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This article is already old, but it’s Randy Gradishar Day in the Countdown thread, so I thought this might be a good time to post this
Kiszla: Better 35 years late than never. Broncos linebacker Randy Gradishar finally headed to Hall of Fame.
The cost of being the ferocious face of the Orange Crush? Too many replacement parts in his body to count. “Don’t tell my wife,” Gradishar said. “But I would do it all again…
www.denverpost.com
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Randy Gradishar Grateful for Time at Ohio State, Mentorship from Woody Hayes As He Enters Pro Football Hall of Fame
By Dan Hope on August 1, 2024 at 8:35 am @dan_hope
Malcolm Emmons – USA TODAY Sports
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Despite growing up just an hour away from Canton, Randy Gradishar never dreamed of becoming a Pro Football Hall of Famer as a kid. In fact, Gradishar never even thought about playing college football until his junior year of high school.
Growing up in Champion, Ohio, Gradishar began working at his father’s grocery store when he was 11 years old and didn’t start playing football until he was a freshman at Champion High School. His parents hadn’t gone to college, so he gave no thought to going to college himself until college coaches began recruiting him during his junior year of high school.
Unbeknownst to him, Gradishar’s high school football coach had sent his film to coaches across the country, including Woody Hayes at Ohio State, where Gradishar would become a two-time All-American and three-time All-Big Ten linebacker. Even as he excelled at OSU, though, Gradishar didn’t realize what his success as a Buckeye would lead to.
“In the end of my senior year, I wasn't even thinking of pro football, and some pro scouts came around and said, ‘Randy, you're pretty good. You could get drafted in the NFL,’” Gradishar recalled. “I said, ’Well, that's pretty cool.’ And so then I get drafted in the NFL. And it just happened. And there was no dream about it.”
Fifty years later, Gradishar will be officially immortalized as an all-time football great when he is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday as a member of the 2024 class. He’ll become the 11th Pro Football Hall of Famer who attended Ohio State as a student and just the fourth Buckeye to be in both the Pro and College Football Halls of Fame, joining Orlando Pace, Jim Parker and Bill Willis.
Ohio State’s Pro Football Hall of Famers
| Name | Pos | Years at OSU |
|---|---|---|
| CRIS CARTER | WR | 1984-86 |
| SID GILLMAN | E* | 1931-33 |
| RANDY GRADISHAR | LB | 1971-73 |
| LOU GROZA | OT/K | 1943 |
| DANTE LAVELLI | E | 1942 |
| DICK LEBEAU | CB | 1956-58 |
| ORLANDO PACE | OT | 1994-96 |
| JIM PARKER | OL | 1954-56 |
| ED SABOL | N/A** | 1935-37 |
| PAUL WARFIELD | RB/WR | 1961-63 |
| BILL WILLIS | DT | 1942-44 |
| *Gillman is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach. **Sabol, the founder of NFL Films, was a swimmer at Ohio State. |
Gradishar didn’t start thinking about becoming a Pro Football Hall of Famer until Jay Cimino, the late former CEO at Phil Long Dealerships – a Colorado car dealer that Gradishar has worked with for the past 35 years – started campaigning for Gradishar to become a Hall of Famer. It took three-and-a-half decades for that campaign to finally lead Gradishar into Canton, but Gradishar sees divine intervention in the timing.
“He put together some men and over the last 35 years has been putting my name out there and getting it out there to possibly get selected at some point. And then now, 35 years later, that actually happened. And I always knew if it was ever going to happen, it was in God's timing. Because if you take 35 years of waiting and turn that around, it's number 53, my number,” Gradishar told Eleven Warriors. “So I just see it as when God wanted this to happen and it's finally happened now.”
Randy Gradishar Grateful for Time at Ohio State, Mentorship from Woody Hayes As He Enters Pro Football Hall of Fame
Set to become a Pro Football Hall of Famer this weekend, Randy Gradishar says Ohio State prepared him well for the NFL and he remains grateful for Woody Hayes’ mentorship.
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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
Randy Gradishar Grateful for Time at Ohio State, Mentorship from Woody Hayes As He Enters Pro Football Hall of Fame
By Dan Hope on August 1, 2024 at 8:35 am @dan_hope
Malcolm Emmons – USA TODAY Sports
Email this ArticleShare on RedditShare on TwitterShare on Facebook
12 Comments
Despite growing up just an hour away from Canton, Randy Gradishar never dreamed of becoming a Pro Football Hall of Famer as a kid. In fact, Gradishar never even thought about playing college football until his junior year of high school.
Growing up in Champion, Ohio, Gradishar began working at his father’s grocery store when he was 11 years old and didn’t start playing football until he was a freshman at Champion High School. His parents hadn’t gone to college, so he gave no thought to going to college himself until college coaches began recruiting him during his junior year of high school.
Unbeknownst to him, Gradishar’s high school football coach had sent his film to coaches across the country, including Woody Hayes at Ohio State, where Gradishar would become a two-time All-American and three-time All-Big Ten linebacker. Even as he excelled at OSU, though, Gradishar didn’t realize what his success as a Buckeye would lead to.
“In the end of my senior year, I wasn't even thinking of pro football, and some pro scouts came around and said, ‘Randy, you're pretty good. You could get drafted in the NFL,’” Gradishar recalled. “I said, ’Well, that's pretty cool.’ And so then I get drafted in the NFL. And it just happened. And there was no dream about it.”
Fifty years later, Gradishar will be officially immortalized as an all-time football great when he is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday as a member of the 2024 class. He’ll become the 11th Pro Football Hall of Famer who attended Ohio State as a student and just the fourth Buckeye to be in both the Pro and College Football Halls of Fame, joining Orlando Pace, Jim Parker and Bill Willis.
Ohio State’s Pro Football Hall of Famers
It’s an honor that many have seen as long overdue for Gradishar, who was one of the NFL’s best linebackers for 10 years with the Denver Broncos after they selected him with the 14th pick in the 1974 NFL draft. A seven-time Pro Bowler, Gradishar unofficially accumulated a whopping 2,049 tackles in his decade in the league, making seven Pro Bowls and winning NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors in 1978.
Name Pos Years at OSU CRIS CARTER WR 1984-86 SID GILLMAN E* 1931-33 RANDY GRADISHAR LB 1971-73 LOU GROZA OT/K 1943 DANTE LAVELLI E 1942 DICK LEBEAU CB 1956-58 ORLANDO PACE OT 1994-96 JIM PARKER OL 1954-56 ED SABOL N/A** 1935-37 PAUL WARFIELD RB/WR 1961-63 BILL WILLIS DT 1942-44 *Gillman is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach. **Sabol, the founder of NFL Films, was a swimmer at Ohio State.
Gradishar didn’t start thinking about becoming a Pro Football Hall of Famer until Jay Cimino, the late former CEO at Phil Long Dealerships – a Colorado car dealer that Gradishar has worked with for the past 35 years – started campaigning for Gradishar to become a Hall of Famer. It took three-and-a-half decades for that campaign to finally lead Gradishar into Canton, but Gradishar sees divine intervention in the timing.
“He put together some men and over the last 35 years has been putting my name out there and getting it out there to possibly get selected at some point. And then now, 35 years later, that actually happened. And I always knew if it was ever going to happen, it was in God's timing. Because if you take 35 years of waiting and turn that around, it's number 53, my number,” Gradishar told Eleven Warriors. “So I just see it as when God wanted this to happen and it's finally happened now.”
Randy Gradishar Grateful for Time at Ohio State, Mentorship from Woody Hayes As He Enters Pro Football Hall of Fame
Set to become a Pro Football Hall of Famer this weekend, Randy Gradishar says Ohio State prepared him well for the NFL and he remains grateful for Woody Hayes’ mentorship.www.elevenwarriors.com
Just sayin': Talk about being long overdue. Now when does Jim Marshall get in?
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I know the game ended early but unless I missed it they interviewed each of the inductees except for Randy. Wtf
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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
Former Ohio State Linebacker Randy Gradishar Thanks Archie Griffin, Woody Hayes in Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction Speech
Former Ohio State linebacker Randy Gradishar reflected on the impact that Archie Griffin and Woody Hayes had on his life during his Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction speech.
Former Ohio State Linebacker Randy Gradishar Thanks Archie Griffin, Woody Hayes in Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction Speech
The long wait is over, Randy Gradishar is officially a Pro Football Hall of Famer.
The former Ohio State linebacker and key member of the Denver Broncos’ “Orange Crush” defense — which terrorized opponents throughout the 1970s and 80s — will forever be enshrined in Canton, Ohio.
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