With the conclusion of the 2018 NFL Hall of Fame ceremony, which former Denver Broncos deserve a bronze bust and a spot in the Hall of Fame?
Throughout the storied history of the Denver Broncos, there have been many great players that donned the blue and orange. Unfortunately, not all of these players are getting recognized with the most prestigious honor that can be bestowed upon former players — a Hall of Fame induction.
As Predominantly Orange Co-Editor Sayre Bedinger pointed out, the Broncos have more Super Bowl appearances (8) than they do Hall of Fame inductees (5).
Considering the number of Bronco greats, this is unacceptable. This number should change after next year’s Hall of Fame induction, but at this point, you can never be too sure.
Most fans were pounding the table for fan favorite Terrell Davis to make the hall, and he finally made it last year, but who is still waiting for their invite to the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio?
We will be focusing on eligible retired players who deserve to be in the Hall. This means Peyton Manning, Champ Bailey, and DeMarcus Ware will not be listed here as they will not be eligible for a few more years.
Before we begin, it’s important to understand what the general criteria for Hall of Fame induction.
First, a player (or contributor) must have outstanding production, and second, the player must do it consistently. In some cases (i.e. Terrell Davis), super-elite production for a shorter period of time will also work in the eyes of the committee.
Pat Bowlen
First and foremost, Pat Bowlen not being in the Hall of Fame is outrageous.
The longtime owner of the Denver Broncos has overseen one of the most successful tenures of any franchise in all major sports. Since taking over in 1984, the Denver Broncos have made seven Super Bowls and won three Super Bowls.
According to Business Insider, Bowlen bought the Broncos for $71 million in 1994. Today’s estimated evaluation ranges anywhere from $2 to $2.8 billion. Although much of this can be contributed to the growth of the NFL, Bowlen is solely responsible for turning Denver into a premier team in the NFL.
In the 34 years under the ownership of Bowlen, only one franchise has been to more Super Bowls — the New England Patriots. Meanwhile, in the AFC West, no team has won more division titles in Bowlen’s tenure.
This consistency of winning and franchise stability is something many teams have been working towards since their inaugural seasons.
Additionally, Bowlen has been instrumental to the growth of the NFL, spearheading television deals during tough economic times.
In 2015, he was inducted into the Broncos Ring of Fame for all he has done, but when is it his time for the NFL Hall of Fame?
He has been close before, but with his health in question, it is pertinent that the voters do the right thing and induct him in 2019.
Rod Smith
Rod Smith not being in the Hall of Fame doesn’t make sense to me or to others at Predominantly Orange. He spent his entire 12-year career with the Denver Broncos and had the most productive wide receiver career in Bronco history.
Despite being an undrafted free agent signing, Smith produced eight 1,000-yard seasons and two 100-catch seasons. At the conclusion of his career, Smith had accumulated 849 receptions for 11,389 yards and 68 touchdowns.
These numbers are good for 27th, 32nd, and 49th all-time in NFL history. These numbers are all Denver Bronco career records as well. Many of these numbers were top-20 upon retirement, but he has since been passed by receivers that benefited from an offensive resurgence in the last decade.
Furthermore, what sets Smith apart from others is his willingness to do whatever it takes for the team. A willing blocker, he set the edge on the outside for five different 1,000-yard rushers.
Outside of that, the guy is a winner. He won two Super-Bowls with Denver, and only had one losing season in his career.
Although Rod Smith surely thinks he is Canton-worthy, Hall of Fame voters traditionally have not favored the wide receiver position. Isaac Bruce, for example, is fifth all-time in receiving yards and has yet to be inducted into the Hall of Fame despite being eligible for the past few years.
Broncos fans appreciate what Rod Smith brought to the franchise; he was voted by the fans to the Broncos’ 50th Anniversary Team.
Bronco executives also appreciate what Rod Smith brought to the franchise. He was selected to be in the Broncos Ring of Fame. All he needs now is the appreciation from the Hall of Fame voters.
Karl Mecklenburg
Karl Mecklenburg has long been in the conversation for the Hall of Fame but has yet to garner the prestigious honor. Mecklenburg was Von Miller before Von Miller came along.
The outside linebacker out of Minnesota was one of the most dominant edge rushers of his time.
Mecklenburg came into the league as a 12th round draft pick (effectively an undrafted free agent in today’s NFL) and took a year to really make an impact. Once he did, the league had to take notice. In his twelve-year career, he accumulated 79 sacks and 1,118 tackles. He finished his career second in sacks in Denver Bronco history (he now stands third behind Miller).
What set him apart was his all-around game as noted by his total tackles. He is second in franchise history in tackles. For comparison, Simon Fletcher (first in sacks) and Von Miller (second in sacks) have 828 and 412 tackles respectively. This holds true when comparing to other rushers of his era.
From 1983 to 1994, Mecklenburg ranked 23rd overall in sacks, and he ranked 4th in tackles. Compared to all 22 players with more sacks, Mecklenburg had the most tackles out of all them and the sixth most interceptions.
Four of the five guys with more sacks and interceptions than Mecklenburg are in the Hall of Fame.
During his tenure with Denver, Karl was selected to six Pro Bowls and was named First-Team All-Pro four times. He was nominated by fans to the Denver Broncos 50th Anniversary Team and currently has his name in the Denver Broncos Ring of Fame.
Despite being retired for over 20 years, Karl has yet to taste the Hall of Fame, but that should change here in the next few years.
John Lynch
Although John Lynch is known more for his time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his short tenure with Denver left a lasting impression on the Bronco faithful.
He is arguably the best safety of his generation, but he is facing an uphill battle. Rumor has it that he had a very good chance of being inducted last year but taking the executive position with San Francisco turned off some of the voters.
Regardless of the 49ers rumor, the safety position is not traditionally valued by Hall of Fame voters. Only nine full-time safeties have been elected to the Hall of Fame with two of those coming in the past two seasons; Kenny Easley and Brian Dawkins. Moreover, Lynch doesn’t always pass the stat test.
Lynch only picked off 26 passes over his 15-year career. That’s not even two per season. In fact, this is 11 less than 2018 Hall of Fame inductee Brian Dawkins who has 37 over his 16-year career.
John Lynch did pass the eye test time and time again as noted by his nine Pro-Bowl selections and two First-Team All-Pro selections. He was the quarterback of one of the great defenses of all time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and he was one of the hardest hitting safeties ever.
In spite of all of this, we will likely be waiting for a few more years for Lynch’s inevitable induction.
Lynch is continuing to build his Hall of Fame worthy resume post-retirement. As general manager of the 49ers, Lynch has proven to be a quick learner who is willing to take chances for the right players.
After a few down seasons, the 49ers look like sleeper contenders heading into Lynch’s second year on the job.
Steve Atwater
Steve Atwater falls in the same boat as John Lynch. He is a generational, hard-hitting safety that is not valued due to his position.
It’s unfortunate because Atwater was the linchpin of the Denver defense throughout the 1990’s. He was a model of consistency and dominance, only missing five games in his ten-year career. In that time he casually racked up eight Pro-Bowl honors, two First-Team All-Pro honors, and one Second-Team All-Pro honor.
One could say Atwater was the original John Lynch. A guy without the gaudy stats, but who passed the eye test game in and game out and was a winner. In eleven seasons, Atwater only produced 24 interceptions, but he also won two Super Bowls and was on nine teams with winning records.
Furthermore, the guy was a tackling machine with 1,180 tackles in his eleven seasons. He also managed to bring down the quarterback five times and force six fumbles. These numbers compare favorably to recently elected safety Brian Dawkins who played an additional five seasons.
Post-retirement, he has seen the accolades continue to come in being named to the NFL 1990’s All-Decade Team, being voted by the fans to the Denver Bronco’s 50th Anniversary Team and being elected into the Bronco’s Ring of Fame. The Hall of Fame, however, has yet to come.
Only time will tell if Atwater is finally recognized for his generational talent and what he did for the game of football, paving the way for feared, hard-hitting safety’s to roam the defensive backfield.
What’s next for these HOF eligible players?
It’s unfortunate that none of these guys has yet to receive the honor of being elected to the NFL Hall of Fame. It seems as if the Denver Broncos franchise, in general, has been disrespected to this point.
As it stands today, Denver has eight players in the Hall of Fame: John Elway, Shannon Sharpe, Terrell Davis, Willie Brown, Floyd Little, Gary Zimmerman, Tony Dorsett, and Brian Dawkins. Only five of those eight played the majority of their careers with Denver. Brown, Dorsett and Dawkins played a combined eight years in the Mile High City.
While the players on this list certainly deserve a spot in the Hall of Fame, these are not the only ones that had incredibly impactful careers as Broncos. Longtime Center Tom Nalen is a name that comes to mind.
Fortunately for Denver fans, the Broncos are about to see an uptick in Hall of Fame inductions here in the coming years.
Ideally, the guys on this list are selected, but no matter what, Champ Bailey and Peyton Manning will likely be first ballot Hall of Famers in the coming seasons.
However, we will wait and see until next year if the Hall begins showing more love to the Denver Broncos.