For second-straight year, Broncos won’t have a Ring of Fame inductee

There appears to be a backlog of qualified, eligible candidates for the Broncos Ring of Fame.

• Tight end Riley Odoms, a two-time first-team All-Pro.
• Safety Steve Foley, the club’s all-time leader in interceptions.
• Linebacker Al Wilson, a five-time Pro Bowler and linchpin of the team’s defense in the early-to-mid-2000s.
• Wide receiver Ed McCaffrey, one of the key components of the Broncos’ back-to-back Super Bowl-winning teams.

Defensive linemen Trevor Pryce and Rulon Jones have cases for addition, too. So does former head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterback Gary Kubiak.

And it’s a list that continues to grow. Offensive tackle Ryan Clady — whose two first-team All-Pro nods and four Pro Bowl appearances are first and second, respectively, among Broncos offensive linemen — became eligible for the Ring of Fame this year after ending his career following the 2016 season.

But none of them will join this year.

For the second consecutive campaign, the Broncos will not add anyone to the Ring of Fame. The last time the Broncos went two years without adding to the Ring was in 2010 and 2011. The club added 13 inductees to the Ring from 2012-21, including two years with three inductees each (2014 and 2016).

The Broncos will instead use their annual Alumni Weekend to honor the Super Bowl XXXIII-winning team of 1998 and Super Bowl 50 hero DeMarcus Ware. The longtime Cowboy and veteran of three Broncos seasons will join the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August.

Denver will hold Alumni Weekend around the Week 2 game against the Washington Commanders.

The Broncos also shuffled the deck for the Ring of Fame selection committee. Remaining are play-by-play voice Dave Logan and Jim Saccomano, who worked in various public-relations capacities for 36 seasons before assuming a role as team historian in the mid-2010s.

Joining the committee are members of the Walton-Penner ownership group, along with former head coach Mike Shanahan — a 2020 addition whose induction was delayed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic — and Hall of Fame safety Steve Atwater.

Shanahan and quarterback Peyton Manning became the most recent Ring of Fame additions during the 2021 season.

No doubt, the Ring of Fame will expand. The late Demaryius Thomas has an iron-clad Ring of Fame CV; he becomes eligible in 2025. Others from the 2010s such as Von Miller, Chris Harris Jr. and Aqib Talib also have ledgers worthy of eventual induction.

The Broncos Ring of Fame currently stands at 34 members.

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