This is Hall of Fame weekend in the National Football League, the kickoff event of the new season and the time when all-time greats are honored for their contributions to the game. Whether large or small, the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame class always includes the game’s greats, and the ceremonies in Canton never are less than memorable.
All Bronco fans are aware that quarterback John Elway is the only Bronco in the Hall of Fame, in terms of players who made their marks in Denver. And it is no great secret that many of us have frequently stated frustration with that fact.
However, there are others with Denver connections in the Hall, including cornerback Willie Brown, who started his pro career as a Bronco, and running back Tony Dorsett, the Dallas great who ended his career in the Mile High City.
But there is another with a big Denver connection, and he was a man I was honored to work for, and will always be proud to have called him a friend.
Fred Gehrke (pronounced GERK-ey) was general manager of the Broncos for a number of years (1977-80, and was assistant general manager for a number of years before that), and helped put together the team that made Denver’s first Super Bowl appearance in 1977.
He also was the GM who hired me, and I will always treasure his friendship.
I want to take these few words to remember Fred, because he too is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as a Pioneer Award recipient.
The Hall occasionally (and infrequently, actually) names a Pioneer Award winner based on that person having made a great contribution to the game.
Fred was a halfback on the fabulous (no other adjective is sufficient) Los Angeles Rams teams of the early 1950′s. Fred was a good player, but his claim to fame was being the man who first put a logo on the side of the helmet, starting a uniform tradition that would be unimaginable to be without now.
They had leather helmets in those days. Fred had been an art major in college at Utah, and he came up with the idea for Ram horns on the sides of the helmets. He asked team officials if they would mind if he played around with his idea, got permission, and took the team helmets home to his garage for the paint job.
They were an instant hit with the players and, when the Rams first took the field at the Los Angeles Coliseum with the now-legendary horns on their helmets, the fans went crazy with applause.
A tradition was born, and Fred Gehrke would be a Hall of Fame Pioneer Award recipient as a result of that and other contributions to the game (you know the net that kickers kick into to practice before going out to kick? Fred invented that, too).
But the helmets were leather, and every game they would get nicked up some, so it was load them up in Fred’s care after the game, take them to Fred’s garage, and touch them up again. Every week.
That’s how football helmets came to have logos on the sides, and Fred Gehrke is the man who did it. He did not share the accomplishment, and it didn’t happen in a lab. He came up with the idea, and did it all by himself in his garage.
Fred died a few years ago, and I was honored to represent the Broncos at his funeral.
His nickname as a player was “Leather,” because he was known as a very tough player. He played against Hardy Brown, described by some as the toughest (and that is a really polite term for how they talked about Brown) player in football history. I once asked Fred about Hardy Brown, He just chuckled and said, “Hardy Brown. He wasn’t so tough.”
I guess when your nickname is Leather, that’s how you feel about tough guys. But I knew Fred as one of the kindest and most gracious men I have ever met, in addition to being one of the most creative and artistic.
This is Hall of Fame weekend, and I remember him now.
I also have a lot more stories about Fred Gehrke, and perhaps we can share a few in a couple of future writings.
Have a great Hall of Fame weekend, Fred.
And thanks again for reading.
Tags: Fred Gehrke, Hall of Fame, John Elway
Thanks Jim,
I love your blogs. I had no idea where logos came from. Now I have another obsure sprts fact to annoy my friends and loved ones with. Mr. Gerhrke sounds like a great man. Have a good one.
Thanks Jim,
I am Fred Gehrke’s grandson and I really appreciate you sharing that story with everyone. Not a lot of people know that he is in the Hall of Fame and responsible for painting the rams emblem. I was always to young to really take in his accomplishments both as a player and General Manager, but it nice to know that he left impressions with those people who knew him well. I would like to know if there is someone I could contact within Bronco’s organization for any pictures they may have. Just a side note to your story Fred’s son Dick Gehrke just passed away and is being laid to rest today. Once again thanks for the great story. It was a pleasure meeting you at his funeral.
Travis Russon
Customized Design Solutions…
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…
Hello Jim,
As an Air Force brat in the early and mid 1960′s, jumping from base to base around the world, I adopted the Los Angeles Rams as my favorite NFL team. The main reason being the ram horns on the helmets. I thought that a ram was the perfect symbol for a football team and the ram horns were an obvious and natural fit on a helmet. And it just plain looked cool.
I would spend hours drawing pictures of the Rams, Eagles, Patriots and any other team that I felt worthy of committing to paper, even making up my own helmet designs.
When my Dad secured his last posting in 1966 at ENT Air Force Base, in my eventual adopted hometown of Colorado Springs, Colorado, I remained a Rams fan. As I grew and matured, I realized that, as a true lover of football, I just had to bite the bullet and accept the lowly home-state Broncos. It also didn’t hurt having a friend who berated me into rooting for the home team.
But Denver was the antithesis of “cool”, the exact opposite of the glamourous LA Rams. I hated almost everything about them, especially the logo, colors and uniforms. But- a homer is a homer- they were now my team.
Later I took an almost perverse pride in what I considered a “bush league” look-we were good in spite of our appearance! (Although long resigned to “Bronco Orange” and high schoolish logo, you can only imagine how I felt when you introduced the new look in 1998.)
Now, of course, whatever they wear, they will always be number 1.
In the early 90′s, I was heavy into radio controlled airplanes. I regularly perused the newspaper for used planes and equipment. I came across an ad with a particular World War 1 scale model airplane kit that I’d been wanting for quite some time. The owner lived somewhere in northwest Denver, (Arvada, Westminster, Federal Heights maybe-I can’t remember.) When I got to the house, a kindly older gentleman answered the door. He was wearing a polo shirt with an “NFL Alumnus” logo on the pocket area and introduced himself as Fred Gerhke.
I knew immediately who he was. I knew because as a football fan and professional graphic artist and illustrator, I had actually researched the history of NFL graphics. I was a immediately awestruck, to me this guy was a major source of inspiration. Of course, I started gushing and making a fool of myself, but he was happy to talk about anything I wanted to talk about.
Our entire meeting took place in his garage/workshop. I could have listened to him talk for days about football, but he then continued to amazed me with stories of his career at Northrup Aviation as a technical illustrator. (something I hadn’t come across in my research.) As we talked, I noticed a number of “3 view” technical airplane drawings hanging on the walls. One large 3-view was of the Northrup “Black Widow” Nightfighter. He had done some of the original renderings of this airplane! I was “geeking out” on so many levels it wasn’t funny!
We finally got around to my reason for the visit (the airplane kit) and I asked him why he was selling it. He said he was getting out of the hobby to concentrate on building custom golf clubs. It took a good hour to get to a subject that I WASN’T interested in!
Well, I never bought the kit, even though he offered me a more than fair price. I kind of regret it, even if it would have got me in trouble with the wife.
More importantly, I came away with a fantastic experience that I have cherished for many years. Mr. Gerhke was a consummate gentleman and a pioneer in his own right. To give some guy off the street more than an hour of his time and memories was very generous, although I suspect he was having a pretty good time himself telling “war stories” and talking about things that he was so obviously passionate about.
I’ll never forget that day and I will never forget Fred Gerhke.
Thank you for this well deserved tribute page.
Best regards,
Greg O.