{"id":45535,"date":"2021-07-29T21:42:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-30T03:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/okoye-hit-symbolized-hall-of-famer-atwaters-career-but-didnt-define-it\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:25:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:25:43","slug":"okoye-hit-symbolized-hall-of-famer-atwaters-career-but-didnt-define-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/okoye-hit-symbolized-hall-of-famer-atwaters-career-but-didnt-define-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Okoye hit symbolized hall-of-famer Atwater’s career but didn\u2019t define it"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"In
In this file photo taken Oct. 23, 1989, Seattle Seahawks' Louis Clark (84) brings in a pass as Denver Broncos' Steve Atwater defends. Atwater will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame with the class of 2020. (AP Photo\/Barry Sweet\/Associated Press)<\/span>Barry Sweet<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

DENVER (AP) \u2014 Steve Atwater was in his second season with the Denver Broncos in 1990 when then-public relations chief Jim Saccomano approached him a few days before their home opener against Kansas City.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey Steve, we want to mic you for the game Monday night,\u201d Saccomano announced.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgainst Christian Okoye?\u201d answered an incredulous Atwater. \u201cWhy would you want to mic me up for this, of all games?\u201d<\/p>\n

Because the super-sized safety nicknamed the “Smiling Assassin” versus the All-Pro 260-pound running back known as the \u201cNigerian Nightmare\u201d was about as good as it gets.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely was hesitant,\u201d Atwater recounted recently as he reflected on a career that has landed him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. \u201cI wasn’t just like, \u2018Yeah, put it on me! I\u2019m confident I’m going to go out there and make something happen!’\u201d<\/p>\n

The folks at NFL Films are forever grateful that Atwater relented and agreed to wear the microphone that night.<\/p>\n

When Okoye took a handoff from Steve DeBerg and stepped into the hole, the running back was met by the fierce free safety who moved like a cornerback, hit like a linebacker and, at 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds, was built like today’s edge rushers.<\/p>\n

Boom!<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe could hear the hit from the sideline,\u201d John Elway marveled.<\/p>\n

So could everybody at home.<\/p>\n

Okoye recoiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, you tried, baby!\u201d Atwater bellowed as he hovered over Okoye.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll be remembered for that hit the rest of his career,\u201d a young Broncos offensive assistant named Mike Shanahan said after Denver\u2019s 24-23 victory that night.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just fortunate to come out on the right side of that one,\u201d Atwater said all these years later, \u201cbecause that guy had trucked so many people, and I\u2019m lucky I wasn\u2019t one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The seminal stop is being saluted anew as Atwater prepares for his induction into Canton on Aug. 7 with the rest of the class of 2020, a ceremony that was delayed a year because of the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt couldn\u2019t happen to a better guy,\u201d Elway said. \u201cHe had such a great career and was a guy that changed that position because of his size and his ability to move around.\u201d While intimidation \u201cis no longer as big a part of the game as it used to be,\u201d Elway added, \u201che was an intimidating guy that did a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI just loved physical football,\u201d said Atwater, who was born in Chicago, raised in St. Louis and starred at the University of Arkansas after moving from quarterback to safety as a freshman so he could see the field sooner.<\/p>\n

Atwater and Okoye have only spoken briefly about the iconic play that links their careers. A few years ago Okoye asked Atwater to send him a video for a roast in Okoye’s honor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was glad he called because we got the chance to chop it up a little bit,\u201d Atwater said. \u201cAnd anybody who\u2019s met Christian Okoye knows he\u2019s a heck of a guy. And on the football field things happen at different times and, hey, I\u2019ve gotten run over by different guys, he\u2019s gotten hit by other guys, too. So, it\u2019s not out of the norm for this to happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cFortunately, on that particularly play I happened to come out on the winning side of it,\u201d added Atwater, who, like Okoye, became known as much for his congenial manner as for his ferocious play.<\/p>\n

While that iconic hit on Okoye might symbolize Atwater\u2019s spectacular football career, it certainly doesn\u2019t define it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a lot of great moments,\u201d said Atwater’s teammate and mentor Dennis Smith. \u201cHe was an impact player. He had a big impact on wins and losses. Even if it was just his presence. Teams were so afraid of him that they had to game plan ways to just avoid him. He was so big and could move and cover a lot of ground. He just had a lot of skills that a kid his size doesn\u2019t usually have.\u201d<\/p>\n

What elevated Atwater to stardom, Smith said, \u201cwas the way he played in Super Bowls.\u201d<\/p>\n

Atwater, who now works as a fan development manager for the Broncos marketing department, was so instrumental in Denver\u2019s first world championship that Shanahan suggested he deserved Super Bowl 32 co-MVP honors with Terrell Davis, who scored three touchdowns that day.<\/p>\n

While fellow Hall of Famers Elway, Davis, Shannon Sharpe and Gary Zimmerman were starring on offense in Denver’s 31-24 win over the heavily favored Packers, Atwater spearheaded Denver\u2019s dizzying defense that badgered Brett Favre with six tackles, a strip sack that turned into a tone-setting takeaway, and two pass breakups.<\/p>\n

\u201cSteve made big plays throughout the game,\u201d Shanahan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I like physical football,\u201d explained Atwater, who played in Denver from 1989-98, capping his time with the Broncos with a seven-tackle performance in the Broncos\u2019 34-19 win over the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl XXXIII.<\/p>\n

He played one final season with the Jets, then signed a ceremonial one-day contract in Denver to retire a Bronco.<\/p>\n

A member of the NFL\u2019s All-Decade Team of the 1990s, Atwater was an eight-time Pro Bowler whose accolades included three AFC championships, two Super Bowl titles and one of the most memorable hits in NFL history.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe brought such a physical presence to our football team,\u201d Shanahan said. \u201cWhen he hit you, you were going backward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Okoye.<\/p>\n

\"In
In this photo taken Jan. 25, 1998, Denver Broncos safety Steve Atwater (27) jumps into the air in an attempt to block a pass by Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre during the third quarter in Super Bowl XXXII at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium. At left are Packers' Dorsey Levens (25) and Adam Timmerman (63). (AP Photo\/John Gaps III, File)<\/span>JOHN GAPS III<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Former
Former NFL player Steve Atwater announces that the Denver Broncos select Georgia Tech's Adam Gotsis as the 63rd pick in the second round of the 2016 NFL football draft in Chicago in this photo from April 29, 2016, file photo. Atwater played for the Broncos from 1989 to 1999. (AP Photo\/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)<\/span>Charles Rex Arbogast<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

this file photo taken Oct. 23, 1989, Seattle Seahawks' Louis Clark (84) brings in a pass as Denver Broncos' Steve Atwater defends. Atwater will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame with the class of 2020. (AP Photo\/Barry Sweet\/Associated Press)Barry Sweet DENVER (AP) \u2014 Steve Atwater was in his second season with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1545,926],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-45535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-denver-broncos","tag-football"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45535"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86535,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45535\/revisions\/86535"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45535"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=45535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}