Broncos great Rod Smith believes he’s ‘deserving’ of Hall of Fame honors

Rod Smith spent his entire career with the Denver Broncos and earned three Pro Bowl selections along with two Super Bowl championships between 1995 and 2006.

Not to mention, Smith had 849 catches for 11,389 yards and 68 touchdowns. He’s 30th in receptions all time, 34th in receiving yards all time and tied for 53rd in receiving touchdowns all time making him the all-time leading receiver in Broncos’ franchise history.

Smith’s Super Bowl resume puts him above some of the other players around him on the NFL all-time stat list. But the question is whether his numbers are good enough to earn a spot in Canton.

Smith seems to think so.

“I feel I’m deserving, but I don’t get to vote,” Smith told the Denver Gazette in a recent interview.

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Smith pointed to his body of work when he was with Denver. The ball was mainly put through running back Terrell Davis when he was there. Olandis Gary, Mike Anderson, Clinton Portis and Reuben Droughns also rushed for 1,000 yards when Smith was catching passes for Denver.

“We had a 1,000-yard rusher every year I was there [except for one],” Smith added. “You’ve got to look at my complete body of work. During my era, we won more games than just about anybody. At the end of the day, what I cared about more than anything was winning, and they can’t take the Super Bowls away from me.”

Receivers Raymond Berry and Art Monk, who both had 68 touchdown catches during their careers, are both Hall of Famers. Smith also had more receiving yards than Berry and Lance Alworth, too.

Smith was among the nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2023 but wasn’t named a finalist.