This weekend has been a great one for the entire Denver Broncos organization, its legions of fans and for the inimitable Hall of Fame running back Floyd Little.
The team’s open practice at INVESCO Field sat Mile High was a huge success, drawing over 20,000 rabid fans who enjoyed all aspects of the open practice, according to those who were there — I could not attend because I was in Canton, Ohio, at that time watching Floyd Little being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
His induction speech played on the Thundervision scoreboard at the stadium, and several thousand fans stayed after the practice to watch it.
For Floyd, for me, and for thousands of other fans of the Broncos whose loyalty goes back to the 1960′s, this was a great moment, long anticipated and ultimately full of all the richness which we expected it to have.
Floyd’s acceptance speech was hailed as the finest of the night in an evening that featured the induction of seven new members of the hall. This was no surprise to those of us who have known Floyd Little for a long time.
After the ceremonies, during the induction party for Floyd in a tent adjacent to the stadium in Canton, a euphoric Tom Jackson told me that someone from ESPN had expressed to him that it might have been unfortunate for Floyd to have his induction speech come between those of Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith. But Tom said he just chuckled and replied, “Wait until you hear Floyd speak.”
Indeed.
In addition, his presentation speech by son Marc Little was wonderful as well, focusing on how Floyd has long lived by the credo that he chooses to be an uncommon man.
He certainly has been uncommon in Broncos history, standing with John Elway as the team’s only Hall of Famers to have played their entire pro careers in Denver.
It was very emotional for all of us during the ceremony and in the party tent afterward.
I sat among Floyd’s family and friends, along with former Bronco general manager John Beake, ex-players Billy Thompson and Jerry Simmons, as well as national broadcaster Jim Gray. Author Thomas Mackie, a longtime Floyd booster, also was present, and among other Bronco alums who came for the Hall of Fame festivities were Fran Lynch (Floyd’s roommate for all nine of his pro seasons), Tom Graham ( top linebacker in his day and father of current Bronco Daniel Graham), and Mike Kellogg, a backup fullback in the late 1960′s who now is a judge in the state of California.
Of course, fellow Hall of Famer Gary Zimmerman was very prominent on stage with the other 80 or so returning inductees. Former Bronco Willie Brown, certainly much more famous as a Raider, was on the stage as a returning inductee as well. Willie was an All-AFL defensive back already when the Broncos traded him to Oakland.
Players know players, and they appreciate greatness as only fellow players can — it was great to watch as Hall of Famers came, one after another, to embrace Floyd with sincere emotion as he joined their ranks. He even got a shout out by video tape from one of his fellow players at Syracuse University, Joe Biden, who now happens to be Vice President of the United States. That was not a first time, by the way, as Vice President Biden mentioned Floyd during his acceptance speech at Invesco Field two years ago, noting that he always thought Floyd Little might be joining him on a presidential platform someday.
If that sounds like heady stuff, which it is, remember that General Douglas MacArthur personally got involved in recruiting Floyd for West Point. Floyd chose Syracuse because he had made a pledge to the late Ernie Davis that he would attend Ernie’s school. And Floyd Little never broke a promise.
But Floyd has never been just about being a player, and he had several hundred friends from outside of football who also made the pilgrimage to Canton to watch this moment in person.
The Bronco fans who watched him play always knew he was one of the game’s greatest players, but most had given up on the thought that this final justice would be served as so many years passed by.
But a moment that is meant to come comes someday, and this weekend in Canton is that someday for Floyd Little, the Broncos, and football’s greatest fans.
He has the yellow jacket, he has the bronze bust on display in the Hall of Fame, and on Sept. 26, when the Broncos host the Indianapolis Colts, Floyd Little will receive his Hall of Fame ring here in Denver.
Tags: 2010, Denver Broncos, Floyd Little, Jim Saccomano, Pro Football Hall of Fame
testing
cleft
You get the first post on a hall of fame blog for Floyd Little and it’s a test?
Shame on you! Try looking up why he is in the Hall. Or maybe you are to young to understand! I know Floyd sounded like a preacher during his speech. But he was The Franchise of the “New Denver Broncos”!! I was going to try to explain to you the importance of what he did for Denver but never mind! You don’t serve!!!!!!!!
FTR
Sorry its gclift!–Like it matters
FTR,I have been trying to post all day but to no avail, there is a serious problem with posting, it kept telling you to slow down to post, but regardless of how you slowed down, ALL DAY, there is no way to do so, and you still don’t get through, so this gclift blogger only did what I did all day long, just posting testing to see if the darn thing worked, so give the guy a break, it has been an impossible day to post, bloggers had nothing to do with it, it is all the responsibility of the Bronco blog, just saying, ever since they shut the blog down a couple weeks ago to do maintenance on the thing, they have totally messed it up, that’s the truth of the matter, the blog has been a total mess for two weeks now, not the bloggers, the blog itself!!!!!
Amen!
Surprise it finally went thru,been having the same problems as Baylin.I had a huge paragraph typed up on Little,but I couldn’t post so I just sayed f’it,but anyway,way to go Floyd,you are a true legend!
BFE
PLEASE FIX THE BLOG,IT’S VERY ANNOYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I speak for EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My apoligies gclift! I have heard of some having problems but though that was early on. My Bad.
FTR
Of course congratulations to Floyd “The Franchise” Little, the whole thing was great and the speech made the franchise proud.
I just got a real big kick out of Klis’ article today about all the question marks for the O line, because if Harris’ toe stays healthy he is the only non-question mark since Kuper got hurt. This is real funny, TRB, OC and others will get a kick out of it also is my guess, here is what Klis said:
One possible answer to all of these offensive line question marks was proposed to Orton, the Broncos’ starting quarterback. How about if Orton becomes more mobile this year? He doesn’t need to go Michael Vick or Tim Tebow, anything like that. But maybe Orton can slide in the pocket here, scoot for a couple of yards there.
“Their job’s to block. My job’s to throw,” Orton said.
So much for that thought. The offensive line, it seems, will have to ease concern on its own. “They’ll get it figured out,” Orton said.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! Orton couldn’t run if the house was on fire, at least Orton knows it but it all goes back to what I have been saying all along, the O line is where this season hangs. Nothing else will matter if the O line doesn’t come together, and I can’t really remember the last time I ever saw an O line gelling the first time they’ve played together.
Monumental question mark.
Thanks for seemingly fixing the blog today. Knock on wood!
Klis is telling us why he thinks McD is between a rock and a hard place right now regarding practices, and I couldn’t agree more, here are some of his thoughts:
This is why Josh McDaniels gets paid the relatively big bucks.
McDaniels has been trying to bring an Eastern-style of NFL toughness to the laid-back Rocky Mountains. So unlike his predecessor Mike Shanahan, McDaniels ordered his Broncos players to put the pads on and pop each other during training camp. Then came injury after injury leaving McDaniels with the realization that if he didn’t back off, the Broncos will struggle to reach the starting line.
And so McDaniels has backed off.
The problem with injuries dictating practice plans, though, is it can get the players to start thinking about all the injuries. Football players can never, ever fear getting hurt. It’s going to be difficult for McDaniels to continue instilling a physical mentality in his team if he continues to adjust the practice schedule around injuries. Then again, one more significant injury to a key player and the Broncos can start thinking about next year before this year begins.
McDaniels is in a tough spot.
And that IS why he makes the big bucks, there is a lot of pressure on this young coach, now more than ever it seems, it will be interesting to see how he responds to adversity this year, because adversity we already have and I’m afraid there is plenty more to come. A challenge of will if you wish. This season is by far the biggest and most difficult challenge McD has faced in his football life, so many issues, so much adversity, so many “ifs”, he is going to earn his money, I’ll say that, if he can motivate his players, whoever they may be, to play hard for 16 games, I will be very impressed in McD, regardless of the record. A very tall order indeed. Can’t wait to get all the answers.
McD has a game plan even with these injuries. I`ve got faith in our young coach. Also, congrats to Floyd Little. What a awesome speech he gave.
Here is what bailey said about Wink, and what he meant to say about Nolan.
2. Broncos 12th-year cornerback Champ Bailey really likes playing for new Denver defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, who replaces the departed Mike Nolan. “I like the way he’s doing things,” Bailey said. “He really talks to the corners and lot of the veterans to get our input on certain things. A lot of coaches are so arrogant they don’t do that. I’ve played for a bunch of them.”
Wow. That was a zinger that Champ had locked and loaded for a while now I’m guessing.
Here is the link. TC postcard broncos by don banks.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/don_banks/08/10/broncos.postcard/index.html
Interesting fact
RT @broncos_sacco: Broncos only NFL franchise with 90 or more wins each of last three decades–that from Erich Schubert