Floyd Little finally elected to Hall of Fame, third Bronco enshrined
After years (even decades) of waiting, Little finally gets the call to the Hall.
There’s no need to rehash it here… but we’ll do a little rehashing anyway. Floyd Little was the face of the Broncos before a certain strong-armed kid from Stanford donned number 7 and took the team to new heights. If it weren’t for Floyd Little, we wouldn’t be talking about the House that John Built – Invesco was built thanks to John, but the Broncos were around to occupy the stadium thanks to Floyd.
Floyd’s lack of inclusion in Pro Football immortality has been subject of much ire across Bronco Nation… he’s long been considered the ultimate victim of East Coast bias. Finally, as a senior candidate, Floyd Little will have his face cast in bronze and he’ll get to stand on stage in a mustard yellow jacket to get the recognition he deserves. He’ll be entering the Hall with a high-powered class, including Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, Russ Grimm, Rickey Jackson, John Randle, and Dick LeBeau.
In 9 seasons (of only 14 games, mind you), Little amassed just over 6300 yards on a team that was perennially awful. It wasn’t until after Floyd retired that the Broncos finally made their first Super Bowl and began to be considered as a yearly contender.
Floyd, this Bronco fan thanks you, and even though I share a modicum of bitterness over Shannon Sharpe’s exclusion this year, I’m proud that you’ve finally been recognized and I appreciate all you’ve done to help make this franchise great.
Sharpe will get his turn. The selection committee clearly didn’t like his “I’m a sure-think first ballot HOFer” yak from the comfort of his network studio.
As far as Little goes, his selection is long overdue. He was the most talented runner ever to don the orange & blue. No snub intended towards TD. He was a great runner, but his success was as much due to Shanny’s zone-blocking scheme as anything else. Can’t wait to watch the ceremony…
Saturday, August 7, 2010 at 7:00 PM ET
I agree – Sharpe will get his, eventually. If I had to choose this year, I’d choose Little.