With the NFL draft quickly approaching, it’s always fun to look back on previous drafts to relive both the great picks and the terrible ones. Here, we’re going to jump into the way-back machine and either remind fans or let them know for the first time about some legendary players that were drafted by the Broncos but made their names elsewhere.
Every player on this list is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
It’s ironic considering that the best player in Broncos history, John Elway, was a player the team did not draft but rather obtained via trade. Here is a list of names you’re most likely familiar with that were drafted by the Broncos.
All of these picks came during the time when the Broncos were a member of the American Football League. Players chosen in both the AFL and NFL draft had the choice of which league to go to. Many of them chose the NFL.
1. Merlin Olsen, 1962
With the second overall pick of the 1962 AFL draft, the Broncos chose Olsen. Unfortunately, he never played for the team as he was also chosen by the Los Angeles Rams in the NFL draft.
Olsen was one of the best overall defensive players that ever stepped on a football field and that is no exaggeration. He was a key cog on the Rams’ “Fearsome Foursome,” one of the best front fours in league history.
He was also selected to the Pro Bowl 14 times, a feat a handful of players have matched, but no player in history has ever surpassed.
The NFL Rookie of the Year in 1962, Olsen was part of the league’s All-Decade Team for the 1960s and 1970s. Had he played for the Broncos and had the kind of career he did with the Rams, to this day he would still be one of the top five players in team history.
2. Paul Krause, 1964
The Broncos selected Krause in the 12th round of the 1964 AFL draft but lost out on his services to the Washington Redskins, who selected him in the second round of the NFL draft.
Krause is best remembered for his time with the Minnesota Vikings, who obtained him through a trade after four seasons in Washington. He spent another 12 seasons in Minnesota and became known as perhaps the best ball-hawking safety in NFL history.
Krause’s 81 career interceptions are more than any player in NFL history.
The 1964 AFL draft looks great on paper for the Broncos, as it also includes Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees Bob Brown and Bob Hayes. None of them ever played for the Broncos.
3. Dick Butkus, 1965
Probably the most recognizable names on this, Dick Butkus, widely considered one of the best linebackers of all-time, was drafted by the Broncos.
The Broncos offered Butkus more money to come play for them than did the team that drafted him in the NFL, the Chicago Bears. However, Butkus was born in Chicago and played at the University of Illinois and the idea of staying home was too much for the Broncos to overcome in that bidding war.
Butkus, like Olsen, was selected to the league’s All-Decade Teams for the 1960s and 1970s.
4. Curley Culp, 1968
In addition to being a terrific football player, Culp also had an accomplished background in amateur wrestling. He could have pursued that but chose to stick with football and the Broncos chose him in the second round of the 1968 draft.
But the Broncos saw him as an interior offensive lineman, something Culp was not comfortable doing. He felt he was a defensive lineman. Because of this, the Broncos traded Culp to the Chiefs. That was not a great move.
Culp helped the Chiefs win the AFL Championship in 1969 and then Super Bowl IV after the merger. He was selected to six Pro Bowls, having the best years of his career with the Houston Oilers.
In 2013, after a long wait, he was chosen as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
