After Randy Gradishar was taken with the No. 14 pick in the 1974 NFL draft out of Ohio State, fellow Broncos linebacker Tom Jackson wondered what sort of spiffy car he might be driving when he arrived in Denver.
A Mercedes? A Porsche?
“Most of those guys want to get sports cars when they got their initial contract,’’ Jackson said. “When I was drafted (in 1973 out of Louisville), I got a gold Monte Carlo with an eight-track tape player and a sunroof that would get the attention of some girls.’’
But, no, Gradishar pulled up in Denver in a Chevy van with wood paneling.
“We all laughed about it,’’ Jackson said. “We found out then that Randy was quite understated.”
That was the first time Jackson met Gradishar, and they began to talk. The two spoke about their passion for football.
They talked about their backgrounds. Both are from Ohio — Jackson from urban Cleveland and Gradishar from Champion Township, a rural community 50 miles to the east. However, they never knew of each other when Jackson was starring for John Adams High School and Gradishar for Champion High School.
It wasn’t long before the two became close friends. They found out they had all sorts of things in common, from football to “The Bridge Over the River Kwai” being a favorite movie of both.
“He was the White kid from the small rural town of Champion, Ohio, and I’m the fast-talking Black kid from Cleveland,’’ Jackson said. “We come from completely different backgrounds but we had plenty in common. And we both believed in hard work.”
Fast forward 50 years and Gradishar will be inducted Saturday into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His presenter in Canton, Ohio, will be Jackson.
“Tom and I have been friends ever since I came to Denver in 1974,’’ Gradishar said. “We played next to each other on the weakside, with Tom on the outside and me on the inside and we just became better friends as the years went on. He’s a great guy, and I feel blessed to still have his friendship.”
Gradishar, 72, played for the Broncos from 1974-83, making seven Pro Bowls and being named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year in 1978. Jackson, 73, played for Denver from 1973-86, making three Pro Bowls and later gaining notoriety for a three-decade run as an ESPN analyst alongside Chris Berman.
“Those two guys were friends from the first day they met,’’ said Myrel Moore, 90, who was the linebackers coach when Gradishar and Jackson played for Denver.
“There was a love they had for each other, being roommates, teammates and friends,’’ said Barney Chavous, a Broncos defensive lineman from 1973-85.
So when it came time for Gradishar to choose a presenter for the Hall of Fame, Jackson was an easy choice. In fact, Gradishar reached out to him before his induction had become certain.
Gradishar last August was named a senior finalist for the Hall of Fame, which meant he more than likely was going to be enshrined, the only remaining hurdle needing to get 80% of the vote on a yes-no ballot by the 50-person selection committee in January.
“He called me (last fall) and said, ‘Tom, would you be willing to present me for induction?’’’ Jackson said. “He said, ‘You can think about it for while.’ I told him, ‘I don’t need to think about it for a while. The answer is yes.' I am so proud of him for making the Hall of Fame. I just hate that it took so long.”
Gradishar, who will be enshrined 35 years after first becoming eligible in 1989, laughed when he remembered the call with Jackson.
“Knowing Tommy and our friendship, I certainly didn’t expect any kind of delay,’’ Gradishar said. “Of course, he didn’t have to consider it very long.”
In January, Jackson played a role in surprising Gradishar with news he had made the Hall of Fame after ballots had been cast by the selection committee. The Broncos asked Gradishar and his wife Beth to come to Broncos Park on Jan. 26 because Greg Penner and wife Carrie Walton Penner, team owners, wanted to talk about the legendary "Orange Crush" defense Gradishar led when Denver made its first Super Bowl appearance in the 1977 season.
Gradishar ended up walking into a room where he was greeted by Broncos Hall of Fame safety Steve Atwater, former Denver safety Billy Thompson and Jackson, and the news was delivered. Jackson had flown in for the surprise from his home in Cincinnati, two weeks before Gradishar’s impending induction was officially announced Feb. 8.
“I was tricked,’’ Gradishar said.
Perhaps that was poetic justice since Jackson said in the 10 seasons he played with Gradishar, he regularly was pranked by the linebacker. Jackson said that was a side of the religious and pragmatic Gradishar those outside the team didn’t always see.
“He was one of the biggest pranksters in the history of our team and especially when I was his roommate, I experienced some of that up close,’’ Jackson said.
When they were roommates on the road, Jackson said Gradishar at times would loosen the shower head. Then when Jackson got in the shower, he said “water would spray all over the bathroom.”
Jackson recalled one Gradishar prank the night before the Broncos were to face the Seahawks in Seattle.
“I woke up at like 1:30 or 2 in the morning and Randy is sitting on the edge of his bed staring down at me,’’ Jackson said. “I am literally sweating like a pig. Randy goes, ‘It’s pretty hot, isn’t it?’ He had turned my electric blanket up to high and he was there watching as I wiped sweat off my face.”
Jackson was usually a good sport when being pranked, but he said one time Gradishar went too far.
“We had this balm that is in every locker room that you put on your muscles to try to loosen them up with intense heat,’’ Jackson said. “Once, when I was dressing after practice, I put my clothes on and all of a sudden I started feeling this intense heat. Randy was staring at me and I knew he had put that in my underwear. It hurt so bad that was the one time I got mad at him.”
But Gradishar did give Jackson some breaks. Once, before a Saturday morning meeting, Gradishar brought several dozen plain donuts to the practice facility for players. But instead of putting icing on them, he had used wax.
“He looked at me and said, ‘Don’t eat these,'" said Jackson, who at least was able to share in that prank of watching other players eat the doctored donuts.
Gradishar pleads guilty to the pranks he played, many on Jackson.
“I did do a lot of stuff,’’ Gradishar said. “It was always meant to be in a fun kind of way. Nobody really took it very seriously. Tom and I laugh about it.”
On the field, Gradishar and Jackson were all business. Jackson said the “bond was special” when the two were playing alongside each other.
“We communicated well,’’ Gradishar said. “It got to be he knew what I was thinking and I knew what he was thinking.”
The other linebackers in Denver’s 3-4 scheme were Joe Rizzo on the inside and Bob Swenson on the outside. They were key components on the “Orange Crush” defense, which was one of the best in the NFL in the mid to late 1970s.
The best season for the defense, led by late coordinator Joe Collier, came in 1977 when the Broncos went 12-2 and gave up a meager 10.6 points per game. They made the playoffs for the first time, in the 18th season of the franchise, before losing to Dallas 27-10 in Super Bowl XII. Gradishar, the first player from that team to make the Hall of Fame, and Jackson both that season were named first-team All-Pro.
“They worked well together,’’ Swenson said. “Tom was quick as a cat and Randy, he was a great tackler,’’ Swenson said. “Tom would create havoc on the weakside and then Randy would come and just mop up.”
Gradishar was credited by the Broncos with an astounding 2,049 tackles during his career, working out to an average of more than 200 per season. Some have doubted that figure — but not Jackson.
“Coach Collier would say Randy had 18 solo tackles and five assists, and sure enough I would watch the film and see that,’’ Jackson said. “I would turn to Randy and joke, “You’re just playing by yourself.’ He was a tackling machine. But never once would he boast.”
Jackson said Gradishar’s even keel and his work ethic were pivotal to his success.
“Not only did he never miss a game in his career, he never missed a practice,’’ Jackson said.
Gradishar made the Pro Bowl in his 10th and final season of 1983 and then retired. Jackson said that didn’t surprise him because “Randy always had a 10-year plan” in how long he would play.
Jackson went on to play three more seasons before he retired as a player and moved on to ESPN. With Jackson living in Cincinnati and Gradishar in Denver, they haven’t seen each other a lot in recent years.
But when they do get together, it’s like old times. Gradishar will rib the loquacious Jackson by saying he’s “yapping all the time.” And Gradishar rarely misses a chance to make note of Jackson going to Louisville while he went to the more renowned Ohio State.
“I went to a real school,’’ Gradishar cracked.
But Jackson will dish it back at times to Gradishar, making note of his conservative nature, including cars he has driven. And Gradishar doesn’t know what Jackson will say when he presents him for the Hall of Fame.
“He’ll probably say I was OK, I played OK,” Gradishar said.
Local Denver, CO
Most Popular
Comments / 0