Wooten, not Gradishar, state’s most likely pick

Randy Gradishar, anchor of the Broncos’ “Orange Crush” defense of the late ‘70s, is again under consideration for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

And, agree everyone in these parts, it’s past time he’s voted into that shrine at the birthplace of the National Football League.

Besides leading Denver to its first Super Bowl appearance following the 1977 season, the former twotime All-American at Ohio State was a seven-time Pro Bowl selection, twice a first-team All-Pro, and the 1978 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. To this day he is the Broncos’ all-time leading tackler with 2,049.

A Bronco for 10 seasons, Gradishar played his last three for the late Dan Reeves, who once said: “He was as good a linebacker as I have ever been around, and I have been around some great ones.”

Years before that, his college coach, the legendary Woody Hayes, had called him, “the finest linebacker I ever coached.”

Despite such high praise and his outstanding list of accomplishments and honors, however, the closest Gradishar has come in voting for induction in Canton was reaching the final 10 in 2003.

Is another disappointment in the making?

Gradishar is part of a daunting field of “Seniors” semifinalists, former players whose careers ended before 1998. (Among them is Chris Hinton, the seven-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman who was the centerpiece in the trade that brought John Elway to Denver before the 1983 season.) Twenty-five in all, their credits fill pages.

Deserving as he is, Gradishar isn’t the only Canton candidate with Colorado ties this time around.

Among 29 semifinalists in the Coach/Contributor category are former Broncos head coaches Reeves and Mike Shanahan, renowned offensive line coach Alex Gibbs, also deceased, and former University of Colorado star John Wooten, a name from the distant past.

Accomplishments as a player are not supposed to influence this choice, but it’s hard to ignore the totality of Reeves’ 38-year career in the NFL. He participated in nine Super Bowls as either a player, assistant coach or head coach.

Including Denver from 1981 to 1992, Reeves was a head coach for 23 seasons, his time with the Broncos followed by four years with the New York Giants then seven in Atlanta. He coached the Broncos to three Super Bowls in four seasons, albeit all losses.

He’s also one of only nine NFL head coaches to win 200 games (201-174-2), and he’s tied with the late Marv Levy for most playoff victories with 11.

As a player, Reeves is best remembered for his 50-yard touchdown pass to Lance Rentzel in the so-called “Ice Bowl” NFC championship game on New Year’s Eve of 1967 in frigid Green Bay. He played eight seasons, all for Dallas, which signed him as an undrafted free agent.

Both Reeves and Shanahan are in the Broncos Ring of Fame. Shanahan coached the Broncos from 1995 through 2008, winning back-to-back Super Bowls in 1998-99 and finishing with a 138-86 record in 14 seasons. His overall head coaching record, including two seasons with the Raiders and four in Washington, is 170-138.

But if Colorado is to have an inductee this year, the most likely choice is Wooten.

The second African-American varsity football player in CU history, Wooten was an American Football Coaches

Association All-America as a senior in 1959.

A member of CU’s All-Century Team, selected in 1989 to mark the Buffs’ first 100 years of intercollegiate football, Wooten played nine seasons with the Cleveland Browns, serving as one of legendary Jim Brown’s leading blockers for seven of them.

Those credentials notwithstanding, if Wooten goes into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year, it will be for his 28 years as an executive with Dallas, Philadelphia and Baltimore, and, most of all, for being the founder and first chairman of the Fritz Pollard Alliance (FPA).

Named for Fritz Pollard, the NFL’s first African-American head coach, the FPA is an advocacy group that works with the NFL regarding minority hiring in coaching, scouting and front office positions.

Since its founding in 2003, Wooten’s creation has been instrumental in the hiring of 14 head coaches and 12 general managers of color. Beginning in 2007, it has seen 10 NFL teams reach the Super Bowl with either a head coach or general manager of color.

We’ll find out which Coach/Contributor is Canton-bound on August 15, and three “Seniors” will be announced a week later.

Denny Dressman is a veteran of 43 years in the newspaper business, including 25 at the Rocky Mountain News, where he began as executive sports editor. He is the author of 15 books, nine of them sports-related. You can write to Denny at dennydressman@ comcast.net.

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