COLUMBUS, Ohio — Former Ohio State linebacker Randy Gradishar was formally inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday alongside six others.
Gradishar played with the Buckeyes in the early 1970s before he went on to play for the Denver Broncos. He is the 10th Buckeye football player and 11th Ohio State student-athlete to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
He was joined in the 2024 class by Dwight Freeney, Devin Hester, Andre Johnson, Steve McMichael, Julius Peppers and Patrick Willis.
The 72-year-old Gradishar had the longest wait of the new class, becoming the first member of the Denver Broncos' famed “Orange Crush” defense to join the Hall, 41 years after he last played in the NFL. The seven-time Pro Bowl linebacker was the AP Defensive Player of the Year in 1978.
“Don’t work for status, power, wealth, materialism, or people’s recognition — all of that is temporary, but in all you are and do, work for God’s glory because he will give you an inheritance as your reward,” Gradishar said, paraphrasing Scripture.
Joe Collier, Denver's longtime defensive coordinator and architect of the “Orange Crush” defense, told The Associated Press in an interview two weeks before his death in May at age 91 that the secret to Gradishar's greatness was his astonishing ability to stay on his feet when opponents tried to take out his legs.
“He had a sense of balance that always amazed me, how he would ward off blockers,” recounted Collier, who found in Gradishar the ideal captain for his 3-4 defense that was just gaining a foothold in the league in the mid-1970s.
“Guys would go after his legs and he would just skirt over these guys and stay on his feet. So, he was a guy that would be available for tackling 100% of the time," Collier said. "He was always around the ball. He wouldn’t get knocked down. He wasn’t a get-knocked-down type of guy.”
Gradishar's play was simply dependable and trustworthy, traits he learned growing up in Champion Township, Ohio — a mere 40-minute drive from Canton — where he began working at his father's grocery store at age 11.
That work ethic helped make him a high school star on the hardwood and the gridiron but he planned to focus on the family business after graduation until the school called him one afternoon while he was sweeping the store.
“They told me Woody Hayes was there to see me. I said, ’OK, I’ll be right there,” Gradishar recounted. “Then, I hung up and I said, ‘Who’s Woody Hayes?‘”
Gardishar might have been the only kid in Ohio who didn't know that. But he hustled to Champion High School in Warren to meet Hayes before driving him back to the grocery store. When Jim Gradishar finished slicing bologna, he sat down with Hayes and the two of them talked for an hour, mostly about having both served in World War II.
After Hayes left, the elder Gradishar told his son he'd be attending Ohio State. So, off he went to Columbus to hone the skills that would make him an All-Pro in Denver, the AP Defensive Player of the Year in 1978 — and after a 35-year wait, a Pro Football Hall of Famer.
“I’m just glad it finally happened, whether it was me or someone else, because I think we all know that the ‘Orange Crush’ has not been recognized and so finally the ‘Orange Crush’ is being recognized,” Gradishar said.
His unofficial total of 2,049 career tackles is the most in Broncos history and was the most in NFL history at the time of his retirement.
Other Buckeyes in the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Class Pos. Player – Team(s)
2024 - LB - Randy Gradishar – Denver Broncos, 1974-83
2016 - OT - Orlando Pace – St. Louis Rams, 1997-2008; Chicago Bears, 2009
2013 - WR - Cris Carter – Philadelphia Eagles, 1987-89; Minnesota Vikings, 1990-2001; Miami Dolphins, 2002
2011 - *S-A - Ed Sabol – Founder, President, Chairman of NFL Films, 1964-95
2010 - CB - Dick LeBeau – Detroit Lions, 1959-72
1983 - WR - Paul Warfield – Cleveland Browns, 1964-69; 1976-77; Miami Dolphins, 1970-74
1983 - Coach - Sid Gillman – Cincinnati Bengals, 1949-54; Los Angeles Rams, 1955-59; San Diego Chargers, 1960-69; Houston Oilers, 1973-74; Chicago Bears, 1977; Philadelphia Eagles, 1979-81
1977 - MG - Bill Willis – Cleveland Browns, 1946-53
1975 - E - Dante Lavelli – Cleveland Browns, 1946-56
1974 - K - Lou Groza – Cleveland Browns, 1950-67
1973 - G-T - Jim Parker – Baltimore Colts, 1957-67
Additionally, Ohio State head coach Paul Brown (1941-43) is also enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
