Shanahan calls Ring of Fame honor “an unbelievable feeling”
The Broncos immortalized “The Mastermind” on Sunday at Empower Field.
Mike Shanahan, the winningest coach in franchise history, was inducted into the Broncos’ Ring of Fame during a halftime ceremony of the divisional opener against the Raiders. Shanahan, who led the Broncos to consecutive Super Bowl titles and accumulated 138 regularseason wins with Denver, called the induction “an unbelievable feeling.”
“I would’ve never even pictured that (honor) when I started off coaching here, but across 21 years I was surrounded by a lot of great players and coaches,” Shanahan said. “You don’t get (in the Ring of Fame) by yourself, and you don’t last that long without a great supporting cast.”
Shanahan, who spent seven years with the Broncos as an assistant and 14 as head coach, joined Denver in 1984 as a receivers coach. He was quickly promoted to offensive coordinator and took over the head coaching job in 1995. He becomes the third Broncos coach to be inducted into the Ring of Fame, joining Red Miller and Dan Reeves. Shanahan’s name is on the southeast side of the ring of honor, next to Champ Bailey.
A handful of Ring of Famers were on hand for Shanahan’s halftime ceremony, including John Elway, Randy Gradishar, Rod Smith, Terrell Davis, Bailey and Steve Atwater. The silverhaired Shanahan, wearing the standard-issue orange Ring of Fame blazer with a blue buttondown underneath, acknowledged the crowd in a brief 40second speech.
“This has been an amazing journey,” Shanahan said. “Broncos Country, I could not have done it without you.”
With Denver’s championships in 1997 and 1998, Shanahan is one of only six coaches to win backto-back Super Bowls.
The other five — Vince Lombardi, Don Shula, Jimmy Johnson, Chuck Noll and Bill Belichick — are either already Pro Football Hall of Famers or, in Belichick’s case, guaranteed to be in there in the future. Shanahan said he tries not to think about the potential of joining Canton’s privileged company, saying he’s not focusing on “a decision that other people make.”
But 69-year-old offered a caveat to that sentiment.
“Just to be mentioned (for the
Hall of Fame) gets you very excited,” he said.
Atwater, who was acknowledged pregame for his enshrinement earlier this year as the 11th Denver player in the Hall of Fame, said Shanahan’s call to Canton is “well overdue.”
“He should have been in before me,” Atwater said. “It was just something different about him (and his coaching style). He knew how to get into people’s minds to get the most out of us.”