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Posts Tagged ‘Steve Atwater’

Atwater Headed to Colorado Sports Hall of Fame

October 9th, 2012 - 1:05pm by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

Just 12 days after he was listed as a candidate for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2013, former Broncos safety Steve Atwater received another honor.

The Ring of Famer is one of six individuals that will be inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame this April.

Atwater, the 20th player to be inducted into the Broncos Ring of Fame in 2005, was a first-round pick in the 1989 NFL Draft. He was voted to a franchise-record tying seven consecutive Pro Bowls, and his eight total Pro Bowl selections are the second most by a player in Broncos history.

During his 10-year career with the team, he started all 155 regular-season games, recording 24 interceptions and serving as a key leader in the club’s back-to-back Super Bowl titles.

The induction banquet will be held on April 18, and tickets are available for $175 each. Since its inception in 1965, the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame has inducted 222 individuals, excluding the most recent class of six.

Atwater will join a number of former Broncos in the hall, including most recently defensive lineman Alfred Williams.

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Posted in DenverBroncos.com | 12 Comments »

Nalen, Lynch First-Year Nominees for Hall

September 27th, 2012 - 1:36pm by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

On Thursday, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the list of candidates for the Class of 2013, and two Broncos are among the first-year eligible modern-era candidates.

Center Tom Nalen and safety John Lynch are nominees in their first year of eligibility.

Lynch, a nine-time Pro Bowler, spent the first 11 years of his NFL career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before joining the Broncos as a free agent in 2004. He spent four seasons with Denver, capping off a career that featured 1,277 tackles, 13 sacks, 26 interceptions, 100 passes defensed, 16 forced fumbles and eight fumble recoveries.

Nalen started 188 of 194 games played in his career, and never committed more than six penalties in a season. He earned five Pro Bowl nominations — the most by an offensive lineman in Broncos history, and won back-to-back Super Bowls with the team.

The two first-year candidates join five fellow former Broncos — running back Terrell Davis, wide receiver Rod Smith, linebacker Karl Mecklenburg and safeties Steve Atwater and Dennis Smith — and a former Broncos coach, Dan Reeves, as nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2013.

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Posted in DenverBroncos.com | 12 Comments »

Three Broncos Named HOF Semifinalists

November 22nd, 2011 - 4:06pm by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

The semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2012 were announced Tuesday, and three Broncos made the list.

Steve Atwater, Terrell Davis and Karl Mecklenburg are among the 26 modern-era candidates still in the running to head to Canton, Ohio.

For Atwater and Mecklenburg, it’s the first time the two have been named semifinalists.

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Posted in DenverBroncos.com | 119 Comments »

Memories of Our Six Best DB Draftees

March 9th, 2011 - 4:00pm by jim_saccomanoOther posts by

Since this is defensive back week here on the Denver Broncos web site, with the site taking a hard look at the cornerbacks and safeties eligible for the 2011 National Football League draft, I thought I would look back on the best defensive backs ever drafted by the franchise.

In my opinion, with some miscellaneous personal memories thrown in, the six best players ever drafted by Denver as defensive backs are these:

Billy Thompson, drafted in the third round in 1969. A member of the Broncos’ Ring of Fame, BT started out at cornerback before setting into his safety position. To this day, he remains the only player ever to lead the league—he led the American Football League—in punt and kickoff returns in the same season (1969). “Bronco Billy” had 61 career turnovers and is the NFL’s all-time leader in opponent fumbles returned for touchdowns, with four.

He was my wife’s favorite player for years well beyond his retirement. A team captain, he always played and led like one. Billy was a vital member of the first Super Bowl team in 1977.

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Posted in Jim Saccomano | 1,458 Comments »

Six Broncos Preliminary HOF Nominees

September 13th, 2010 - 1:59pm by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

On Monday, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the 113 modern-era nominees that make up this year’s preliminary candidates for the Class of 2011.

Steve Atwater, Terrell Davis, Karl Mecklenburg, Shannon Sharpe and Louis Wright are the former Broncos players among the names, and Dan Reeves is a candidate to head to Canton as a coach.

Sharpe was among the 17 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2010 — the class in which fellow Ring of Famer Floyd Little joined the Hall.

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Posted in DenverBroncos.com | 9 Comments »

Broncos Considered Among Most Valuable

March 17th, 2010 - 9:22am by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

Terrell Davis. Shannon Sharpe. Steve Atwater. Randy Gradishar. Tom Jackson. Karl Mecklenburg. Tom Nalen. Louis Wright. Lyle Alzado. Rick Upchurch.

They are some of the best players to ever don a Broncos uniform. None were picked higher than the 14th overall selection in the NFL draft, and one was picked as late as the 310th overall selection in the 12th round.

Not coincidentally, they are all up for consideration to be named one of the 75 Most Valuable Draft Picks in league history.

Fans can vote on NFL.com now — voting ends April 18 — choosing between pairs of players randomly generated from a list of 320 all-time most valuable draft picks as chosen by NFL.com editors. After choosing the winners of 30 random matchups, fans can begin to build their own Top 10 list, and continue voting from there to alter their top 10.

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Posted in DenverBroncos.com | 72 Comments »

Seven Broncos on H.O.F Preliminary List

September 19th, 2009 - 5:55pm by Kyle SonnemanOther posts by

On Saturday, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the 131 players, coaches and contributors who make up the preliminary list of modern-era nominees for election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2010.

Former Broncos’ Steve Atwater, Terrell Davis, Karl Mecklenburg, Michael Dean Perry, Dan Reeves, Shannon Sharpe and Louis Wright are among the names on the list.

From this preliminary list of modern-era nominees, Hall of Fame selectors will choose 25 candidates who will advance as semifinalist nominees. The list of 25 modern-era semifinalists will be announced on November 27.

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Posted in DenverBroncos.com | 16 Comments »

Seven Broncos Among Hall of Fame Class of 2009 Nominees

October 28th, 2008 - 3:03pm by Gray CaldwellOther posts by

Gary Zimmerman just entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the Class of 2008.

The class of 2009 has seven former Broncos among the 133 players, coaches and contributers who make up the preliminary list of nominees for election to the Hall of Fame’s newest class.

Former Denver Broncos S Steve Atwater (1989-98), RB Terrell Davis (1995-2002), LB Tom Jackson (1973-86), LB Karl Mecklenburg (1983-94), Head Coach Dan Reeves (1981-92), TE Shannon Sharpe (1990-99, 2002-03) and CB Louis Wright (1975-86) are the Broncos who made the preliminary list of modern-era nominees.

Sharpe is one of 11 first-year eligible nominees for election into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, meaning this is the first year he met all of the requirements for induction — meaning he’s been retired at least five years.

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Posted in DenverBroncos.com | 22 Comments »