Steve Atwater, A Finalist For The Pro Football Hall Of Fame, Time To Enshrine Him In 2020

By Jordan Long

The Pro Football Hall Of Fame announced their 25 finalists.  Among them are two players who spent time in Denver, Steve Atwater and John Lynch.  Both of them have been in this position before,  but it is time to put Steve Atwater in the Hall Of Fame.

                Steve Atwater was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the 1989 Draft, 20^th overall.  He made a major impact on the team in his first NFL season with 3 interceptions and 129 tackles.  His best year for Denver was in 1991 when he had 5 interceptions.

                Atwater stayed in Denver until the end of 1998. He spent 1999,  his final year in the NFL, with the New York Jets.  During his time in the NFL, he became one of the hardest hitting safeties in NFL history.  When a receiver caught the football, Atwater was there to deflect the ball away or to bring him down.   He was the last line of defense for Denver and rarely missed a tackle.  He could knock the football out of the hands of a runner for fumbles.  There were times Denver let him blitz to sack the quarterback.

                Atwater ended his career with 1,180 tackles and 24 interceptions.  He managed to bring 1 interception back for a touchdown.   Atwater forced 6 fumbles.  Those numbers prove he should be in the Hall Of Fame.

                Besides his stats, he accomplished plenty in his career.  He helped Denver win Super Bowl 32 and 33.  Atwater was voted into the Pro Bowl 8 times and placed on the First-Team All Pro twice.  Not many safeties have 2 Super Bowl rings or accomplished more in their career than Atwater did.

                Atwater has been here before.  For whatever reason, Hall Of Fame voters pass on him each and every year.  It is time for the bias to stop.  Atwater was one of the top safeties, not only to put on a Broncos’ uniform, but play the NFL game.    It should be his time to be enshrined in the Hall.

                The 25 finalists will be narrowed down to 15 in January.  From there 5 of them will be voted into the Hall Of Fame for the class of 2020 the day before Super Bowl 54.  The class of 2020 will be enshrined in Canton, Ohio, sometime in August of 2020.  Hopefully, Atwater will be there because he deserves it.