With what everyone hopes will be a return to football very soon, one of the elements that will happen fast and furiously will be the signing of new players.
No one knows how or when this will happen, just that it will be a one-of-a-kind occurrence when it does takes place.
And that put me in mind of an I-remember-when moment, that being back in May of 1982 when the Denver Broncos player personnel department cleaned out their files of resumes and letters sent by prospective players by inviting all of them—the entire player personnel file of unwanted, unrequested letters—to an open tryout camp.
In retrospect, I wonder if any pro football team has ever had a tryout camp of this size in the history of the game.
Four hundred seventy eight “players”—at least, in their minds they were players— showed up.
The best analogy I can give is to say it was like the “Star Wars” bar scene on a football field. They were too tall, too short, too fat, too thin, and some had a bizarre look to them that made you wonder where they had come from, what part of the real world they were occupying.
Everybody got a T-shirt with a number on it, and that’s how the identification process was made as the day went along.
Each player had to run a 40, and of course, the team has an absolute minimum standard of speed that a player must have, relative to his position. If that standard was not met—and it was not met in droves—those numbers were called out, told thanks for coming, and sent on their way.
Believe it or not, however, some players met the standard and got to run some drills pertinent to the position in question, and at day’s end, four of these players were signed for training camp.
Three of them were cut almost as soon as camp began, as the head-to-head comparison with the college free agents signed by Denver made it immediately apparent that they might have had the right speed, and done OK in some basic drills, but they had no chance to be NFL players.
And then there was one.
Placekicker Rich Karlis had been a placekicker at the University of Cincinnati and stood out like a real player, which as it turned out, he was.
Karlis beat out the incumbent kicker, Fred Steinfort, and a couple of other candidates, made the Broncos and went on to be an outstanding kicker here for seven seasons, 1982 through 1988.
Karlis was notable as a barefoot kicker in the NFL, but he was also notable to me as one of the outstanding guys I have ever had the honor to work with, just a complete class act for every second of our relationship.
I remember on the day of “The Drive,” the fateful AFC Championship Game in Cleveland to send the Broncos on to Super Bowl XXI on the strength of Karlis’s overtime field goal, he was sitting on the concrete floor just outside the Denver locker room, sort of thinking out loud with me as his only audience. The locker room was so small, so cramped, there was no room in it for hangers on, so Rich was just sitting there, thinking about the events that had brought him to this day. He said, “I just have the feeling it is all going to come down to a field goal today.”
It came down to being regarded as one of the 25 greatest games ever played in NFL history, it ended regulation play with John Elway’s immortal 99-yard touchdown drive to tie the game, one of the greatest ever played on the postseason stage, and ultimately it was won in overtime by an Ohio native who had joined the team via surviving a 478-player tryout camp five years earlier.
You just could not make it up.
As a postscript to that tryout camp, every player got to keep his T-shirt, the one that said “Denver Broncos tryout camp” and had his number on it. Turns out, one of the “candidates” eventually committee an armed robbery, and yes, you guessed it, he was wearing his Broncos T-shirt. So the police just came to us and asked who wore that number at the tryout camp.
We provided all the necessary information, the police found the guy, and the last I heard that prospective player was wearing another free T-shirt, and it had a number on the front as well.
Tags: Jim Saccomano, Rich Karlis, The Drive
What a great story! Very well-written, and even with a twist at the end. I never knew any of that even though I was a fan of Mr. Karlis, so thanks so much for the enlightenment and the entertainment!
What a great story, Mr. Saccomano! It’s always fun to learn about inspiring stories such as Rich Karlis’. Now, let’s create some more by gearing up for another season of football.
Excellent insider story as usual, just too bad it came in right in the middle of an important discussion we were having on the previous blog about the cap moneys and what we are going to do about it to be competitive… Oh well, the show must go on…
And I do remember that unbelievable try out period back in 1982 full of misfits, pretty hilarious it was.
“Hightops” Jim Turner in his high top black shoes, Rich Karlis kicking the ball bafefoot in the snow, we were lucky to have such colorful kickers but never as lucky as to have Elam, conventional but most effective of them all by a mile.
Mr Saccomano,
I believe this is the proper blog to voice my opinion to have Elam inducted on the Broncos ring of fame, no way Jim Turner can be up there and not have Elam, just something for all you top guys in the organization to think about. Please pass it on to Mr Bowlen.
Fun story Mr. Saccomano, forgot all about Karlis being a barefoot kicker. Reminded me how nuts I thought he was kicking a football with no shoe on in some of those cold winter games.
Jason Elam:
Field Goals Made 428
Field Goals Attempted 527
Field Goals % 81.2
NFL record 63 yard FG
Had well over 600 extra points
Jim Turner finished his career with 304 of 488 (62%) field goals and 521 of 534 extra points, giving him 1,439 total points.
I rest my case.
In fact Elam made 675 out of 679 extra points! That includes his two years in Atlanta.
And Turner’s #s include the first seven years of his career when he played for the Jets. Not many are aware that he played for Namath and the Jets in their SB III win against Baltimore succesfully kicking 3 FGs.
Anyone who would argue with you about Elam being inducted into the ring of fame wouldn’t be a Bronco fan. He ranks right up there with many of the greatest Broncos ever in my opinion. His reliablity and performance under pressure had a positive effect on everyone who played with him and surely made it easy to decide whether to go for it or put it in the hands of your kicker. Like Elway, he is what every one who plays his position is compared to and rightly so. He’s a ringer! Go Broncos!
I remember Jason Elam when he played for Hawaii and I watched them play San Diego State … he was a helluva college kicker, and I remember wishing with all I had that he could be a Denver Bronco … I got my wish, and the rest is history … needless to say, I was ecstatic when he put on the Orange and Blue …
Rich Karlis.
I tried to kick a football with no shoe because of him. My toe still has never been the same!
Our family met Rich Karlis a few years back at the Broncos Barn before a game. It was great meeting him. We talked about those cold AFC championship games vs. Browns in the ’80′s.
Thanks for sharing this story Jim! Good to read you guys were able to help nail that culprit.
Jason Elam definitely belongs in the Ring of Fame, and he will be. He first must wait five years following his retirement pursuant to a five-year waiting period that the Broncos have in place for their retired players. There is only one exception to that rule and that is John Elway, who was placed in the Broncos’ Ring of Fame less than six months following his retirement.
One Denver Bronco who has waited long enough to be in the Ring of Fame is Simon Fletcher. There is no reason why his name should not be up there.
99? Pretty sure it was 98 yards…..
Thanks RSH, I overlooked the 5 year requirement since it feels like Elam has been gone for so long.
And yeah, the drive has always been called 98 yards officially that I know of, kind of like 98 and a half yard if I remember right and Sac just stretched it a little, no harm done.
If i remember rightly Nick it was 98.5 yards on THE DRIVE
This is all nice but to me Karlos will be remembered for missing two crucial FG’s in Super Bowl XXI against the Giants that completely changed the momemtum of the game. An 18 yard FG and the other one before the half. But then again when you have 1st and goal on the 1 yard line and can’t even get a FG after 4 downs, you don’t deserve to win a Super Bowl.