Pritchard: Broncos send ‘dangerous’ message of Ring of Fame exclusivity
May 17, 2018, 3:28 PM
After inducting 10 new members during the past six years, the Denver Broncos will not add another member to the Ring of Fame in 2018.
First reported by 9News’ Mike Klis, the six-person Ring of Fame committee decided during a conference call Thursday to not vote in another member this season for the first time since 2011.
In the past seven years, the number of inductees has grown by 45 percent, up from 22 members. The previous seven years before that the committee elected just three former Broncos.
However, with names like Ed McCaffrey and Mike Shanahan still waiting for possible enshrinement, “Pritchard and Cecil” co-host Mike Pritchard said the Ring of Fame seems to have become “more and more exclusive,” which he believes sets a “dangerous” precedent.
“I think if you are a player that has made an impact with this organization and deserves to be in the Ring of Fame, you qualify for it, whatever the qualifications are, then you should be up there,” Pritchard said. “I don’t know why a committee would elect to say, ‘OK, we’re not going to put anybody in there.’
“That, to me, is becoming more and more dangerous because now you’re putting out the message that you’re becoming more and more exclusive.”
Don’t even mention there are two kickers — Jason Elam and Jim Turner — in the Ring of Fame ahead of McCaffrey, Pritchard’s co-host Cecil Lammey said.
“You’re not stretching to put Ed McCaffrey in at all. You’re not stretching to put Riley Odoms in. You’re not stretching to put Steve Foley in. These are players who should have already been in there,” Lammey said. “So, why not make it this year?”
Lammey also brought up Shanahan as his biggest Ring of Fame snub, saying that while he understands the “committee must be convinced he is fully retired from coaching” the two-time Super Bowl-winning coach needs to be honored by the Broncos.
“I just think with a coach like Shanahan and everything that he did for this community and just everything that those late ’90s Broncos teams meant, I don’t care where he’s coaching,” Lammey said. “I don’t care if he’s coaching Pop Warner.
“I want Mike Shanahan in the Ring of Fame yesterday.”
Likely Ring of Famers up for election in coming years includes Champ Bailey, eligible in 2019, and Peyton Manning, eligible in 2021.
Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @johnnyhart7.
