Tag: Mark Schlereth

Full list of 30 former Broncos nominated for 2025 Hall of Fame class

The Broncos have 30 former players nominated for the 2025 Hall of Fame class, and Mike Shanahan is expected to be a top coach candidate.

Earlier this week, the NFL announced 19 former Denver Broncos players have been nominated for the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame class as modern-era candidates.

Those 19 players join a previous list of 11 senior candidate nominees who were announced earlier this month, giving the Broncos 30 total players who have been nominated for next year’s Hall of Fame class. Here are the full lists.

Broncos modern-era HOF candidates

  1. WR Rod Smith
  2. C Tom Nalen
  3. K Jason Elam
  4. G Mark Schlereth
  5. LB Bill Romanowski
  6. DL Neil Smith
  7. WR Demaryius Thomas
  8. CB Aqib Talib
  9. WR Wes Welker
  10. RB Clinton Portis
  11. WR Brandon Marshall
  12. RB Glyn Milburn
  13. CB Dré Bly
  14. TE Vernon Davis
  15. DL Jamal Williams
  16. LB Keith Brooking
  17. RB Jamaal Charles
  18. DL Ted Washington
  19. DL Simeon Rice

Broncos senior HOF candidates

  1. LB/DL Karl Mecklenburg
  2. LB Tom Jackson
  3. DB Dennis Smith
  4. WR Lionel Taylor
  5. WR/R Rick Upchurch
  6. CB Louis Wright
  7. WR Bob Scarpitto
  8. DL Michael Dean Perry
  9. RB Sammy Winder
  10. DL Lyle Alzado
  11. DE Rich Jackson

Former Denver coach Mike Shanahan is also expected to be nominated for the 2025 Hall of Fame class in the coach category.

The Hall of Fame’s selection committee will trim the list of nominees in mid-October before announcing semifinalists and finalists later in the fall. The 2025 class will be announced before Super Bowl LVIX next year.

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2 ex-Broncos had perfect responses to Mel Kiper’s silly safety rant

Worried about two deep safeties? “Learn how to run the ball.”

ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. went on a ridiculous rant this week the “Get Up” program about two-high safety schemes in the NFL.

“Don’t tell me you can’t have those safeties closer to the line of scrimmage than they are,” Kiper ranted. “I was at games thinkin, ‘Hey, two high? They’re out in outer space!’ I couldn’t even find ’em. They’re playing with nine guys! The other two, they’re so far back you don’t even know they’re part of the damn play! I’m telling you, we gotta change this thing.”

Kiper suggesting that the NFL should change its rules to not allow two deep safeties is an outrageous idea, and two former Denver Broncos players had perfect responses that were nearly identical.

“Hey [if] you don’t want two-high looks, run the ball,” former Broncos cornerback Chris Harris tweeted on Thursday. Ex-Denver guard Mark Schlereth tweeted the same sentiment:

Harris played for the Broncos from 2011-2019, helping the team win Super Bowl 50 following the 2015 season. Schlereth played in Denver from 1995-2000, winning back-to-back Super Bowls in the late 1990s.

The Super Bowl champions are spot-on.

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Rod Smith among 19 former Broncos nominated for Hall of Fame

Rod Smith is one of eight Broncos Super Bowl champions who have been nominated for the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame class.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame has announced 167 modern-era finalists for the 2025 class. The list includes 19 former Denver Broncos players, including eight Super Bowl champions.

Former Broncos wide receiver Rod Smith headlines the list of players who won Super Bowls with Denver in the late 1990s. He is joined by center Tom Nalen, kicker Jason Elam, guard Mark Schlereth, linebacker Bill Romanowski and defensive lineman Neil Smith.

The Broncos also had two members of their Super Bowl 50 squad — late wide receiver Demaryius Thomas and cornerback Aqib Talib — nominated for the Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility.

Other players nominated include running backs Clinton Portis and Glyn Milburn, receivers Wes Welker and Brandon Marshall and cornerback Dré Bly. View the full list below.

Broncos Hall of Fame nominees

  1. WR Rod Smith
  2. C Tom Nalen
  3. K Jason Elam
  4. G Mark Schlereth
  5. LB Bill Romanowski
  6. DL Neil Smith
  7. WR Demaryius Thomas
  8. CB Aqib Talib
  9. WR Wes Welker
  10. RB Clinton Portis
  11. WR Brandon Marshall
  12. RB Glyn Milburn
  13. CB Dré Bly
  14. TE Vernon Davis
  15. DL Jamal Williams
  16. LB Keith Brooking
  17. RB Jamaal Charles
  18. DL Ted Washington
  19. DL Simeon Rice

The Broncos also have 11 senior candidates for the 2025 class, and former coach Mike Shanahan is expected to be a top candidate in the coach category. Voters will trim the list down to 20 finalists with 15 modern-era candidates, three senior candidates, one coach and one contributor. The selection committee will meet before Super Bowl LVIX to elect the 2025 class.

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Mark Schlereth says Bo Nix is Sean Payton’s rookie version of Drew Brees

“Bo Nix is Sean Payton’s version as a rookie of Drew Brees,” Mark Schlereth said on FS1.

Former Denver Broncos guard and radio personality Mark Schlereth recently compared rookie quarterback Bo Nix to future first-ballot Hall of Famer Drew Brees.

The rookie was praised by head coach Sean Payton for his quick decision-making, Nix’s ability to absorb the playbook and for being a leader in the locker room. All of this led Schlereth to declare on FS1: “Bo Nix is Sean Payton’s version as a rookie of Drew Brees.”

Brees joined forces with Payton in New Orleans, and together the duo became one of the most successful player-coach partnerships in NFL history, setting records in passing yards, touchdowns and even winning a Super Bowl against another legendary play-caller and coach pair, Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy.

While this type of talk is extraordinary, even for the beginning of the season, Nix and Payton have been in lockstep, each praising the other’s abilities.

The partnership of Payton and Nix will be tested beginning on Sunday on the road against the Seattle Seahawks, and it will be an early look into how the relationship will grow this fall.

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Mark Schlereth predicts Russell Wilson will be benched after 5 games

Mark Schlereth expects Russell Wilson to be benched by the Steelers before the midway point of the 2024 season.

After the messy departure of former Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson during the offseason, it should be expected that there may be some bitter feelings towards the nine-time Pro Bowler, especially after his huge contract left behind a massive dead-money hit.

Former Broncos player and current Denver radio personality Mark Schlereth apparently hasn’t moved on from the divorce. Earlier in the week, Schlereth declared that Wilson wouldn’t last six games for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“I’m gonna say five (games),” Schlereth said on his podcast, via Curt Popejoy of Steelers Wire. “I just think that the way the Pittsburgh Steelers are gonna have to be built, what they’re gonna have to build themselves on is the running game and using the quarterback element in the run game.

“Do I think they may be able to compete for a playoff spot? Yeah, but the issue is — and this is what got Russ out of Seattle and Denver — Russ isn’t willing to admit he’s not good at stuff. He’s delusional. If you’re not willing to admit it, then you can’t fix it.”

Schlereth and Broncos Country will see if Wilson has improved when he comes back to Denver for the Week 2 showdown on Sept. 15.

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Former Bronco rips Steelers QB Russell Wilson yet again: ‘He’s delusional’

One analyst calls Russell Wilson dilusional and thinks he’ll get benched.

We appreciate former players who stay loyal to their teams, even to a fault. But there comes a point when your loyalty makes you come across as bitter. This is the point Fox Sports 1 analyst Mark Schlereth has reached with his dislike for former Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson, who is set to make his first start for the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1.

Schlereth took to his podcast and said that he thinks the Steelers will have to replace Wilson with Justin Fields by the sixth game and then proceeded to vent about Wilson’s inability to admit what he can and cannot do at this point in his career.

“I’m gonna say five (games),” said Schlereth, who played for the Broncos for six seasons and won two Super Bowls. “I just think that the way the Pittsburgh Steelers are gonna have to be built, what they’re gonna have to build themselves on is the running game and using the quarterback element in the run game.”

“Do I think they may be able to compete for a playoff spot? Yeah, but the issue is — and this is what got Russ out of Seattle and Denver — Russ isn’t willing to admit he’s not good at stuff,” Schlereth said. “He’s delusional. If you’re not willing to admit it, then you can’t fix it.”

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Mark Schlereth signed autograph for Packers fan with a funny message

“Sorry I’m not sorry about making you cry during Super Bowl XXXII,” Mark Schlereth wrote on an autograph for a Packers fan at Broncos camp.

Before facing the Green Bay Packers in Week 2 of NFL preseason on Sunday night, the Denver Broncos hosted the Packers for a joint training camp practice on Friday morning.

Former Broncos guard Mark Schlereth — who now works for 104.3 The Fan and Fox Sports — was in attendance for the joint practice and some Green Bay fans asked him for autographs. Schlereth graciously obliged. Well, sorta.

The three-time Super Bowl champion left this message with his autograph: “Chris: Sorry I’m not sorry about making you cry during Super Bowl XXXII. Up Yours. Mark Schlereth 69.”

The Broncos, of course, defeated the Packers 31-24 in Super Bowl XXXII following the 1997 NFL season.

“Just another example of my graciousness,” Schlereth wrote sarcastically on his Twitter/X page. “Signing autographs for Packer fans at @Broncos joint practice with the @packers does my magnanimous nature know no bounds?”

After winning a Super Bowl with Washington, Schlereth signed with Denver in 1995 and he went on to win a pair of Super Bowls with the Broncos. Schlereth retired from the NFL in 2001 and he transitioned to media shortly thereafter.

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Giants QB Tommy DeVito: ‘Aaron Rodgers is my GOAT’

Tommy DeVito is an Aaron Rodgers fan.

New York Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito might just disagree with Mark Schlereth about where Aaron Rodgers stands in the all-time ranking of NFL quarterbacks. DeVito believes that the New York Jets quarterback is No. 1.

The comments from DeVito came after a very hot take from Schlereth last week about Rodgers.

A former NFL offensive lineman, Schlereth is now an analyst with Fox Sports. During a recent podcast, Schlereth said Rodgers is not among the best QBs of all time.

In fact, he said Rodgers would be “sitting at the kids table.”

At the ESPY Awards last week, reporter Joey Mistretta asked DeVito if there are any quarterbacks that he tries to play like or emulate. (The audio is not great because of background noise at the show.)

“Aaron Rodgers is my GOAT. I watch a lot of football,” DeVito said.

DeVito continued with the praise, saying “Aaron Rodgers is a magician, an artist with the football.”

 

If Rodgers is healthy this season, the Jets are expected to end their playoff drought.

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DeVito said playing against Rodgers and the Jets was extra motivation for him given how much he respects the future Hall of Famer.

Mark Schlereth says Jets QB Aaron Rodgers isn’t an all-time great – ‘He’s sitting at the kids’ table’

Mark Schlereth doesn’t rank Aaron Rodgers as one of the best quarterbacks of all time.

Aaron Rodgers is not among the best quarterbacks of all time, according to Mark Schlereth. In talking about the all-time elites, Schlereth said that the New York Jets quarterback is “at the kids table” when ranking quarterbacks in NFL history.

While diving into the subject of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, Schlereth brought up Rodgers. Set for his second year with the Jets, the 2023 season for Rodgers was cut short in Week 1 due to an Achilles injury.

But that didn’t come up for Schlereth when talking on ‘The Stinkin Truth’ podcast. Instead, the FOX Sports analyst, a two-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman, believes that the lack of postseason success from Rodgers is what keeps him from being an all-time great quarterback.

“Aaron Rogers (was) a four-time MVP – one Super Bowl. One. The dynasty that never was,” Schlereth said on ‘The Stinkin Truth’ podcast.

“We called the Green Bay Packers the dynasty that never was. If you invite the greatest quarterbacks of all time to dinner and it’s like Thanksgiving, and there’s one main table and then the kids’ table on the side – Aaron Rodgers is sitting at the kids’ table because he’s got one championship.

“You don’t get to sit with Joe Montana and Tom Brady and multiple Super Bowl winners at the ‘Big Boy Table.’ I’m sorry. Until you find, and I don’t know what the criteria would be, but until you find a better criteria for judging guys…”

Schlereth then circled the conversation to landscaping as a way to bring it back to the bigger discussion about Jackson.

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Here is the full podcast:

Former NFL OL Mark Schlereth believes it’s ‘Super Bowl or bust’ for Ravens QB Lamar Jackson

Former NFL offensive lineman Mark Schlereth believes it’s “Super Bowl or bust” for Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson

The Baltimore Ravens are looking to win their first Super Bowl since 2012-2013 when they defeated the San Fransisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII. Since then, the team has only made one AFC Championships game, no Super Bowls, and continues looking for answers to return to the big dance.

Former NFL offensive lineman Mark Schlereth has been under fire for his recent comments on Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson on his podcast “Stinkin’ Truth.” More videos have surfaced of Schlereth talking about Baltimore and Lamar Jackson, saying that this is “Super Bowl or bust” for the star quarterback.

Schlereth also questioned the Ravens’ strategy during the AFC Championship game, saying that the team isn’t wired to have Jackson throw from the pocket to beat everybody. He did acknowledge growth from the quarterback, but his comments have Baltimore fans outraged at how Jackson is being criticized.