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Ex-Broncos find green pastures

Former Broncos tackle new lines of work

James Paton, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 14, 2006 at midnight

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Sammy Winder gets dirty driving a bulldozer. Floyd Little weaves through a parking lot full of Fords. Ken Lanier is into plumbing. And Keith Kartz has a perfect home for you in Cherry Creek.

A professional football career, and the glory that accompanies it, often span but a few seasons.

The next chapter lasts decades, and the time spent in the real world tends to be far less glamorous, exhilarating and lucrative.

The more fortunate athletes from recent years toil today to find fulfillment, not because they need the cash. They earned enough money and name recognition to coast through retirement. Still, those who passed, received, rushed, blocked and tackled on the NFL's gridiron before the era of multimillion-dollar contracts and endorsement deals must rely on a steady paycheck.

As the Denver Broncos face the New England Patriots in the playoffs today, here's a look at the players of yesterday, the foundation of the franchise.

Everyone knows what John Elway is up to — cars, Colorado Crush and pitching products. While his grin appears all the time, the faces of other players are much less visible.

Members of the Broncos from the late 1960s on offered a window into their post-NFL lives and discussed the business moves they've made since stepping off the stage. Many have found their niches and proved themselves again — or are attempting to — as car dealers, CEOs, real estate mavens, hotel managers, TV personalities, corporate spokesmen, motivational speakers and more.

Floyd Little

The Syracuse University star received only $23,000 in his first year in the league and knew right off he had to think about a future without football.

Practicing with the Broncos by day, the running back known affectionately as "the franchise" took classes at the University of Denver law school at night.

At first, he wanted to become a judge, but after leaving football he went to work instead for Coors as a beer distributor. Little also dabbled in broadcasting, using his expertise to entertain fans.

Little, who played with the Broncos from 1967 to 1975 and is second in all-time team rushing yards behind Terrell Davis, eventually settled into a quiet life as a car dealer on the West Coast, working in California and Washington.

The 5-foot-11 car dealer, now 63 years old, said he was eager to have a normal life. "I wanted to be me," he said. "I didn't want all the scrutiny."

Little has owned Pacific Coast Ford near Seattle for about 15 years.

Jack Dolbin

The Broncos wide receiver from 1975 to 1979, now a chiropractor in Pottsville, Pa., is quick to note how much the game has changed.

"With some of the more contemporary players, you ask, 'What do you plan on doing?' and the universal comment is we don't have to do anything," he said. "They can sit back and watch their investments grow."

Dolbin made as much as $125,000 one year, not a bad salary for the late 1970s, yet couldn't afford to stay idle. After the Super Bowl in 1978, a loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Dolbin didn't head to the golf course or the beach. The fleet-footed receiver returned to a J.C. Penney store outside Chicago, where he worked as a security guard pursuing shoplifters.

"I caught 66 people one year," he said. "I chased people down in the hallways of the mall, in the parking lots, and tackled them. I was somewhat of a celebrity."

Dolbin, 57, also had trained to become a chiropractor in the off-season, knowing football would be short-lived.

Jon Keyworth

Dolbin's teammate, the 6-foot-3 running back from the University of Colorado, fondly remembers his off seasons. Keyworth put out a record album and traveled throughout the West singing Make Those Miracles Happen, a tune that had become popular in 1977 in the months before the Super Bowl.

Keyworth said he and his band in 1979 opened for Frank Sinatra at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. When his football career ended, Keyworth hoped his name would give him a lift in business.

He opened a couple of restaurants in the Denver area but "failed miserably at it," he acknowledged. "The money invested in it was lost."

Keyworth learned from his mistakes. These days he runs a "health and wellness" company near Asheville, N.C. The company markets technology aimed at healing ailments and injuries without drugs.

Randy Gradishar

Photos, news clips and a bright orange jersey bearing the number 53 fill a glass showcase in the lobby of a car dealership in southwest Denver.

Gradishar, the seven-time Pro Bowler and key member of the famous Orange Crush defense, is communications director for Phil Long. In that role, he motivates workers, oversees a foundation that directs money to youth groups and takes part in Broncos charity efforts.

The hard-hitting linebacker, who began playing football as a boy in Champion, Ohio, in the late 1960s and finished a decadelong career with the Broncos in 1983, said he has been guided by his Christian faith. "The best decision I've made is following God," he said.

Gradishar said that Woody Hayes, his coach at Ohio State, stressed the importance of being a good citizen, not just a good football player.

While he's clearly proud of his past, he seems equally happy to talk about his present. "It was great having a football career, but I always knew I had to go out and get a job."

Sammy Winder

For the last 15 years, the Pocahontas, Miss., native has driven a bulldozer as the sole employee of Winder Construction. The Broncos running back for nine seasons created the company in 1987.

With retirement a few years later, he knew it was time to go home. "It's hard, but the first thing you gotta do is let that life go," he said. "Football is great — while it lasts."

Winder, the son of a farmer, said he "had always been around dirt" and had worked outside. Clearing land for home building "is the only thing I know how to do," he said.

He admits he hasn't stayed in shape. "These days, I couldn't run across the street, unless there was a pork chop over there," said Winder, who went to the University of Southern Mississippi and rushed for 5,428 yards as a Bronco.

But he seems content with his life away from the sport.

"Once a year, I have a dream I'm suiting up again," he said. "I get the call from the Broncos, 'Sammy, we need you.' But let it stay a dream. I want nothing to touch me now that hurts worse than a mosquito."

Karl Mecklenburg

Standing before groups of executives, students and churchgoers, he delivers inspiring words about teamwork, courage and fulfilling dreams.

"It's the closest thing I've found to the adrenaline rush I got from football," said Mecklenburg, who played seven different positions on defense for the Broncos between 1983 and 1994.

A college walk-on and a 12th-round draft pick, Mecklenburg fought his way into football. Now 45, he said he had to work at public speaking, too.

"I was a typical guy," he said. "A three-minute telephone conversation was my limit."

He noted that football doesn't prepare you for many jobs later on. "Maybe a bouncer," he said.

Mecklenburg, a former Broncos captain now on his 14th surgery, said he had lived within his means, saving his football money, but wanted to stay busy after his career ended in 1995. He has been an assistant football coach at Kent Denver High School and also a spokesman for Accent Windows.

Le-Lo Lang

Broncos fans may not remember his plays, but some may recognize his name. "It sticks out like a sore thumb," he said.

Lang was a cornerback in Denver from 1990 to 1993, starting occasionally and playing mainly on special teams.

Today he's a branch manager at a Key Bank in Parker.

"A lot of people have the misconception you made John Elway type of money," said Lang, who pulled in a whopping $75,000 his rookie year in the league. "But just one of his paychecks was more than my salary for the entire year. People come in and say, 'Why are you working? You should be vacationing.' "

The former Bronco, who played a fifth season with Seattle, is one of thousands of football players lucky enough to have made it into the NFL but not lucky enough to take the rest of his life off.

A quarterback initially, Lang, who is black, chose the University of Washington, knowing it had given Warren Moon a chance to play a position that traditionally was reserved for white players. He later switched to defense and got a chance to start in a 1992 playoff game against Moon and his Houston Oilers.

Keith Kartz

At 6 feet 4, 270 pounds, he wasn't big by lineman standards. He was known for his balance, his hands.

However, for a Denver real estate broker, he's huge.

Kartz, voted most inspirational player in the 1989-1990 season, drifted until he landed in his current spot, working with Metro Brokers Inc. to sell properties.

When his career ended, he went into golf course management, then golf equipment sales, ending up as a lineman coach for the Colorado Crush arena football club.

That didn't last.

"After the inaugural season, the owners didn't like the way things were going," he said.

Kartz, who played for the Broncos from 1987 to 1994, for years had bought and sold properties on the side, so real estate was a good fit.

Kartz said he made close to $1 million a year at the peak, but football did not make him filthy rich. "People have this perception you made so much money you don't need to work again," he said.

"The majority of people need to work," he said. "Most guys find they get a little bored. They play golf but need something else to do. You need to use your brain and accomplish something during the week."

Steve Atwater

The sinewy safety can still visualize the field, the Green Bay Packers offense lining up for a play, Brett Favre dropping back to pass. He can hear the fans screaming at Qualcomm Stadium.

Atwater recollects every little detail of the Broncos' first Super Bowl victory in January 1998.

How do match that kind of rush?

The answer: You don't.

Like his peers, Atwater has accepted the new reality, and happily.

Atwater until recently was working 10- to 12-hour days for a money management firm in Atlanta, selling investment products to wealthy individuals.

That didn't suit him, so he's now keeping an eye on his real estate holdings and trading stocks while spending more time with his family.

He says he is fortunate financially and isn't forced to work, though managing his investments and helping his three boys and daughter "grow up in this crazy society we live in" is time consuming.

He doesn't miss football.

"I was happy to go out near the top," he said. "At some point, everyone comes to that time to go, whether they're ready or not."

Howard Griffith

The man who once used bruising blocks to clear a path for Davis, the Broncos star running back in the late 1990s, felt like a new college graduate — although he was in his mid-30s.

Unlike a 21-year-old, the Broncos fullback had financial security.

Yet "there's only so much golf you can play," he said.

Griffith, who spent five seasons with the Broncos, needed a career.

So he turned to broadcasting, accepting a job with sports television network FSN Rocky Mountain in 2003. Griffith appears regularly as an analyst on the show Football Playbook.

Getting the work was the easy part. Griffith knew he would have to be good to keep his on-air job.

"You have to find something that really drives you, a reason to get up in the morning," he said. "Nothing's going to replace what you did on a football field. A common theme is players looking for something to compete at, something that will deliver the same feeling. From my perspective, that doesn't exist."

What a few former team members are doing now

Steve Atwater Safety, 1989-1998 Real estate investor; recently left Atlanta-based money management firm.

Jack Dolbin Wide receiver, 1975-1979 Chiropractor in Pottsville, Pa.

Ron Egloff Tight end, 1977-1983 Colorado Mortgage Holding, part owner of Jackson's All-American sports bars.

John Elway Quarterback, 1983-1998 Part owner, Colorado Crush; has Elway's restaurant in Cherry Creek and attachments to a number of corporate brands.

Randy Gradishar Linebacker, 1974-1983 Corporation communications director, Phil Long car dealerships along the Front Range.

Howard Griffith Fullback, 1997-2001 Analyst on FSN Rocky Mountain show Football Playbook.

Jim Jensen Running back, 1977, 1979-1980 Marketing director, Colorado Eagles hockey team in Loveland.

Rulon Jones Defensive end, 1980-1988 Runs Broadmouth Canyon Ranch, which arranges elk, deer and moose hunts, in Liberty, Utah.

Rich Karlis Kicker, 1982-1988 Director of sponsorship and events, corporate communications, Qwest Communications.

Keith Kartz Center/tackle 1987-1994 Real estate broker in Denver.

Jon Keyworth Running back, 1974-1980 CEO, health and wellness company in Brevard, N.C.

Ken Lanier Tackle, 1981-1992, 1994 Recently sold a Pak Mail packaging and shipping store in Aurora. Now serves as a manager for Artifex Enterprises, a company that works with Home Depot.

Le-Lo Lang Cornerback, 1990-1993 Branch manager, Key Bank.

Floyd Little Running back, 1967-1975 Owner of Pacific Coast Ford near Seattle.

Karl Mecklenburg Linebacker/defensive end 1983-1994 Motivational speaker; Accent Windows spokesman.

Claudie Minor Tackle, 1974-1982 Real estate developer in the Denver area; recently exited the oil and gas business.

Jerry Simmons Wide receiver, 1971-1974 Hyatt hotel manager in San Francisco.

Billy Thompson Defensive back, 1969-1981 Director of alumni and community relations, Denver Broncos.

Sammy Winder Running back, 1982-1990 Winder Construction in Jackson, Miss.

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