A banner year for the Orange Crush continues.
Randy Gradishar is Pro Football Hall of Fame-bound, and now the Broncos have elected former safety Steve Foley and tight end Riley Odoms to the team’s Ring of Fame.
“Steve Foley and Riley Odoms represent the best of the Broncos, and we’re thrilled they will now take their long-awaited places in the Ring of Fame,” Broncos owners Greg Penner and Carrie Walton Penner said in a team statement. “Each has individually made history by setting records and high standards while playing integral roles in team success. It’s fitting to honor Steve and Riley in a year of extraordinary celebrations that include Randy Gradishar’s Pro Football Hall of Fame election and the rest of our first Super Bowl team from 1977.”
Foley and Odoms are the first players elected to the Ring of Fame since 2021 and, as such, since the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group took control of the team in August 2022.
They make 37 total players to receive the honor in franchise history.
“I didn’t even dream about these things when I was playing quarterback at Tulane,” said Foley on Thursday after receiving a 9 a.m. call from Penner. “I’ve got to say that it’s a little bittersweet that I can’t call my defensive coordinator, Joe Collier, who was almost like a second father to me and was my defensive coordinator the whole time I was there.”
Foley played for the Broncos for 11 seasons and is the franchise’s all-time leader in interceptions with 44. He started his career as a cornerback and then moved to safety in 1980. He’s now the sixth member of the Orange Crush defense to earn Ring of Fame status.
“I am thrilled to go in next to names that I have admired and played alongside,” Foley said. “Just to be considered in that same breath with those other players — it’s an incredible honor.”
Odoms, meanwhile, played 12 years for the Broncos after being selected No. 5 overall in the 1972 draft. He remains seventh in franchise history in receiving yards (5,755 yards) and caught 44 touchdowns over a career that featured four Pro Bowl nods and a pair of All-Pro honors.
“We called him ‘The Judge’ for a reason,” Foley said of Odoms. “He was the judge and jury when he caught a pass. He would punish a defensive back so we gave him that nickname. He was a vicious tight end as well as a great blocker and pass receiver. So I’m honored to go in with the Judge.”
The Broncos Ring of Fame committee includes Penner, Hall of Fame safety Steve Atwater, former vice president of communications Jim Saccomano, play-by-play announcer Dave Logan and former head coach Mike Shanahan. It’s also the first year the team has elected multiple players to the Ring of Fame in the same year since 2016, when John Lynch, Simon Fletcher and Jason Elam all got the nod.
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