After former safety Steve Atwater was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last week, the Denver Broncos now have seven players and late owner Pat Bowlen representing them in Canton, Ohio.
For a team that has been to eight Super Bowls, the Broncos seem to be underrepresented in the Hall of Fame. That’s something that Atwater hopes will soon change.
“We have a lot of guys that we need to see go in,” Atwater said during a press conference Thursday. “Randy Gradishar, Karl Mecklenburg, Dennis Smith, John Lynch — hopefully next year — Peyton Manning — hopefully next year — Rod Smith. This franchise has unfortunately been overlooked for many years and fortunately, we’ve gotten some players in in the last several years, but we have to keep it going . . . .
“We still are, I think, very much underrepresented in the Pro Football Hall of Fame with the history that we’ve had here with the organization, with the winning ways we’ve had, that Orange Crush defense. How could they have not one person in the Pro Football Hall of Fame [from the Orange Crush defense]? To this day I just cannot understand that. Hopefully in the coming years that will be taken care of and we can get some guys in there.”
The most notable members from the Orange Crush defense that are not in Canton are Gradishar and Mecklenburg. Both of them have strong cases for the Hall of Fame, particularly Gradishar.
With several Broncos getting in over the last few years, perhaps it’s only a matter of time before Gradishar makes it himself. The momentum seems to be building, just as it did for Atwater over the last several voting cycles.
Denver should be sending more players to Canton in the coming years.
