Hall of Famer Randy Gradishar: Pioneer of Broncos success

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The floor-to-ceiling trophy case in the lobby of the Broncos ' suburban Denver complex glitters with the franchise's history.

Among the awards and signposts of the team's journey from 1960 to now are eight AFC Championship trophies and three Lombardi trophies commemorating their Super Bowl titles. But before they became one of five franchises to make at least eight Super Bowl trips, before coaches Dan Reeves and Mike Shanahan won piles of games, and before quarterbacks John Elway and Peyton Manning took snaps, there was the launch pad.

There was 1977.

"That season, that year, that group, that was kind of the start of how people think about the Broncos," former Broncos cornerback Louis Wright said. "I've said we were running things [on defense] people are still running today, we had great players, we did things that are hard to do and maybe that was the first year people outside of Colorado really noticed."

Randy Gradishar, the leading tackler for the Orange Crush defense in that 1977 season, will carry a significant piece of the team's history into the Pro Football Hall of Fame when the class of 2024 is inducted Saturday (noon, ESPN, ABC, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes).

He will be the only player from the Broncos' 1977 team -- the franchise's first playoff team and first Super Bowl team -- to wear a gold jacket. And he will be the only player from the Orange Crush, one of the best defenses in league history, to be enshrined.

"I don't know that there are words to describe it, but it's one heck of an honor to be able to represent the other guys on the Orange Crush defense, the Broncos organization ... and the whole team and whole club," Gradishar said. "[It] was amazing."

Defensive coordinator Joe Collier, who died in early May at age 91, pioneered a 3-4 defense with the likes of Wright, Tom Jackson, Billy Thompson, Steve Foley and Lyle Alzado, with Gradishar in the middle of it all.

During a nine-year span from 1975 to 1983, that group ranked third overall in total defense, second in run defense, first in fewest passing touchdowns allowed, second in fewest touchdowns from scrimmage allowed and fourth in overall scoring defense. And from 1977 to 1981, the Orange Crush was first in fewest yards allowed and fewest passing touchdowns allowed.

They did all of it in what will be a never-seen-again era of defense that included the likes of the Pittsburgh Steelers ' Steel Curtain, the Dallas Cowboys ' Doomsday Defense and the Minnesota Vikings ' Purple People Eaters.

"The older you get, the sweeter it is," Foley said. "You realize that you were part of the beginning of the championship football here that we've come so accustomed to. It was a special time in Denver history. It can't be replaced. It was Mile High Magic. It was magic here. I've never seen such a rabid group of fans ... and [fans across the NFL] had to pay attention to us."

Bill Belichick, who spent the 1978 season on the hip of Collier while with the Broncos, has repeatedly said the roots of his defensive philosophy over his four decades in the NFL could be found in what he gleaned from Collier. Belichick said his intention during his time with the Broncos "was to learn how to see the game through Joe's eyes."

Belichick said he used many of the concepts he learned from Collier throughout his historical run as the New England Patriots coach, especially in the red zone and in goal-line looks.

"You know how I feel about it," Collier said in an interview earlier this year. "I feel like those players, many of them, are Hall of Famers and should be Hall of Famers. But start with Randy, start there. But that group was, and always will be, special."

Until he was selected for enshrinement as a seniors finalist -- 41 years after he had played his last NFL game -- Gradishar may have been the most decorated defensive player on any not-in-the-Hall list. He was Defensive Player of the Year in 1978, a seven-time Pro Bowl selection during his 10-year career and two-time first-team All-Pro in an era with the likes of Hall of Famers Jack Ham, Jack Lambert and Robert Brazile just in the AFC at linebacker.

Gradishar, who was credited with a franchise-record 2,049 tackles over his 10 seasons, also finished third in the voting for Defensive Player of the Year in that 1977 season and received votes for the award in two other years, a rare occurrence. Before he was chosen to be enshrined, Gradishar was the only Hall of Fame-eligible player with at least seven Pro Bowl selections, multiple first-team All Pro selections and a Defensive Player of the Year award who did not have a gold jacket.

"As an individual ball player being part of a team, I'm glad to finally represent the Orange Crush defense," Gradishar said. "We were very, very good."

And in 1977, the Broncos were finally able to wedge themselves into the postseason conversation in the powerhouse AFC, a place they stayed throughout the '80s, '90s, 2000s and all the way to 2015, closing out that season with a Super Bowl 50 win in Manning's final NFL game.

Between the Miami Dolphins ' perfect season in 1972 and the Oakland Raiders' Super Bowl XV win to close out the 1980 season, the Broncos were one of four AFC teams (Steelers, Raiders and Dolphins) to win an AFC Championship. The Steelers won four Super Bowls in that span, while the Dolphins and Raiders each won two. That's why Denver's first playoff season in '77 has always been goose-bump worthy for the team's oldest fans. To simply earn the trip to Super Bowl XII, the Broncos had to beat the Steelers and the Raiders in back-to-back weeks at home.

"Getting to 1977 and beating the Steelers and the Steel Curtain at Mile High Stadium, we did that, and also, playing those guys called the Oakland Raiders with Ken Stabler and those guys, coach John Madden ... to win the AFC championship ... was just phenomenal," Gradishar said. "Everyone in Colorado went nuts ... Being able to win and talking to Tom Jackson on the sidelines at the end of some of the games ... just special."

It didn't get the fairy tale ending as the Broncos lost to the Dallas Cowboys, 27-10. But the Broncos followed it up with two 10-6 seasons over the next two years, Reeves began his successful run as coach in 1981, Elway arrived in a trade in 1983 and Hall of Famer Pat Bowlen became the team's owner in 1984. Seven of the team's eight Super Bowl trips came during Bowlen's tenure.

"But I do look back in so many ways and how we think about the Broncos kind of did come out of that '77 season," Gradishar said. "It was special, just special to be a part of it. And I'm glad maybe with this [Hall of Fame enshrinement], maybe people will look back on the things that group did."