On Wednesday, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced their list of 94 Modern Era nominees for the Class of 2017, with nine Denver Broncos making the cut.
- Terrell Davis
- Rod Smith
- Tom Nalen
- Karl Mecklenburg
- Steve Atwater
- John Lynch
- Dennis Smith
- Brian Dawkins
While all nine men have a long way to go before earning their gold jacket — the 94-man list will be cut down to 25 semifinalists in November and then 15 finalists in January, before the 48-member voting committee select the 2017 class on February 4 — there are at least five Broncos with a legitimate shot of making it to the final cutdown.
Davis, Atwater and Lynch have all been finalists before, and Mecklenburg has been a semifinalist five times. This is Dawkins’ first year of eligibility, but given nine Pro Bowls and four first-team All Pros, he could be on the fast track towards entrainment.
And it’s hard to deny the Broncos deserve another bust in Canton.
Despite appearing in eight Super Bowls, tied for the most in NFL history, and winning three, the Denver Broncos only have four members in the Hall of Fame — John Elway, Gary Zimmerman, Floyd Little and Shannon Sharpe. For most of Broncos Country, that doesn’t seem to add up.
We’ll see if another Broncos legend breaks through this year.
