The Pro Football Hall of Fame revealed their centennial members that will be enshrined this summer. Randy Gradishar was wrongfully left out once again.
It truly is a shame that Randy Gradishar has not been given his chance to be enshrined into the greatness that is the Pro Football Hall of Fame. With how many members that will be enshrined, I honestly believed that he would have had a chance. Boy was I ever wrong.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame has slowly throughout the past few days announced whom would be the 15 members of the Centennial class. Bill Cowher and Jimmy Johnson saw themselves be rewarded during divisional round weekend. Wednesday, the remainder of the list was announced.
Guess who did not make the final 15? You guessed it Broncos Country. It was Randy Gradishar. But in all honesty, can we really be surprised? It truly is a shame that Gradishar has been left out of the chance to be the next member of the Denver Broncos to be enshrined. His numbers are truly Hall of Fame worthy.
Randy Gradishar had 2,049 career tackles, anchored one of the top defenses of his time, had 20 INTs (including a 93-yard pick-six) and 13 fumble recoveries, was named to 7 Pro Bowls and never missed a game.
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) January 15, 2020
And after 32 years, he's STILL not in the Hall of Fame. Wow.
Fans of the National Football League and Broncos Country alike can probably agree that there are players in the Hall of Fame with numbers less than Gradishar’s that are in the Hall of Fame. Yet, we still have not seen a key member of the Orange Crush defense with a bust in Canton, Ohio.
Randy Gradishar was one of the big reasons the Orange Crush became such a force to deal with. Despite that defense not winning a Super Bowl, they still created fear for offenses. But there have been plenty of players who never won the big game that are in.
I am not sure what is going on, but hopefully some day the recognition will be there for Gradishar. Along with some other members from the past Broncos teams will see themselves there.