Remembering 'The Franchise': Hall of Fame RB Floyd Little dead at 78

[Miles]

In his final four seasons, Little added to his career accolades — two more years with at least 800 rushing yards apiece, new career highs in rushing touchdowns in a single season and yards from scrimmage. But perhaps none of those personal accomplishments meant as much as team's first winning season in 1973.


After a most inauspicious beginning, the Broncos finally had turned the tide and were at last emerging as a team worth respecting. Unfortunately, Little's time in the NFL would end in 1975, just two years shy of the Broncos' first postseason berth.


After Little's final season in 1975, his star loomed large in Broncos and NFL history. When he retired, he was seventh in rushing yards in pro football history and first in franchise history. At that time, his 6,323 career rushing yards were nearly 5,000 more than who was in second place. It was a record that wouldn't be broken until 1998.


Yet all that did not add up to surefire Hall of Fame candidacy, though many fans, analysts and peers thought it should.


For 35 years, Little waited. It was the only personal accomplishment that eluded him. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983. He was a member of the Broncos' inaugural Ring of Fame class in 1984 and his number has been retired.


As the years wore on, the more egregious Little's became, but it was finally rectified in 2010 when he was elected as seniors candidate.


Though the wait had been frustrating, Little was delighted to no end after being inducted. The idea that he was among the league's greats was maybe something that needed little validation. What resonated more was knowing that, in a way, he'd live on long after he passed.


"We are bound to leave everything we accomplished in this lifetime behind, passing it on," Little said in his enshrinement speech. "So leave a legacy that you and your family can be proud [of]."


There's no question Little did that, even outside of football.


After struggling with his education during his teenage years, Little refocused his devotion to learning at Syracuse and later as a student at the University of Denver. At the same time that he was leading a Hall of Fame playing career, Little was also working on a master's degree, graduating in 1975.


"I would go to practice in the day, and I would go to classes at night," Little said in 2019. "When I tell people that I went to Denver Law School at night while I played, they say, 'It's impossible, you can't do that.'


"Well, I guess that's what I've done all my life."