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Denver Broncos: Bailey, Atwater excluded from NFL’s All-Time team

By Graham Tiedtke

17 Nov 1996: Defensive back Steve Atwater of the Denver Broncos is stripped of the football by wide receiver Terry Glenn #88 of the New England Patriots after catching an interception during the Broncos 34-8 win at Foxboro Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusett
17 Nov 1996: Defensive back Steve Atwater of the Denver Broncos is stripped of the football by wide receiver Terry Glenn #88 of the New England Patriots after catching an interception during the Broncos 34-8 win at Foxboro Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusett /
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The NFL continues to unveil their All-Time team because it is the 100th season. Two key members of the Denver Broncos have been excluded.

Fans of the Denver Broncos are no strangers of seeing their team’s players being overlooked.

Well, look again, Broncos Country. Two of the most popular players and best players in franchise history, cornerback Champ Bailey and safety Steve Atwater, have been excluded from the NFL’s All-Time team.

Steve Atwater continues to get the bad end of the deal.

Atwater played for the Broncos from 1989 to 1998 and for the New York Jets in 1999, his final NFL season. He won two Super Bowls with the Broncos and was elected to the Pro Bowl eight times, including seven in a row.

The hard-hitting safety, very well-known for punishing former Chiefs running back Christian Okoye with a devastating hit, is also a 2-time first-team All-Pro as well as a 1-time second-team All-Pro.

He has been up for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame for quite a few years now but voters continue to vote for everybody else, including first-time eligible safety Ed Reed, who went into the Hall in 2019.

Champ Bailey played for the Denver Broncos from 2004 to 2013. He was regarded as the best of the best during his prime years, which included the 2006 season when he recorded 10 interceptions.

Bailey finished his career with 909 tackles. In his fifteen NFL seasons, Bailey was elected to the Pro Bowl twelve times, which is the most by any defensive back in history as of his retirement.

Bailey also was the youngest player in league history to intercept three passes in a single game, when he did it in 1999 as a rookie.

The safeties that were voted onto the all-time team were: Jack Christiansen, Ken Houston, Ronnie Lott, Ed Reed, Emlen Tunnell and Larry Wilson.

Next. FanZone interview with Baylor Bradac. dark

It is shocking to me that these two players were not on this list. Does it matter a lot? No, not really. Everybody can make their own lists. But to leave Bailey and Atwater off of this one blows my mind.

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