The tight end during the Orange Crush era was the Broncos’ No. 5 overall draft pick in 1972 and lived up to lofty expectations.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — If you’re reading this on the published date, Riley Odoms is on the road driving from Houston to Denver.
He’d have been in Denver by now except that his traveling companions – his wife Alnetia and her cousin Zach Glynn – had some things to take care of first.
The former Broncos’ tight end hasn’t been up this way in 30 years, he figures. He has reason to visit now. Odoms and former Orange Crush teammate Steve Foley will be inducted into the Broncos’ Ring of Fame this weekend, both Saturday night at a dinner honoring the great 1977 Orange Crush team and Sunday morning at their ROF Plaza pillar unveiling ceremony before the Broncos kick off against the Las Vegas Raiders at Empower Field at Mile High.
“I’m looking so much to seeing the old guys from our 1977 team, so excited,’’ Odoms said as he took off on his 15-hour drive that he’ll make in one day. “So excited, it’s keeping me together.’’
His health is great, he said. He has a bad left knee that has him using a cane. His right ankle has been sore for years, and his back is stiff until it loosens up later in the day.
“But I kiss the sky every day when I get around and look up,’’ Odoms said.
It’s been the opinion of this author that Odoms was the most overlooked Bronco the past decade of three for induction into the team’s Ring of Fame. Finally, the revamped Ring of Fame committee gave Odoms and Foley their just due this year. Did Odoms, who is now 74, ever feel slighted during the 35 years he was eligible?
“I had my feelings, but there are have been so many decades of so many players who were great, before me and after me, you can’t point a finger at anyone and say they didn’t deserve their just rewards,’’ Odoms said. “I’m just grateful that’s it’s done now.”
It was mentioned to Odoms that he should have been in the Ring of Fame long before because he had better stats than two other tight ends from that era, Dave Casper and Charlie Sanders, who have long been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“All three of us was were great tight ends,’’ Odoms said. “You just have to pick one. I’ll tell you a little story. I had a conversation with (late Raiders owners) Al Davis at the Pro Bowl. He said, ‘Riley, you know I was still trading for you.’ He said he wanted to move up in the draft but ‘I couldn’t get up to Denver or Houston, who both wanted you.’”
This was the 1972 NFL Draft. The Broncos took Odoms with the No. 5 overall selection. The Houston Oilers at No. 6 selected Greg Sampson, a defensive tackle who converted to left tackle where he was a five-year starter. But no Riley Odoms, who was a four-time Pro Bowlers and three-time All Pro.
The Raiders with the No. 21 pick took receiver Mike Siani, who started well, but was never the same after a third-season injury.
“Al Davis said because he couldn’t get me, he said, ‘I went out to get a big tight end and I picked up Dave Casper,'” Odoms said.
Of his Ring of Fame class of 2024 fellow member Foley, Odoms said, “One of the best free safeties in the world back then. My superstar (receiver) Haven Moses, we tell people to this day that our defense was so great, we would play offense in a way that we didn’t get in their way. We didn’t start opening up the offense until we got to the other side of the 50.’’
Even though it’s been a while since he’s been in Denver, Odoms said he still remembers the drive he took so many times during his career here from 1972 to 1983. He’ll take Interstate 25 to Texas state highway 287 and eventually pick up the Routon Pass to Interstate 25.
“I’m so excited about coming back to Denver,’’ Odoms said. “I have beautiful people there.”
Here’s an excerpt on Odoms’ life story and NFL career in Denver from the book, “The 50 Greatest Players in Denver Broncos History,” that was published in 2017 and written by this author:
No. 26: Riley Odoms, tight end, 1972-1983
A simple check of the career numbers revealed a stunning comparison.
While compiling interviews for this project, I didn’t have to conduct a formal survey to understand why Bronco players from the 1970s and ’80s believe tight end Riley Odoms is the most glaring omission from the team’s Ring of Fame.
I checked out Odoms’ stat sheet and while they were impressive, it was unfortunate injuries and the 1982 players strike robbed him of the chance to top off his numbers in his final two years.
“Then those numbers would have been something to look at,’’ Odoms said.
But wait. While digging into Odoms’ career, I accidently came across the career stats of former Raiders’ tight end Dave Casper. Just about everybody agrees Casper was deserving of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was elected in 2002. Then I remembered Detroit tight end Charlie Sanders was elected into the Hall of Fame as a senior candidate in 2007.
I remembered because I didn’t think there was any way Sanders should have gone in when at least five or six Broncos deserved to go in first.
From 2000-2017, only three tight ends had been elected into the Hall of Fame: Casper, Sanders and Shannon Sharpe, who in 2011 became the fourth Bronco honored. Sharpe played in the 1990s, which was a more pass-happy period, a time when he could be used as much as a receiver as a blocker.
Casper, Sanders and Odoms had their best years in the 1970s, when they blocked at least 80%, if not 90%, of the time. Here’s a comparative look at the stats compiled by those three tight ends during their careers:
Charlie Sanders, 1968-77 (10 years): 336 catches, 4,817 yards, 31 touchdowns.
Dave Casper: 1974-84 (11 years): 378 catches, 5,216 yards, 52 touchdowns.
Riley Odoms: 1972-83 (12 years): 396 catches, 5,755 yards, 41 touchdowns.
Odoms smoked Sanders in all three significant categories of catches, yards and touchdowns. I was surprised to learn Odoms also out produced Casper in catches and yards. Odoms had 18 more catches and 539 more yards than Dave Casper?
Never mind whether Odoms should be elected into the Broncos’ ROF. That should have happened long ago. But look at those numbers again and ask why Odoms hasn’t joined Casper and Sanders in Canton?
And those great ballplayers from the Broncos’ Orange Crush years all say Odoms was their most underrated teammate.
“Riley was a fantastic athlete. He could crash down on the O-line,’’ said Broncos’ receiver Haven Moses. “He was very instrumental in the run game and the softest hands for a tight end I had ever seen. He ran great routes. That’s what made us so successful because when you have a tight end like that it puts a lot of pressure on the strong side of the defense. He should be in the Ring of Fame. To me he is the foundation of the tight end history here with the Broncos.’’
There’s a story behind those soft hands. Raised in Corpus Christi, Texas, Odoms would return every summer to his grandmother’s house and his birthplace of Luling, Texas. There he and his three brothers and five sisters raised by their father George, who worked as a hotel bellhop, and mom Narcissus, a cafeteria cook, would help in the watermelon field.
“I was the second youngest of nine kids,’’ Odoms said. “The youngest person there would be on the trailer, catching the watermelons. You could catch them and stack them all day long but once you’d drop one and it’d burst, you’d have to get down off the wagon.’’
The wagon meant not walking or lifting. Just catching and stacking. The field meant walking miles on end, crouching, lifting and hoisting.
“I did my best to never drop one,’’ Odoms said. “We did that every summer.’’
There is also a story behind Odoms’ athleticism. The description has been used frequently in this book. You don’t become one of the 50 Greatest Players in Broncos history without some form of superior athleticism. Odoms, though, was a 6-foot-4, 235-pound freak.
“He did something I had never seen a human do,’’ said Broncos safety Billy Thompson.
It was after Super Bowl XII and Bronco players were again competing against the Dallas Cowboys, only this time in a less intense Superstars competition in Hawaii. Players on both sides were competing in an obstacle course race. It was fun until someone said, ‘Go.’ Then the intensity of competition between these elite athletes raised to game-day Sunday levels.
“There was a high jump pit,’’ Thompson said. “Most guys would get to the high jump pit and would just lag over. Riley Odoms hurdled it and came down on the other side in stride and kept running. I had never seen an individual that big do that. That’s the kind of talent he had.’’
Odoms explained that instead of using the customary Western Roll technique in clearing the bar, he used the Eastern Cut, which features a scissors action with the legs, a maneuver more closely resembling the hurdle clear.
“I was a 6-10 high jumper in high school,’’ Odoms said. “I did the Eastern Cut and I just went over it. And it was perfect. They were all saying, ‘How did you do that?’ It was natural.’’
Odoms played mostly receiver at West Oso High School in Corpus Christi, but because it was a smaller classification school, he also played running back, quarterback and middle linebacker. At the University of Houston, the Cougars ran a veer offense but in his senior year, Odoms was one of three All American tight ends honored after he had 45 catches for 730 yards and eight touchdowns in 12 games.
In the subsequent NFL Draft, Odoms became the highest pick in Broncos history when he was selected No. 5 overall in the first round. Since then, the Broncos have only had three players taken higher: Chris Hinton, at No. 4 overall in 1983; Mike Croel, at No. 4 overall in 1991; and Von Miller, who went No. 2 overall in 2011. (Bradley Chubb was taken by the Broncos with the No. 5 overall draft pick in 2018, a year after this book was published).
Odoms was a backup tight end and special teams player in his rookie year of 1972, then started all 14 games in his second season of 1973, breaking out with 43 catches for 629 yards and seven touchdowns.
“There were times when Denver would flank Riley out at wide receiver,’’ said Broncos receiver great Lionel Taylor, who was coaching the Pittsburgh Steelers receivers from 1970-76. “And throw that hitch to him or a slant and he’d scare the hell out of you. I know I was coaching Pittsburgh and we’d go, “Oh no.’’ Riley was big. He’d run over you.’’
Odoms was a first-team All Pro in 1974 and ’75. He did not miss a game through his first seven seasons, then played with a broken arm in 1979 and dislocated shoulder in 1980.
“’The Judge’ we used to call him,’’ said Broncos defensive back Steve Foley. “There was a good reason. He was 260 and if Riley got the ball and the defensive back was coming, he would punish you. That’s why we called him, ‘The Judge.’ I mean he’s looking for you. I’m telling you he’s going to punish you. He had an edge to him that was, ‘Don’t mess with Riley.’ He was a mean – not a mean person, great person – but on the field he’s got a meanness to him that I felt for the DBs who were coming up on him. You don’t know what you’re about to run into. You’re 195 pounds? Watch this.’’
Odoms made the Pro Bowl team four teams but he was mostly overshadowed in his era by the likes of Kellen Winslow, Ozzie Newsome, Russ Francis and Casper. All played in the AFC.
“Just my opinion, Riley was the prototype tight end at that time,’’ said Rick Upchurch, the Broncos’ returner and receiver from the mid-1970s until mid-1980s. “He was just as good or better than Russ Francis or Casper, Ozzie Newsome and all those tight ends. He was the total package. He could block. He could run. He could catch. He was a beast, man.
“And Riley was the type of guy who would pull you off to the side and say, “This is how you catch the ball. This is what you have to do. This is what you ought to do. Because I know the type of potential you have.’’
The highlight of Odoms’ 12-year career with the Broncos?
“You never forget the kinship we had with the Super Bowl team,’’ he said.
He then recalled his favorite play, a 13-yard reception early in the third quarter of the AFC Championship Game that turned second-and-8 from the 15 into first-and-goal at the 2. (And on the next play, Raiders fans, Rob Lytle did NOT fumble!).
Odoms had 37 catches in that championship ’77 season before having a career-best 54 receptions for 829 yards and six touchdowns in 1978.
“Our offense was never highly rated, it was just the Orange Crush defense that everybody recognized,’’ Odoms said. “It wasn’t until we crossed the 50 when they let us go. Even though we had Otis Armstrong and Haven Moses, our offense was set up so we would not make a mistake on this side of the 50 because we knew teams couldn’t go 80 yards against our great defense. So we never wanted to leave our defense with a short field. But once we got across the 50 yard line we had a very explosive offense. Once we crossed the 50, then we’d start throwing the ball around a little bit.
“But I don’t complain. Our era just started to throw to the tight end. I watched John Mackey growing up as a kid. And I would go, ‘Whoa, this Mackey can catch the ball.’ But then he’d go back to blocking.’’
The Broncos never could get their offense going in Super Bowl XII against Dallas, but as Odoms recalls it, it could have been different if not for some bum luck early in the game.
“I remember running out there in the big old stadium for the Super Bowl,’’ Odoms said, referring to the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. “And I remember one play. We knew that (linebacker Thomas) Henderson was going to bite up on that run on play-action. We called it. It was early in the first quarter. I’m at the Dallas’ 30 or 25-yard line cutting across the field. Wide open. And Too Tall Jones leaps up and knocks the ball down. Oh my gosh. It was my time. Wide open.’’
Since his retirement as a player, Odoms has stayed busy while settling back in Houston. He was in the auto parts business for years, then worked for cable and communications companies. His left knee still bothers him from an injury suffered near the end of his career, as does the right ankle from his rookie year. His back is stiff most of the day until it loosens up as the day goes on.
“You just deal with it,’’ Odoms said. “I have quality of life. I just deal with the pain and go about my day. I walk better as I step. First thing in the morning I’m real stiff but better than looking up at the roots in the ground.’’
Around Houston, Odoms still follows the Broncos closely.
“They don’t call me ‘Riley’ here,’’ he said. “They call me ‘Omaha.’ When Peyton would call out, ‘Omaha, Omaha,’ I’d walk into a bar here and they’d say, ‘Here comes Omaha.’’’
Maybe someday he’ll walk into the Ring of Fame, if not through Canton’s hallowed halls.
“If it happens, it’ll be nice to go on back there and see the guys again,’’ Odoms said.
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