Even if the bust of Floyd Little is not yet bronzed, it would not be premature to commission a sculpture.
The first Broncos player who was considered a star on a national level, Little took a major step toward election into the Pro Football Hall of Fame today when he was one of two candidates nominated by the seniors committee.
History suggests the nomination means Little is all but ready to call Canton, Ohio, home to his immortality.
“My wife and I just looked at one another and we both saw tears in our eyes,” Little said minutes after receiving the news from Joe Horrigan, who heads the Hall of Fame communications department. “We talked about how my son Marc wrote a letter to the Denver Post 25 years ago, explaining my disappointment and to ask, “why?” So after 25 years, it’s hard to believe this is happening.”
Little and Dick LeBeau, the other senior nominee, are now guaranteed to be one of the 17 finalists brought before a 44-member Board of Selectors on Feb. 6, the eve of Super Bowl 44 _ Little’s number that has been retired by the Broncos and Syracuse University.
To understand the election process is to realize Little has virtually no competition other than his own merits for football’s ultimate honor. The 15 modern-era finalists will compete for up to five spots for election. There are two other Hall of Fame spots for the two senior nominees. All they need is 80 percent “yea’s” for election.
Since 1998, 16 of the 18 senior nominees have received the necessary number of votes for elections.
“Hopefully, the next step is easy and we can all celebrate together in Canton,” Little said.
If Little is elected, he would join John Elway as the only Hall of Fame players to have spent their entire careers with the Broncos. Left tackle Gary Zimmerman, who played five of his 12 NFL seasons with the Broncos, was inducted last year.
A case can be made that Little saved the Broncos from extinction by becoming the team’s first, No. 1 draft pick to sign with the AFL franchise in 1967. After some horrific early seasons, the Broncos were discussing plans to relocate their franchise to Chicago or Birmingham until they secured the highly touted Little, a three-time All American from Syracuse.
In part because of the excitement surrounding Little, fans voted for an expansion of Mile High Stadium that was pivotal to the Broncos staying in Denver.
For that reason, Little became known as “The Franchise.” During his nine-year career, Little became one of the NFL’s first multipurpose running backs who excelled not only as a rusher, but as a receiver and returner.
Perhaps, the most impressive of Little’s accomplishments is that when he retired following the 1975 season, he was the NFL’s seventh all-time leading rusher. The six backs ranked ahead of him — Jim Brown, O.J. Simpson, Jim Taylor, Joe Perry, Leroy Kelly and John Henry Johnson — were all elected into the Hall of Fame.
It’s clear that when nominating this year’s senior candidates, the nine-person senior committee wanted to correct the omission of stellar players who mostly played on bad teams.
The Green Bay Packers have 10 players and coach Vince Lombardi from their 1960s dynasty. The Oakland Raiders have 11 players, owner Al Davis and coach John Madden from their dominant run that carried from the late-1960s to mid-1980s. The Kansas City Chiefs, have six players, owner Lamar Hunt and coach Hank Stram from the late-1960s to mid-1970s core.
LeBeau, who played on some bad Detroit Lions teams, and Little were overlooked.
“The teams I played on were challenging,” Little said. “I played with some great players, individual players who were very supportive. One of the criteria I didn’t really like is that in order to go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame you had to have played in the Super Bowl and that’s really not fair.”
With Little getting through the senior’s committee, there’s a decent chance the Broncos will have not one, but two players elected into the Hall of Fame in February. Shannon Sharpe, a tight end who made into the round of 10 finalists last year, will be an odds-on favorite for the class of 2010.
“It’s about time,” Little said. “Denver has some great players who have been overlooked for a long time. Maybe now they’ll start letting a lot more people in.”
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com.
