The 50 Greatest Players in Denver Broncos History by Mike Klis

Author:Mike Klis
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781493029181
Publisher: Lyons Press

25

— RULON JONES —

Defensive End, 1980–88

One of these years, the Denver Broncos are going to induct Rulon Jones into their Ring of Fame.

And when that moment occurs, the overwhelming response among Broncos fans will be: Wait a minute; Rulon Jones wasn’t already in the Ring of Fame?

Jones was one of the most popular Broncos players in the 1980s, a defensive end who was the AFC Defensive Player of the Year in 1986, and recognized as the team’s all-time sack leader with 73.5 when he retired after his 1988 season.

It’s possible that Jones simply fell through the Ring of Fame cracks. It wasn’t until Pat Bowlen came along as owner in 1984 that the Ring was established, and by the time the Broncos finished honoring their backlog of stars from yesteryear, they were on to the players from their Super Bowl championship teams in the late 1990s.

“I’ve had a lot of people mention that, you know, why aren’t you there,” Jones said. “But honestly, that type of stuff I haven’t worried about very much. I think in the back of your mind it’s there and you wonder about it. But I’m just not that connected with football.”

Not connected? Soon after problems with his right knee forced him to retire early in the training camp of 1989, when he was 31 years old, Rulon Jones went off the grid.

Literally. A 6-foot-6, 260-pound defensive lineman who had more brains than brawn—and he had plenty of brawn—Jones is an introspective sort who loved football and the city of Denver so much as a player, he needed a new beginning when he stopped playing.

“We loved it there,” Jones said. “For me, the emotional part of it—and I think a lot of football players go through some weird things—I loved Denver and was going to live there. But just being around football and being around Denver . . . Denver is so into the Broncos. It just didn’t fit for me to stay there. I needed to get away from it. So, we moved back to Utah. I had a ranch there. My son runs that ranch now, and then we eventually bought a ranch in Idaho and lived up there.

“But we loved Denver. Could have very easily stayed there, but especially right after I retired, it’s hard to be amongst all that and not be part of it. I think you have this identity for so long and all the sudden it’s over and it’s not who you are anymore. It’s a little weird. I know a lot of ballplayers struggle with that.”

After covering professional sports for going on 30 years, I have concluded that the greatest thing a person can be on this earth is a professional athlete. And the toughest thing a person can be in this world is a former professional athlete.

There is nothing in the real world that can match the euphoria, the adrenaline rush, of performing in front of a sold-out stadium of fans. Nothing in life ever beats the thrill of victory.

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