FILE - Denver Broncos Ring of Fame linebacker Randy Gradishar, center, speaks during a celebration outside the State Capitol to mark his inclusion in the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2024, Friday, May 3, 2024, in Denver. Gradishar is the first member of the Broncos' famed “Orange Crush” defense to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

Thirty-five years is a long time to wait for anything.

Forty years post-retirement, and 35 since being eligible for selection, it’s been a long wait for Randy Gradishar.

While his selection was announced in February, Gradishar’s wait officially comes to an end this weekend in Northeast Ohio, where it all began.

But while he’s waited for Saturday, Aug. 3, there was plenty to keep him busy. Media requests and public appearances have been nonstop since early February, and it’s been an exciting time to say the least.

“In a word, it has been overwhelming, but in a fantastic way,” Gradishar said. “There has been an outpouring of congratulations, applause, interviews and appearance requests as I have never experienced from the Warren area, Ohio State, Broncos Country and across the country. Hearing from some of my Champion classmates that they are attending my induction is extra special.”

Following the 1983 season, his 10th in the league, Gradishar hung up his cleats despite noting that he had a few years left in the tank. But retiring on top was something he had planned since the beginning, so Gradishar followed through.

“I was 22 when (then-Broncos) coach John Ralson drafted me and I knew the average NFL career was just four years. Knowing that, I determined early on that I wanted to retire at the top of my game,” Gradishar said. “Going into my tenth season with the Broncos, I was at my best, physically and mentally — it takes unbelievable mental toughness to play at the pro level. I could have played another five years, but I was true to my word made nine years earlier; I retired at the top of my game.”

Gradishar kept busy over the years. Not one for lounging back, his retirement from football was only a temporary reprieve from employment. While a NFL legend, Gradishar spent his post-football days the way any normal person would, at work. Gradishar has worked for years at Phil Long Ford of Denver as an ambassador in the corporate communications department, was the president of the Denver Broncos Youth Foundation for 10 years, was part of several other charitable and fundraising organizations in the Denver area and served as a uniform inspector for the Broncos for a decade, stepping down from that role in May.

The uniform inspector role is exactly as it sounds.

Watching for uniform violations and informing team officials about any offenders. If the issues aren’t corrected by halftime, the players could receive a fine from the league.

Gradishar was active with the Broncos much more recently, taking part in the video reveal for the team’s throwback uniforms.

“The Broncos called and asked if I’d like to join in the fun of producing the throwback uniform video, and I said, ‘Heck yes,'” Gradishar said. “I loved the uniform and helmet when I played. It was a blast shooting the video with Patrick Surtain II, a Bronco player with terrific talent.”

With the rise of social media, fans have been given the chance to be more vocal and advocate for their favorite teams and players. There have been several fan campaigns for players over the years to get selected to the Hall of Fame, and Gradishar is no different.

One of those fans is Ron Katz, who has been a vocal proponent of Gradishar for years.

Katz, unofficially, represents the Broncos fanbase at nearly every major NFL event and was the team’s ‘Fan of the Year’ nominee in 2021. He’s a prominent advocate and is rarely seen without a full orange outfit and his signature No. 53 jersey, specifically to draw attention to the cause.

His journey started in February 2019, at a Broncos Quarterback Club dinner, where Gradishar was the guest speaker. Attending Super Bowl week almost yearly, Katz had already begun advocating for Broncos greats, but after meeting Gradishar, his campaign took a new level.

“When I went to this luncheon, Randy was a guest. I asked him, ‘What do you think about the Hall of Fame? I think you’re one of the greatest players in NFL history,'” Katz said. “And Randy was very humble. His humility is just off the charts. He said, ‘I know the level of my play, and my contributions are at that level, but I can’t control what I can’t control.’ And I looked at him, wagged my finger at him, and said, ‘Just watch. If I have anything to do with it, you are getting in.’ And so the journey began.”

Akin to a political campaign, Katz spent hours working with historians, media members and anyone who would listen, working to get Gradishar on the minds of fans and voters in the most effective way.

Five years, and hours upon hours of work later, Gradishar finally got his long-awaited nod.

And Katz was there.

At the NFL Honors in Las Vegas, the lifelong Bronco fan saw his goal come to fruition. Even though it may have felt inevitable leading up to the event, when Gradishar’s name was finally called, the emotions weren’t any less powerful.

“I knew he was getting announced, but just to see him on stage with the Hall of Fame class of 2024, I was jumping up and down with his jersey,” Katz said. “Then I was kind of in tears for a second or two thinking ‘It happened.’

Before that though, Gradishar found out the news for himself.

After receiving a call from the Broncos’ ownership, Gradishar went to the facility thinking he was just there to provide a history lesson to the new owners of the team.

Gradishar and his wife Beth had a conversation with owner Penner Walton, and as the conversation went on, he was starting to believe that the bomb was about to be dropped. He missed the cut again.

But as they walked into a different room of the Broncos’ facility, Gradishar was mobbed by camera flashes, the press, former teammates Tom Jackson and Billy Thompson, as well as Steve Atwater, a former Broncos player who now works for the team, and a Hall of Fame inductee as well.

That’s when it sank in.

“All of a sudden, there’s like 25-30 media people with microphones, cameras flashing going on, and then I realized, well, this is it. I’m going in there,” Gradishar said back in February. “They say that they surprised me, but I say they tricked me. I even told the owners last night at a party here at the Super Bowl, ‘You guys really tricked me.’ That was a lot of fun. And they did a great job with that. I’ve been waiting a couple of years to take it in and thinking that I would be able to get in. Finally, that happened. I had the opportunity to talk to the media people then I turned to my right and all of a sudden I see Tom Jackson and Billy Thompson. These guys were guys that I played with, so the Broncos lined these guys up to come in and help celebrate because they were part of the ‘Orange Crush.’

“That was a very, very exciting day. And now even actually being getting ready for the Super Bowl, it’s just been great. Great opportunity to celebrate being honored as one of a little over 300 guys, out of over thousands out of the history of NFL players. I think I’m No. 373 going in, so it’s just a great honor and also a real blessing for me to actually now know that I’ll be headed to Canton in August.”

Forever a “team-first” guy, Gradishar hopes that the spotlight shining on him is bright enough to share with his teammates from that era. As the first representative from the famed “Orange Crush” defense to get recognized by the Hall of Fame, Gradishar has his fingers crossed that he won’t be the only one for long.

“He’s broken that glass ceiling,” teammate Tom Jackson said. “He’s now the first one in, and even Randy has said it because I interviewed him after he found out that he was in, he hopes that this will at least open up a door for Louis Wright or Billy Thompson or some other guys. I know that that’s part of his thinking, and it’s part of our thinking as well.”

Thompson, who was in Denver when Gradishar found out, mentioned a shared philosophy of togetherness that’s united the group to this day.

“I felt so great for Randy,” Thompson said. “It was great. We were really close. That team was not just a team of football guys. We were friends, and we were all excited for him. He represents us, so it was great (to see). That’s what he said too, which is the kind of guy he is. We were all together in that. I mean, it was just when we played, that’s how we played, and it was really a special group of guys.”

Today at noon, oddly fitting for a Buckeye, Gradishar’s nearly four-decade wait finally ends. He’ll be forever cemented alongside his peers as one of the greatest linebackers to ever play football.

“It’s not just Randy Gradishar, Broncos great going in. It’s one of the greatest players in the history of the game, getting what he deserves and what his family deserves,” Katz said. “There have been so many of these greats getting in the Hall of Fame after they’re deceased. … Knowing that Randy and Beth and their family will get to celebrate this, and do so in person and experience that joy of his career achievement, that’s the pinnacle.”

Have an interesting story? Contact Brian Yauger by email at byauger@tribtoday.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @_brianyauger.