HOF: Atwater, Davis, Lynch, or Mecklenburg

[tubby]

Who deserves it most now? Gun to your head......pick one!

[atwater27]

You know my vote.

[Army Bronco]

Pull the trigger. I like em all but I'm partial towards Atwater...and maybe Karl Meck....and definitely Davis...but I like Lynch too...BANG!!!!!

[BroncoJoe]

Just pull the trigger. I can't (won't) decide between those Broncos greats.

[MOtorboat]

Davis comes first.

[ForgettingBrandonMarshall]

Terrell Davis

NFL MVP and Superbowl MVP…2 Superbowl rings…2000 yard season

Then, Atwater

[Northman]

A bit tough but i think that Lynch will go in as a Buc so its kind of irrelevant for Bronco fans really. LOVED LOVED Atwater and highly respected Meck but i think at the end of the day in that list it has to go to Davis.

[TXBRONC]

Atwater or Davis it doesn't matter which.

[Salutethis]

I think it's a shame TD isn't in the hall. And its embarrassing that Atwater isn't there. But I think TD will get there first because of the commentating and since he is a "analyst" he is gonna get exposure. That helps boost some guys to get em in...I still cannot believe Martin got in before him.

[broken12]

Atwater should go over lynch,

[drewloc]

I'm with MO on this one, TD comes first.

[OrangeHoof]

I'm going with Mecklenberg. He wouldn't have been drafted in today's seven-round draft and he (with Joe Collier's help) pioneered the trend today of defenders who line up all over the field in order to screw up blocking schemes. He'd play ILB, DE, NT and OLB and would line up on the left side or the right side and force teams to find him and then account for him which was one secret behind the success of Denver's D in the 80s.

I have a fondness for pioneers - guys who not only were great players but changed the game with their impact.

Davis will certainly get his due and Atwater had a great career. Lynch, was just a guy while he was in Denver. He might have been special in Tampa but I always thought part of his media rep was just because he played well on defense and was white.

(off topic but you ever notice how NFL defenses are probably 85% African-American but the media still features mostly white guys - Matthews, Watt, Urlacher - or Samoans like Polamalu? Ray Lewis was the one black NFL defender who constantly appeared in national ads and mostly as a mean, menacing guy.)

[atwater27]

(off topic but you ever notice how NFL defenses are probably 85% African-American but the media still features mostly white guys - Matthews, Watt, Urlacher - or Samoans like Polamalu? Ray Lewis was the one black NFL defender who constantly appeared in national ads and mostly as a mean, menacing guy.)

Really? Ray Lewis portrayed HIMSELF as a mean, menacing guy. The media slobbered all over him even while he was in the court system for I don't know, being an accessory to murder. Ed Reed, Patrick Willis, Revis Island, Patrick Peterson, Von Miller, Elvis Dumervil, Richard Sherman, all black, all featured and adored by the media. Don't know what you are talking about.

[Dzone]

Every one of those guys deserves to be in the hall before Curtis My Favorite Martian.
What a joke the HOF is.

[Slick]

Nice to see there are three guys who were drafted by the Broncos and played their entire careers in Denver who made the semi-finalists list.

(Except the cup of coffee that Atwater had with the Jets)

Rod Woodson on NFL network last night seems to think both Atwater and Lynch will get in, maybe not this year, but that they would get in. Said Davis should get the same consideration that Gayle Sayers got because he dominated when he played, and because of what he did in the post season.

[claymore]

Nice to see there are three guys who were drafted by the Broncos and played their entire careers in Denver who made the semi-finalists list.

(Except the cup of coffee that Atwater had with the Jets)

Rod Woodson on NFL network last night seems to think both Atwater and Lynch will get in, maybe not this year, but that they would get in. Said Davis should get the same consideration that Gayle Sayers got because he dominated when he played, and because of what he did in the post season.

I liked his argument against Bettis as well. It is exactly how I feel, Im not biased so it was good to hear a "Great" confirm my feelings were accurate. If Bettis gets in let alone before Davis I will be furious.

[Slick]

I liked his argument against Bettis as well. It is exactly how I feel, Im not biased so it was good to hear a "Great" confirm my feelings were accurate. If Bettis gets in let alone before Davis I will be furious.

Yeah, when he said "if there was a hall of very good" and that Bettis wasn't ever considered the very best at any point and time in his career, while TD absolutely was, in a time of Barry Sanders, Emmit Smith, etc. Compelling argument for TD last night. I enjoyed hearing Woodson's comments.

You could kind of use that criteria for Mecklenberg. Was he ever the very best at his position at any time during his career? And then you remember he played every position on the defense except for secondary and he was really good doing it. It's going to be tough for Karl I think.

[OrangeHoof]

Really? Ray Lewis portrayed HIMSELF as a mean, menacing guy. The media slobbered all over him even while he was in the court system for I don't know, being an accessory to murder. Ed Reed, Patrick Willis, Revis Island, Patrick Peterson, Von Miller, Elvis Dumervil, Richard Sherman, all black, all featured and adored by the media. Don't know what you are talking about.

But do you see them in national ad campaigns? Look at the ads for Fathead, Gillette, Campbell's Soup that are shown constantly during games. If you're seeing Doom or Sherman, that's news to me.

[Dzone]

I think all the massive national exposure the Broncos are getting this season will help. If the Broncos win another Super Bowl, I think the gates will open to more Broncos in the HOF.
It really chaps my ass that TD is not in. He was probably my favorite Bronco ever. Plus, he is an honorable dude...How many Super Bowl MVPs and league MVPs and 2,000 yard season did Curtis Martin have? Maybe a massive drive like what they did for Floyd Little to get in. Something needs to be done. Its not even debatable at this point..(But am sure someone on this board will want to go contrarian lol)

[Dzone]

I liked his argument against Bettis as well. It is exactly how I feel, Im not biased so it was good to hear a "Great" confirm my feelings were accurate. If Bettis gets in let alone before Davis I will be furious.
If Bettis gets in before Davis, I will have a hard time watching any of the induction ceremony. That will prove that the HOF is a sham

[broncofaninfla]

I know ALL isn't a option but they all should be in.

[claymore]

I think all the massive national exposure the Broncos are getting this season will help. If the Broncos win another Super Bowl, I think the gates will open to more Broncos in the HOF.
It really chaps my ass that TD is not in. He was probably my favorite Bronco ever. Plus, he is an honorable dude...How many Super Bowl MVPs and league MVPs and 2,000 yard season did Curtis Martin have? Maybe a massive drive like what they did for Floyd Little to get in. Something needs to be done. Its not even debatable at this point..(But am sure someone on this board will want to go contrarian lol)

Good point. The Broncos are the 2nd or 3rd most popular team in the NFL since we signed Manning. That coupled with the fact everyone loves TD. Maybe he gets in, I hope so.

[BroncoNut]

BroncoJoe: I cannot choose between these bronco greats. lmao, what an ahole

[Dzone]

They all should be in the hall
3813

[slim]

I had a tough time picking between Meck and TD, but it has to be TD.

[LTC Pain]

Meck/TD (Can't choose), then Atwater, I doubt Lynch.

[EastCoastBronco]

Sammy Winder

[Poet]

:lol:

[DenBronx]

Every year is going to get tougher for Davis, he is my first choice.

Then Atwater, Lynch and Meck. In that order..

[FanInAZ]

I'm going with Mecklenberg. He wouldn't have been drafted in today's seven-round draft and he (with Joe Collier's help) pioneered the trend today of defenders who line up all over the field in order to screw up blocking schemes. He'd play ILB, DE, NT and OLB and would line up on the left side or the right side and force teams to find him and then account for him which was one secret behind the success of Denver's D in the 80s.

I have a fondness for pioneers - guys who not only were great players but changed the game with their impact.

Davis will certainly get his due and Atwater had a great career. Lynch, was just a guy while he was in Denver. He might have been special in Tampa but I always thought part of his media rep was just because he played well on defense and was white.

I'm going with Mecklenberg because he's most over due.

Atwater would be fined half of his salary in todays NFL, but what matters has how he performed playing under the rules of his day.

Davis had his career cut short due to injury, but what a short career he had. Unfortunately, those who say he should get a pass because of his injury didn't give him the opportunity to perform at this leave over the course of a length career have a point. A case in point for their view would be Billy Sims who played for the Lions in the early 80s.

Davis: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/D/DaviTe00.htm
Sims: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SimsBi00.htm

Lynch was an outstanding player, but Gradishar should, imho, be the 4th option on this list. If he was, I'd go with him over Meckenberg.

[Bugs Baloney]

I've got to go with TD, although i wish there was an "All of the Above" option.
Prior to Davis we were 0-4 in our SB appearances, with Davis 2-0 and he was "the"
premier NFL back in football during that run. He was our missing link and since his retirement
we have not been back. What he did in that short career was simply magical.

[Joel]

A bit tough but i think that Lynch will go in as a Buc so its kind of irrelevant for Bronco fans really. LOVED LOVED Atwater and highly respected Meck but i think at the end of the day in that list it has to go to Davis.
Pretty much my rationale. I didn't follow Denver till Bud Adams murdered my original team, so if I chose Mecklenburg it would be mainly on reputation (though it says much of him that a teenager who didn't even follow the team knew his name and impact.) Davis being the best playoff back in NFL history clinches it for me: He's the only RB I know of whose production not only rose in the playoffs, but CONTINUALLY rose the DEEPER he went. The tougher the competition, the better HE was, each step of the way to consecutive Super Bowls. That's gotta be worth as much as Sayers romping regular season foes without any playoff games.

[MOtorboat]

A bit tough but i think that Lynch will go in as a Buc so its kind of irrelevant for Bronco fans really. LOVED LOVED Atwater and highly respected Meck but i think at the end of the day in that list it has to go to Davis.

Football players don't go in as a member of any one team. I'm sure he would recognize and respect both teams.

[Slick]

They didn't punish Sayers because injuries ended his career early, so the same standards apply to TD. Having 7 100 yard plus rushing over 8 playoff games, when it took Emmit 17. Averaging like 147 yards a game over those 8 games...he defined the word clutch in the post season.

[dogfish]

TD is first. . .

and really, but i must have missed it. . . three pages in and no mention of randy gradishar?i think he's the most deserving of our defensive players. . .

[Slick]

TD is first. . .

and really, but i must have missed it. . . three pages in and no mention of randy gradishar?i think he's the most deserving of our defensive players. . .

You're right but these guys are all semifinalists. It sucks, but Randy's not getting in unless he makes it into the old fogeys group, I forget what it's called. He is more deserving than many of the current semi finalists.

[AlWilsonizKING]

I voted for TD, because I believe he truly deserves it the most of the 4 choices. Why? I feel he was the tipping point for getting us over the hump and winning that first SB. He is one of a few to go over 2000 yards rushing in a season. His other many records he holds/held when he played. The biggest thing I take from the time TD played was..................how much he didn't play and still had great numbers. Mike would pull him with a quarter or half a quarter to go. He missed the 2nd quarter of the SB and still was MVP. What more did he have to do? So what he didn't play long........LOOK AT WHAT HE DID IN THAT SHORT TIME!!!

I would love to see Atwater in as he is my all time favorite Broncos player, but just not sure he has the numbers people like to see. IMO.

Of course I would like to see the other 2 and others not on the list get into the HOF. Only time will tell as they say........


PEACE!!!

[Joel]

That's a great point on how much Shanny rested Davis (especially after the crap he got for not pulling RGIII in the playoffs last year.) Without a blinding migraine in that first SB win he probably runs for, like, 250 yds and we put up >40 pts. And his SB record 3 rushing TDs becomes 5 or something, against a pretty darned good Packer defense. Skip a whole quarter and set a SB record; unbelievable.

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

That's a great point on how much Shanny rested Davis (especially after the crap he got for not pulling RGIII in the playoffs last year.) Without a blinding migraine in that first SB win he probably runs for, like, 250 yds and we put up >40 pts. And his SB record 3 rushing TDs becomes 5 or something, against a pretty darned good Packer defense. Skip a whole quarter and set a SB record; unbelievable.

I can appreciate some good homerism Joel, but jeez, 100 yards and 2 TD's in the 2nd quarter?

[Salutethis]

I've had a lot of anti TD people say that TD was a product of the system and he had Elway so a strong supporting cast.
To that I say that Montana started the west coast offense, wasn't the best player(Jerry) on his side of the ball(in fact Roger Craig is another guy that should be in the HOF... way before Martin). But he made the most of the system. Like TD did to the zone blocking scheme.
But for four years this guy was the best back in football. Better than Barry and better than Emmitt. And in a different league than Martin.
I still will not forgive Greise for the int that TD got hurt on and never recovered from.

[FanInAZ]

TD is first. . .

and really, but i must have missed it. . . three pages in and no mention of randy gradishar?i think he's the most deserving of our defensive players. . .

Read 5 pages before yours (post #30) :listen:


I'm going with Mecklenberg because he's most over due.

Atwater would be fined half of his salary in todays NFL, but what matters has how he performed playing under the rules of his day.

Davis had his career cut short due to injury, but what a short career he had. Unfortunately, those who say he should get a pass because of his injury didn't give him the opportunity to perform at this leave over the course of a length career have a point. A case in point for their view would be Billy Sims who played for the Lions in the early 80s.

Davis: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/D/DaviTe00.htm
Sims: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SimsBi00.htm

Lynch was an outstanding player, but Gradishar should, imho, be the 4th option on this list. If he was, I'd go with him over Meckenberg.

Since posting this, I've since found out that the 4 Broncos listed by the OP are the 4 that are amongst those who are on the official list of semifinalists for this year.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000285347/article/semifinalists-for-pro-football-hall-of-fames-2014-class

[Joel]

I can appreciate some good homerism Joel, but jeez, 100 yards and 2 TD's in the 2nd quarter?
Hyperbole FTW. ;)


I've had a lot of anti TD people say that TD was a product of the system and he had Elway so a strong supporting cast.
To that I say that Montana started the west coast offense, wasn't the best player(Jerry) on his side of the ball(in fact Roger Craig is another guy that should be in the HOF... way before Martin). But he made the most of the system. Like TD did to the zone blocking scheme.
But for four years this guy was the best back in football. Better than Barry and better than Emmitt. And in a different league than Martin.
I still will not forgive Greise for the int that TD got hurt on and never recovered from.
Montana didn't start the WCO; Bill Walsh developed it for Virgil Carter in Cincinatti a decade earlier, because Carter's smart as a whip and was accurate as all get out but didn't have much arm strength. He may have influenced the game more than anyone since Jim Thorpe; Carter's also the guy that co-authored "Operations Research in Football" while he was playing, the article that created Expected Points statistically determined from field position based on a seasons worth of drives and starting field positions. Interesting fellow (just an awful QB.)

Calling Davis a product of the system ignores the reality that no Denver back before or after him had anthing like the same productivity. Not Tatum Bell, not Olandis Gary, not Reuben Droughns, not Mike Anderson, not even Clinton Portis; he had 1500 back-to-back, but his career best 1591 was still well below Davis' 1750 in the first SB season, let alone his 2008 in the repeat. The system didn't produce the best career playoff performance of any RB in history; even in the '96 loss Davis averaged almost 6 yds/carry plus a TD, as well as leading the team in receptions (7.) Plus 1538 rushing yards, a figure even Portis only topped once.

Next time someone tells you Davis was just a product of the system, ask them who was Denvers starting RB BEFORE Davis; there were three different ones in as many seasons, none were nearly as productive and I bet even most Denver fans can't name them all. If it were just the system Shanny could've plugged in what Wade left him and done as well; there's a reason he didn't.

[powderaddict]

I think TD is most deserving, but I think Lynch gets in first.

[BroncoNut]

Poweraddict, do you know Chazoe66?

[powderaddict]

Poweraddict, do you know Chazoe66?

Through Broncos message boards, yes, but not in "real life".

[BroncoNut]

Through Broncos message boards, yes, but not in "real life".

you guys should spend some time together. drink some whiskey, hang out. see where things go, if you get my drift (and I'm not talking the snow kind either)

[BroncoNut]

oh wait poweraddict, are you a kid? if so stay away from Chazoe. nevermind my previous suggestion. it was some line from a movie on gay cowboys

[powderaddict]

WTF man

[slim]

Well this isn't creepy at all.

[chanesaw]

I would rank them Atwater, Davis, Meck, then Lynch, but Davis before Atwater is also valid.

[Army Bronco]

I would rank them Atwater, Davis, Meck, then Lynch, but Davis before Atwater is also valid.I agree with your statement except I would pick Davis before Atwater based on his NFL and SB MVPs. We would've never made it and won without Davis.

[wayninja]

Of the players on this list, I think Mecklenberg had the best overall career. He changed the game in more ways than any of these players, and is more overdue than any of them. How many positions did the guy play at a pro bowl level?

The fact that he was also one of the most intelligent defenseman of all time, an incredibly good humanitarian after his football career is only gravy.

[Broncolingus]

Damn tough to pick from #27, #77, and #30...

Since gun to my head (where's Michael Bloomberg when you need him) I'll go #30!