terrell Davis, Rod Smith, Steve Atwater, Randy Gradishar, and Tom Jackson were inducted into the Pro Cars Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. These six retired Denver Broncos players should be in the Hall of Fame because of their comparative statistics with members already in the Hall and their importance and contributions to the game of professional football.
