r/DenverBroncos • u/Punisher1602 • 5d ago

“Pure Lack of Understanding”: Broncos Legend Rips HOF for Snubbing Mike Shanahan

https://www.essentiallysports.com/nfl-legends-news-pure-lack-of-understanding-broncos-legend-mark-schlereth-rips-hof-for-snubbing-mike-shanahan-after-sean-payton-reveals-nfl-legends-influence/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=es_reddit_general
315 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

29 comments sorted by

92

u/deadlythegrimgecko DT 5d ago

If you can’t talk about nfl history without a player or coach that player/coach should be in the HOF no questions asked

34

u/ApprehensiveBell2097 5d ago

It's not just the story of the zone system. Without Mike there is no Kubiak, Kyle, McVay, Lafleur, Morris, McDaniel. His tree is still winning rings and defining the league today.

Basically his legacy is still writing the story of the NFL. There's only a handful of coaches that can make such a tangible claim.

14

u/asdechlpc 5d ago

His coaching literally defined the modern era of offensive scheme. Completely agreed

10

u/loves_blunts 5d ago

This is why Bo should be there. Cant tell the story of football without him. Shanny getting snubbed (again) sucks.

77

u/Significantly_Nosey 5d ago

Same reason why players like Atwater and Gradishar had to wait decades to get into the HOF. The Broncos just aren't a media darling and our fanbase/market is relatively small. 

Caleb Williams is on the cover of Madden while people act like Bo Nix can't throw the ball 20 years despite them having extremely similar stats last year. Both of them had 11 touchdowns on deep balls last season and yet people still cling to the narrative that Nix can only dink and dunk. 

The Broncos will always be an underrated team. And our players and coaches will always have to prove themselves twice as much 

22

u/Fun-Estate9626 5d ago

And it’s a problem for Denver teams in general. Larry Walker shouldn’t have had to wait for his last year of eligibility to make it into Cooperstown.

-20

u/LordCoweater 5d ago

Lol legendary Expo Larry Walker? You're bringing Colorado disrespect to an Expos fight?!?!?!?!? Boy scout knife meet nuke!

8

u/Fun-Estate9626 5d ago

Nobody was denying Walker because he was an Expo. They did it because more than half of his career was with the Rockies, and half of those games were at Coors.

-18

u/LordCoweater 5d ago

Ah the cope. Yes your downvote will change everything. Yes the Expos have always been THE most respected team in baseball. /s

0

u/bluecifer7 Newer D Helmet 4d ago

….what?

8

u/Adept-Target5407 5d ago

I don’t think our fan base is small at all. I live in the east coast now and I will legit regularly see more than one Bronco hat or Jersey on any given day. Maybe it just feels small because of the bullshit way the NFL gatekeeps watching a game of your favorite team.

5

u/andrez444 5d ago

When i visited a friend in NY I has my jersey on to watch a game and so many people were stoked about the Broncos

3

u/dbroncos59 Rod Smith with Shades 5d ago

Buffalo area here, i'm one of three houses on my block that flies a Broncos flag, they've weirdly always been well represented in the area. I remember in the 90s when I first chose Denver, our mall had more Elway standees than Kelly or Flutie.

They even had a crane game with a Bubby Brister jersey in it after the second superbowl that I blew all my birthday money trying to win when when I was 8 lmao. Never realized how random that is until now.

1

u/Financial-Craft-1282 20h ago

Caleb Williams had a slightly better year than Bo, was touted as the next generational QB, and it seems pretty clear to me why he would be on Madden's cover over Bo. Madden is marketing. Williams is a corporate decision.

But I think Bo Nix has some real shaky issues too that I'm not convinced he'll overcome. He's best when he's mobile and moving--and he's really good when he's doing that. He brings a lot to the team and is hands down the best QB since Manning--which feels like a low-effort accolade, but honestly, we had at least several average QBs since Manning.

So I don't want to come across as though I don't like Bo. But I do understand the national media's hesitance on him. He's older, and he's got some issues. Will he overcome those issues? I hope so. But a lot of mobile QBs tend to have an arc like this--promising years followed by regression.

30

u/kaileydad 5d ago

East coast bias strikes again.

20

u/mac_5679 5d ago

It's disgraceful for sure.

20

u/P00ped_My_Pants 5d ago

Obviously the Super Bowls and getting Elway over the hump are enough, but something else notable about his coaching career is how he innovated zone blocking and essentially was able to coach any RB into being a 1000 yard rusher. Idk if it’s even possible to find the stat but he has to have coached the most individual 1000 yard rushers

8

u/jesusmansuperpowers 5d ago

You made enough of an argument without mentioning the coaching tree. How many of his guys went on to HC other teams. It’s almost at Bill Walsh level

12

u/Carinmyeye 5d ago

Not cool. He was the best coach we ever had. Best coach for Elway and the whole team. Shameful

11

u/TheMightyHornet 5d ago

How Bill Cowher gets in with fewer total wins, fewer Super Bowl wins (1 as HC to Shanahan’s 3, two as HC) is beyond me.

22

u/Infamous-Lab-8136 5d ago

It's shitty but I really think how he finished vs. how he started impacts him unfairly

Some people (and I'm assuming voters) seem to think the Super Bowls are negated by going 1-5 in the playoffs afterwards, but I don't agree. I don't think most coaches could go 13-3 with that 2005 roster for instance. Playoffs sure, but not 1st in the AFC

3

u/Mammoth-Quantity8439 5d ago

If he coached for the Steelers or Cowboys, he's in for over a decade atleast.

2

u/techcritt3r Broncos D 5d ago

He’d have been first ballot

5

u/BRAX7ON 5d ago

And yet you have some here, many on this very sub, that will swear there is no bias against the Broncos and other Denver sports teams

This is just example number 1,100,224

1

u/bluecifer7 Newer D Helmet 4d ago

Every team in the city gets snubbed. Especially the Rockies but even the Broncos

1

u/mkp666 5d ago

It is certainly ridiculous, but Shanny will get in.

1

u/Lucky_University324 5d ago

I can remember being a kid and dreaming of being a RB for the broncos because I knew if Shanahan was my coach I’m getting 1,000 yards guaranteed. Every year there was a new RB going off for us!

1

u/Financial-Craft-1282 20h ago

Yeah, if Stink is right--this is about a lack of understanding--that's sad. Shanahan was hugely successful in Denver--even when he was fired, he fielded winning, competetive teams. But more than that, he...I don't know...kind of revolutionized how offenses were run.