After former cornerback Champ Bailey and owner Pat Bowlen were voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame earlier this month, we started thinking about other former Broncos players that belong in Canton, Ohio.
There are several former defenders — safety Steve Atwater, linebacker Randy Gradishar and linebacker Karl Mecklenburg — that are certainly deserving, but they may have to continue waiting a few years to get in.
A defender from more recent times — outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware — could have a shot of reaching the Hall of Fame before players like Gradishar and Mecklenburg.
And to be fair, yes, Ware did spend the first nine years of his career with the Cowboys, but his contributions in Denver can’t be overlooked.
Ware signed with the Broncos at just the right time, one year after Miller was suspended six games for turning in a diluted sample for an NFL drug test. Miller had previously failed a test in 2011 — one more slip up and he would have been dangerously close to serious discipline from the NFL.
Ware took Miller under his wing in 2014 and the linebacker has not faced any additional suspensions since then. Miller and Ware combined to record 59 sacks from 2014-2016 and they were key members of the team’s Super Bowl-winning defense in 2015.
Ware will be eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2022.
