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LB Randy Gradishar (All B1G, All-American, CFB HOF, NFL Defensive POY, NFL HOF)

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BB73;1753249; said:
Note to Bleacher Report - Orange Crush (the soft drink) was invented in LA in 1906, and a company with that name was incorporated in 1916. Link

So the defense might have made the beverage more popular in Denver, but it wasn't named after the Bronco defense.
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I'm guessing the author wasn't even alive in 1977. :lol:
 
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Five minutes with a legend: Randy Gradishar
Posted Oct. 29, 2010
By Mike Beacom

Gradishar-629_display.jpg


In the late 1970s and early '80s, ILB Randy Gradishar was the leader of Denver's Orange Crush defense ? a 3-4 that gave up little ground to the opposition. Gradishar was compact but quick, with keen football instincts. Opposing ballcarriers hated having to play against him, but offered nothing but the utmost respect for him.

In 1977, Gradishar and his teammates took the city of Denver on a joyous ride, beginning with a 12-2 regular season and finishing in Super Bowl XII, where they lost to Dallas, 27-10. The following year Gradishar was named the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year ? to this day the only Broncos defender to win the award.

A product of Woody Hayes' outstanding Ohio State teams of the early 1970s, Gradishar capped his collegiate career with a 10-0-1 season in 1974, including a 42-21 win over USC in the Rose Bowl. He was one of three Buckeyes to finish among the top six in Heisman balloting that year. Many Big Ten writers consider him to be one of the conference's all-time great linebackers.

During his 10-year NFL career, Gradishar, who's now 58 and working as corporate community director for Phil Long auto dealerships in Colorado, averaged more than 200 tackles per season and was named to seven Pro Bowls.

Who was the toughest back for you to bring down?

For the quick and fast guys it'd be (Walter) Payton and (Tony) Dorsett. For the bigger guys it was Earl Campbell and Mark van Eeghen. They were both 230 to 240 pounds back then, 30 years ago.

You had been to three consecutive Pro Bowls when you retired following the 1983 season. Why did you decide to leave the game at that point?

I had a goal when I first came to Denver that I wanted to play for 10 years. When I got to that 10th year, it was June or July before camp, I made my decision that I was going to retire and announced it on my way to training camp. The whole year was a fun deal ? I was running my last sprints, lifting my last weight, playing my last game. I didn't want a coach to come along and say, 'Randy, you're losing a step, you're not as quick.' I wanted to leave at the top of my game.

Talk about the impact Ohio State coach Woody Hayes had on you.

His emphasis was paying forward. He always talked to his players about paying forward. Back then I didn't have a clue what that meant when I was 18, 19, 20 years old ? (he was) a national figure, legendary college football coach, and the emphasis was on the ethics, morals and standards of the players' lives that he was trying to mold. Athletics eventually go and you get older, but it was the things you can carry on that matter.

Does it bother you that Hayes is often remembered most for his infamous punch in the 1978 Gator Bowl?

I went back after he had been fired and took him out to dinner ? just to visit. He was the first to tell you he didn't condone what he did to get fired. He felt horrible. But he felt more horrible for that community, for his coaches and his players, for football and what it means across the country, and the alumni. There was real regret that he hurt a lot of people with his actions. But he'll always be remembered as a great, legendary coach, and you can certainly tell that on a national level because his name continues to come up. People remember the incident, but it's (miniscule) compared to his contributions as a coach, contributions to the community, to Ohio State and to football.
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Talk about what keeps you busy these days.

I've been able to support some non-profits, whether it's the Salvation Army, Children's Hospital, the Boys and Girls Clubs ? so that all keeps me going. And I get excited during the football season to meet and greet Broncos football fans. I've been able to remain connected to the community through working for the Phil Long Dealership group. We give to the community and youth organizations to help champion the self-esteem of our youth. I also still do some speaking and interacting with different companies.
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http://www.profootballweekly.com/2010/10/29/five-minutes-with-a-legend-randy-gradishar
 
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So, my wife works in advertising and works with Randy on a fairly regular basis as he's a spokesman for a local auto group. I went in to have lunch with her today and guess who was there? None other than Randy himself. One of the nicest guys I've ever met...honestly. He chatted with me for a good half hour, got to talk about his days at tOSU and what it was like playing for Woody and a bit about growing up in NE Ohio (I'm from Newton Falls and he's from nearby HS rival Champion). He said if I ever wanted anything signed, it would be no problem. Great guy, awesome experience.
 
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NFBuck;1833539; said:
So, my wife works in advertising and works with Randy on a fairly regular basis as he's a spokesman for a local auto group. I went in to have lunch with her today and guess who was there? None other than Randy himself. One of the nicest guys I've ever met...honestly. He chatted with me for a good half hour, got to talk about his days at tOSU and what it was like playing for Woody and a bit about growing up in NE Ohio (I'm from Newton Falls and he's from nearby HS rival Champion). He said if I ever wanted anything signed, it would be no problem. Great guy, awesome experience.
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That's awesome. I love hearing great encounters with Buckeye players (any sport). I did run into Jimmy Jackson one time and he was extremely gracious and chatted me up for ten minutes when I could tell he was in somewhat of a hurry. I'm not sure what it is, but die hard buckeye fans can talk to complete strangers about OSU and not care about the time. I've been called out a few times about how I seem to be obsessed with OSU stuff by the gf. It's hard to explain why. It's just ingrained into the soul.
 
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The Best Middle Linebackers Not In The Pro Football Hall of Fame
By JW Nix
April 16th, 2011

Randy Gradishar
6?3″ 233
Linebacker
Denver Broncos
1973 ? 1984
Ten Seasons
145 Games Played
20 Interceptions
4 Touchdowns
7 Pro Bowls
1978 NFL Defensive Player of the Year

Randolph Charles Gradishar was drafted in the first round of the 1973 draft by the Denver Broncos. He was the 14th player chosen overall.

He attended college at Ohio State University under legendary coach Woody Hayes. Hayes, who sent over 98 players to the professional football level in his Hall of Fame career, called Gradishar the finest linebacker he ever coached.

Not only is he a member of the schools All-Century Team and their Hall of Fame, but Radish is also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. An excellent student in college, he is also inducted into the GTE Academic Hall of Fame and is on the ABC Sports All-Century team.

Denver brought him along slowly in his rookie year, starting just three of 14 games behind veteran Ray May. May was the 1971 NFL Man of the Year and a member of the Super Bowl V champion Baltimore Colts.

He started every game the next year, the last season the Broncos would run a base 4-3 defense during his tenure with the club. He was named to the Pro Bowl after grabbing three interceptions and taking one in 44 yards for a touchdown. He scored once again the following year off of another three picks and had seven quarterback sacks.

Denver went into the 1977 season running the 3-4 defense under coach Joe Collier. With players like Gradishar, Louis Wright, Tom Jackson, Bill Thompson, Reuben Carter, Bob Swen sen, Lyle Alzado, and Barney Chavous, the Broncos had one of the most feared defenses in all of football history.

They were dubbed the ?Orange Crush?, and a soft drink named after them soon became very popular. Five members of the defense was named to the Pro Bowl that year and four were named First Team All-Pro, including Gradishar.

They led Denver to a 12-2 record and an appearance in Super Bowl XII. Though they lost the game, the defense left a permanent mark on NFL history with their excellence by allowing just 10.6 points per game that year.

Radish may have had his finest season the following year, where he was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year by both the Associated Press and UPI. He also was named the winner of the George Halas Award and Linebacker of the Year by Football Digest.

Denver?s defense was second in the league in points allowed, and Gradishar was one of five Bronco defenders to go to the Pro Bowl.

Football Digest named him NFL Linebacker of the Year again in 1979. He was once again selected to the Pro Bowl.

Though he failed to make the Pro Bowl in 1980, he did take one interception a career long 93 yards for the last touchdown of his career. He was also named First Team All-NFL by the Sporting News.

Gradishar made the Pro Bowl the next three years before retiring after the 1983 season. He never missed a game in his entire career, an amazing feat for someone playing such a violent position where he had to give up his body on virtually every play to prevent the opponents from success.

Not only was he durable, very intelligent, quick on his feet, and a big hitter, but Gradishar was also a masterful technician. He had the innate ability to diagnose a play and was seldom fooled.

This, along with his foot speed, allowed him to defend just about any opponent on a pass play. This ability allowed Denver the luxury of blitzing their outside linebackers, knowing he could cover their assignments.

His specialty may have been the short-yardage situation. With a superb ability to sift would-be blockers, he often filled the holes the opposing running backs would run to. Though he didn?t have the toothless snarl of Jack Lambert or easily seen nastiness of Dick Butkus, he was just as good as those two Hall of Famers.

Some of the best running backs in NFL history, Walter Payton and Tony Dorsett, are on record espousing his tremendous hitting ability. ?The chance for a real good shot comes very seldom, but when it?s there I take full advantage of it.? Gradishar once said.

There have been few linebackers to take the gridiron on his level. He is a member of the Broncos Ring of Honor and Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. Why he has yet to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame is beyond bewildering. He has been a finalist twice and a semi-finalist four times.

Now he is in a gigantic pool of candidates in the Seniors Committee list. Though he should have long been inducted before he made it that far, he is caught in a quagmire of a selection process where no more than two candidates yearly can just make it to the final vote process.

It would behoove Canton to double that, allowing the Seniors Committee to try to induct at least four each year. The backlog of excellent players is too long, and it is frustrating seeing lesser modern players go in as superior players are caught in a numbers crunch that is much harder to win than a slots machine jackpot at a casino.

Watching a player as great as Randy Gradishar wait this long to get his deserved respect truly shows the ineptness of the Canton voter.

Though no one can question the recent inductions of linebackers like Andre Tippett, Ricky Jackson, and Derrick Thomas, no one would ever say that any were better football players than Gradishar.

Though deserving, it is a travesty the much more deserving Gradishar continues to wait on his rightful placement in the hallowed walls of Canton.
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Read more: http://redskins.gearupforsports.com...-the-pro-football-hall-of-fame/#ixzz1JmO88ptr

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIfk7tzNrhE"]YouTube - Randy Gradishar Launches Signature Kia[/ame]
 
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Randy Gradishar: Talking Hall of Fame, Tebow and goal-line stands
Posted: 02/02/2012
By The Denver Post

20120201__broncos-randy-gradishar-020112~p1_300.jpg

Former Broncos linebacker Randy Gradishar. (Joe Amon, The Denver Post)Ever wanted to ask a sports personality a question? Now's your chance. They will answer readers' questions in The Denver Post's "Fan Mail" feature.

In this week's installment, Broncos Ring of Fame linebacker Randy Gradishar talks about the Hall of Fame, goal-line stands, Tim Tebow and his favorite football moments.

Keep an eye out for next week's installment. Send your questions in an email to [email protected].


Thanks for all the great memories and most of all, thanks for being the perfect role model for me when I was a kid. I wore my No. 53 with pride! My question is why are there such different criteria to get into the various halls of fame? Particularly, why are there such differences between baseball and football?

It's my contention that had your individual achievements translated into baseball, you would be in the Hall of Fame for sure. Baseball seems to be all about what the individual did, but in football, it seems like admission rests mostly on winning the Super Bowl?
- Micah, Las Vegas

Gradishar: I agree that the other sports, particularly baseball, are based more on individual awards. Football appears to be more team oriented in that sense. There is, I would say, almost a silent criteria based on how the team does. What's the record? Did they get to the playoffs? Did they get to the Super Bowl?

From my standpoint, there was kind of a silent, unconscious theme in the background. It's kind of like, "Randy, you didn't even win the Super Bowl." So I agree with you, Micah, on that question. But I don't know what the answer is.

cont....
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Read more: Randy Gradishar: Talking Hall of Fame, Tebow and goal-line stands - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/fanmail/ci_19862611#ixzz1lEsJGE8L
 
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Randy Gradishar to announce draft picks
Apr. 17, 2013 // By MHS Staff

In recent years, a new twist has been added to the NFL Draft. Notable alumni from each team has served as a representative to announce second and third-round draft picks for each team.

This year, Ring of Famer Randy Gradishar will serve as the representative for the Broncos, the team announced Wednesday.

Gradishar joins Terrell Davis and Shannon Sharpe as former players who have announced day two selections for the Broncos. Sharpe took the podium in 2011 to announce Rahim Moore as the newest Bronco while Davis was available for all of day two to announce the additions of Derek Wolfe, Brock Osweiler and Ronnie Hillman.

The Broncos? second day picks are No. 58 and 90 overall, which Graidshar is scheduled to announce Friday, April 26.
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http://milehighsports.com/2013/04/17/randy-gradishar-to-announce-broncos-draft-picks/
 
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Gradishar had knee surgery after his junior season at Ohio State, then had a strong senior year playing for Woody Hayes and seemed ticketed to go high in the first round of the 1974 draft.

The Colts (picking fifth) had their orthopedic surgeon look at Gradishar?s knee and he pronounced it fine. ?Then the Detroit Lions? trainer calls and says he?s going to be in town (Columbus) and said to come down, he?d meet me in the training room,? Gradishar told me. ?This is a couple of weeks before the draft. We?re in the training room and he?s doing his knee evaluation and he pulled it out this way and he says, ?Whoa! What?s wrong with that?? I said, ?Nothing.? He said, ?OK.??

A few days later, Gradishar?s lawyer called and told him the Lions? trainer was putting out the word that his knee was shot.

Next, Ralston called Gradishar directly. The Broncos were picking 14th. Gradishar recalls Ralston saying, ?We heard that Baltimore looked at you and Detroit looked at you, but that you may be available in the first round for us.?

Gradishar declined to go to Denver to be examined, saying he didn?t know what the Lions had seen. In fact, his knee was just ?loose,? and it had little or nothing to do with his previous injury. Gradishar told Ralston to call Woody Hayes, and that the coach would vouch for the fact that the knee hadn?t been a problem after his surgery. So Ralston did that and also talked to the Buckeyes? team surgeon.

?I talked at great length with Woody Hayes,? Ralston told me. ?I knew Woody very well because we (Stanford) had played against them in the Rose Bowl. Woody said, ?He?ll play 10 years in the National Football League and he?ll be the best player you?ve got.? And he was right.?

The Bears took defensive back Waymond Bryant at No. 4. The Colts took defensive end John Dutton at No. 5. The Lions took linebacker Ed O?Neil at No. 8. The Saints even took Gradishar?s Ohio State teammate and fellow linebacker Rick Middleton at No. 13. Denver was up, and all the whispers were about this linebacker falling out of the top 10 because of his knee, and how anybody taking him that high would be taking a huge risk.

Ralston did it, anyway.

Gradishar was one of the best short-yardage linebackers of all time, was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1978, and played 10 seasons for the Broncos.

He belongs in the Hall.
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http://blogs.denverpost.com/broncos..._campaign=Feed:+dp-blogs+(Denver+Post:+Blogs)
 
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Former Ohio State and Denver Broncos linebacker learned lessons from legendary Woody Hayes Champion’s Gradishar giving back
By Ryan Buck

[email protected]

Champion native and football great Randy Gradishar’s support for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton is an annual topic of discussion preceding every vote and announcement the week of the Super Bowl.

One of the NFL’s all-time leading tacklers and consistently great linebackers, his peers and football insiders are very vocal in his support and the voices, both in number and in volume, grow every year he is not invited to Canton as one of two senior inductees.

Gradishar, however, will never be seen waiting to learn his fate.

“I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about it,” he said. “I believe if it’s meant to be, it’s going to happen and the Lord will let me know.”

Gradishar has other important things to worry about.

Since his retirement from the Dever Broncos in 1983, the 1970 Champion graduate has lived in the Denver area and remained close to the team.

He presided over the Denver Broncos Youth Foundation for over a decade immediately following his playing career.

“I worked with a lot of organizations in Colorado and the Denver metro area,” Gradishar said.

cont...
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http://www.vindy.com/news/2013/sep/06/former-ohio-state-and-denver-broncos-lin/?newswatch
 
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PUT HIM IN THE HALL. The NFL Hall of Fame is expanding its class to 20 honorees next year – five modern-era candidates, 10 senior nominees, three contributors and two coaches – as part of the NFL's 100th season celebration with the breakdown.

And there's a solid chance another Buckeye gets inducted.

Jim Reineking of USA TODAY has Buckeye great Randy Gradishar among the contenders for one of those spots.

Randy Gradishar, LB

Anchor of the Denver Broncos' "Orange Crush" defense, Gradishar helped the team reach its first Super Bowl in the 1977 season and the next season he was named the NFL's defensive player of the year. A seven-time Pro Bowl selection, Gradishar has only been a Hall finalist twice, most recently in 2008.

The Buckeyes currently have the third-most players in the Hall of Fame behind Notre Dame and USC. But I think there's a solid chance that gap could close in the near future.

But my mid-life crisis will come the moment a player I went to school with gets inducted. Granted, I can't complain too much. I never planned to even make it to 25, so any life I have now is just bonus time.

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/skul...xUbzYPDnXkMGPufUd7SnRGOQFKJO8QGAgUvtMH6Fe7Lgw
 
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