At a recent birthday party for former Broncos linebacker Randy Gradishar, two other members of Denver’s famed “Orange Crush” defense had something to show their former defensive coordinator, Joe Collier.
Bob Swenson, the unit’s strongside outside linebacker in the 3-4 alignment, and Steve Foley, the right cornerback, have been partners in FS Land Development for seven years. They now own or control about 1,000 acres of prime real estate, most of it in the Erie and Dacono area to the north of Denver, and as many as 4,000 homes will be built on the land.
“That’s pretty amazing for two football players,” Swenson, a native Californian, said with a laugh. “That’s pretty amazing for two little guys, one from Louisiana and one from Tracy, Calif. I would say this: There’s no way I’d be doing what I’m doing today if it weren’t for the Broncos. No way would I have the audacity or the confidence to take on what we’re doing.”
At that party for Gradishar, who is now an executive for the Phil Long automobile dealerships, Swenson and Foley unrolled plans for the Silver Peaks at Dacono project. They pointed to the street that leads into a 160-acre business park project.
It is called Joe Collier Drive.
Collier, who is retired and lives in Littleton, was touched.
It also is just the start of a tribute to Swenson’s and Foley’s former teammates and coaches, including members of the Red Miller-coached 1977 team that was the Super Bowl runner-up, helping transform Denver both as a metro area and a sports market.
Swenson works out of his own office in downtown Erie and Foley is based out of the firm’s official office in Greenwood Village. (Swenson is rarely there.)
Also on the north side, in the Dacono Estates subdivision, one of the most prominent streets is called Rubin Carter Drive, honoring the Orange Crush nose tackle who now is the head football coach at Florida A&M.
“Every subdivision, we’re going to try to sneak in one of the Broncos who isn’t in the Ring of Fame,” Swenson said.
He laughed.
“Aw, maybe we’ll put a couple of Ring of Fame guys in there,” he added.
Swenson said that in their first project, he and Foley “wanted to honor people from Dacono’s past who have had impact in the community. So we asked the historian to look up some names of people. Dacono’s not really on the map, but it’s going to be.”
After getting the list of Dacono-area historical figures from former city councilwoman Mary Gavin, Swenson and Foley decided that they also would honor their former Broncos teammates and their defensive coach. Collier was the coordinator under four Denver head coaches – Lou Saban, John Ralston, Miller and Dan Reeves.
“The Ring of Fame honors the very top guys,” Swenson said. “There are other guys who had huge impact, the kind of behind- the-scenes guys. … Joe Collier is one of those guys. Joe Collier is one of those men who never, ever would brag about himself. He’s a humble man and we wanted to name a street after him.”
Foley said: “Joe Collier invented a lot of defenses. Bill Belichick (as a Bronco coaching assistant) was walking around behind Joe Collier taking notes when I was a rookie and a second-year player. Joe was the Bill Walsh of defense.”
Four starting members of the Orange Crush are on the Ring of Fame: Gradishar, outside linebacker Tom Jackson, strong safety Billy Thompson and cornerback Louis Wright. The other members of the ’77 team so honored are defensive lineman Paul Smith, who by then was a backup in the twilight of a terrific career; wide receiver Haven Moses; kicker Jim Turner and quarterback Craig Morton.
Gradishar and Wright should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and Gradishar’s omission – in similar fashion to Goose Gossage’s absence from the baseball Hall – is an indictment of the voting system and the voters themselves.
On the local front, Rick Upchurch should be on the Ring of Fame.
Regardless of the fact that it was more than 18 years after Super Bowl XII when the Avalanche brought Denver its first major-league championship in the spring of 1996, and that the Broncos’ first Super Bowl win wouldn’t come until January 1998, that ’77 Broncos team made history.
More than the signs attest to that.
Terry Frei can be reached at 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com.
