Why Steve Foley belongs in the Denver Broncos Ring of Fame

Steve Foley played safety like a quarterback. Which was quite appropriate, given that he played the position at Tulane University before embarking on his professional career.

He seemed to have a sixth sense for what an opposing quarterback would do — first at right cornerback, where he started during the Broncos’ run to Super Bowl XII, and then at free safety, the position to which he moved midway through the 1980 season.

And that’s when his career took flight to another level — all the way to the top of the Broncos’ record book. By the time Foley completed his career — with his final game taking place in Super Bowl XXI — he had a franchise-record 44 interceptions, surpassing the mark established by Austin “Goose” Gonsoulin in the club’s early days.

“Of course you drop some,” Foley said in an interview during last year’s training camp posted on the Broncos’ digital and social channels.

But he didn’t drop many.

Times have changed, and interceptions are harder to procure than ever. Offenses’ emphasis on short, rhythm-and-timing passing games dropped interception rates precipitously. But even before that rate cratered, no one — not even first-ballot Hall-of-Famer Champ Bailey — approached Foley’s standard.

Yet despite having a significant individual record in the Broncos’ record book, Foley remains outside of the Ring of Fame, 36 years after he played his final game.

It’s not a rigid, one-size-fits-all scale

With some Ring of Fame candidates, the discussion revolves around league-wide honors. Specifically, Pro Bowl selections and first- or second-team All-Pro nods are items that bolster a player’s CV.

But that doesn’t mean stacking up All-Pro spots is the only way to qualify. And when outside linebacker Simon Fletcher took his place in the Ring of Fame during the 2016 season, a template — and a door — opened for Foley.

Fletcher retired as the Broncos’ all-time sack leader with 97.5. Only Von Miller eventually surpassed his total. But Fletcher, like Foley, lacked a single Pro Bowl or All-Pro selection. He waited 21 years after his retirement following the 1995 season, but the Broncos inducted him as part of a three-player class that included eventual Hall-of-Fame safety John Lynch (2004-07) and the team’s all-time leading scorer, kicker Jason Elam (1993-2007).

That Fletcher is in and Foley isn’t remains baffling. As it stands for Riley Odoms — whose case I made earlier this offseason — Foley’s ledger got shuffled out of prominence with the passage of the decades.

It’s time to change that. If you hold a major individual record like the one Foley has, you belong among a club’s immortals.

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