Broncos’ Collier: Why Randy Gradishar’s Career Deserves Canton’s Attention 

(EDITOR’S NOTE: To access the Joe Collier interview, click on the following attachment: Ep 44: Randy Gradishar and The Orange Crush Defense With Joe Collier | Spreaker)

There are plenty of players who are Hall-of-Fame worthy but not in Canton, and former Denver linebacker Randy Gradishar is at or near the head of the list.

A seven-time Pro Bowler, six-time All-Pro, and Defensive Player of the Year, Gradishar was a tackling machine credited with 2,049 stops in his 10-year career. Astounding? You bet. But it’s so astounding that cynics don’t believe it.

In short, they believe the figure was padded.

Former Broncos defensive coordinator Joe Collier insists it wasn’t … and he should know. He’s the one who rolled the film and recorded all tackles by all players on his famed “Orange Crush” defense before passing them on to then-public relations director Jim Saccomano after games. He’s also the one who swears those numbers are “accurate.”

But don’t take it from us. Listen to what Collier told us on the latest “Eye Test for Two” podcast.

“When you look at statistics after ballgames,” he said, “somebody up in the press box is keeping track of tackles. There are a lot of situations where plays happen fast and there are a lot of people around the ball carrier getting involved in the thing. It is difficult for a guy to do that (from the press box). That’s why I recommended to Jim that I could do it early Monday morning right after a ballgame. By looking at the film I would make sure the tackles were accurate.

“Randy made a lot of first hits, and he made a lot of assisted tackles. A lot of people probably don’t give credit for assisted tackles. If a ball carrier is still moving and the whistle hasn’t blown, and a guy gets there to help with the tackle that’s an assisted tackle. I think the guys up in the press box didn’t pay much attention to a guy who came in with the second or third hit on a ball carrier. And, consequently, I think a lot of assisted tackles were not recorded by people who were doing it in the press box immediately.

“There’s a lot of pressure on the guy to do that because the next play’s getting ready, and they’ve got to get ready for the next play. To me, taking tackles the next day off of the film … they’re accurate tackles. No question about it. You can reverse the film back and forth, back and forth, back and forth until you make sure you give everybody credit for what they did.”

Gradishar has been a Hall-of-Fame finalist three times – twice as a modern-era candidate (2003, 2008) and once for the Centennial Class of 2020 – but he hasn’t crossed the finish line. Gradishar doesn’t get it, admitting that he was reduced to tears when he missed out last year. But he’s not alone. Legions of Broncos’ fans don’t get it, and neither does Collier.

“If you wanted to make a linebacker,” he said of Gradishar, “he was the example.”

Somebody should remind the voters in Canton.

“I’ve known for years that Randy deserves to be in the Hall of Fame,” Collier said. “To me, he was one of the top linebackers in the history of the NFL, and I’m very sorry that he’s not been able to get into the Hall by now.”