Dennis Smith received a call from his old friend Wednesday night.
Steve Atwater was on the line. He had a question for Smith: Would you be my presenter when I go into the Hall of Fame?
"I was shocked," Smith said Friday in a phone interview with 9News. "I almost passed out. It’s such an honor. When you reach this level of success, there are so many people that you have to choose from. He could have chosen a college coach, a high school coach. A family member.
"It could have been a teammate on one of the Super Bowl teams he played on that won back to back. So I feel really honored and really overwhelmed that he would chose me."
Smith and Atwater were such a dynamic safety tandem for the Broncos in the six-year period between 1989-1994 – the back end of Smith’s career and beginning of Atwater’s – that it was difficult to differentiate between them.
Both were large by safety standards.
"Our games were pretty similar,’’ Smith said. “I liked the way they played Atwater his whole career. They played him where they took advantage of his strengths.
"For me it was a little different because I was able to do more as far as covering. I was more like an all-around DB. Atwater was more of a pure safety. And they took advantage of that. He was able to do great things playing safety. I was able to do great things with whatever they told me to do. Being able to do a lot of things kind of hurt you sometimes because you couldn’t specialize on one thing you were best at.
"But when Wade Phillips came in (as defensive coordinator in 1989), he played us primarily at safety and he did some things with us that really made us shine. I credit Wade Phillips, too, for the development of Steve Atwater."
Smith and Atwater were equally bone-rattling hard hitters.
"I was thinking about this today," Smith said. "I was thinking about the game of chicken. Somebody has to flinch or duck. You have to get over that fear of what’s going to happen. Once you have that collision, and you realize, Oh, I didn’t die, (laughs) -- I can do this. Once you figure that out and start playing chicken with people you realize they don’t want to play chicken anymore.
"When he hit Christian Okoye, he hit him early in the game and he was a non-factor after that. When you hit them early, usually they’re dizzy or you knock them out of the game for a while. And they don’t want to play anymore. You don’t want to injure or kill anybody but you want to take their heart away. That’s what we did. As it went on you ran out of games to play chicken with."
There are die-hard Broncos fans and longtime observers who will say Smith was better than Atwater, no matter what the Hall of Fame says. Atwater himself has long said Smith was better because he was faster. And Smith was more versatile than the Hall of Fame safety mate he helped mentor.
"It seems like I’ve been overlooked," said Smith, who was moved to the senior pool of Hall of Fame candidates with Karl Mecklenburg last year. "I’ve never been overlooked by the Broncos community, though, so that’s a good thing."
Smith has said there is one area where Atwater had it over him: Super Bowl victories. Both started in three Super Bowls. But Smith’s Broncos lost all three Super Bowls, first to the New York Giants before they were blown out by Washington and San Francisco.
Atwater was part of the loss to the 49ers following his rookie season of 1989, but also the Super Bowl wins against the Packers and Falcons in 1997-98. And Atwater played well in both those Super Bowl victories.
"That was the difference," Smith said. "That’s what I tell him that separates us. Super Bowls are important. And they’re more important – for me, personally, I’d much rather have two Super Bowl rings over the Hall of Fame, any day."
Smith said Atwater was going to call him later Friday to go over what’s involved with presenting. What they do for presenters now is someone from the Hall of Fame or NFL Films will interview Smith on camera about Atwater. Smith will answer questions about his friend and former teammate. They’ll edit highlights over his answers.
At the end, he’ll look at the camera and say something like, “It is my privilege and honor to present Steve Atwater into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”
It will be taped and edited. And then when his video presentation is finished, Smith and Atwater will be live on stage Saturday, August 8 in Canton, Ohio and together they will pull the cloth off Atwater’s bust, officially inducting Smith’s safety partner into the Hall of Fame.
"I can do that," Smith said with a laugh. "I played six years with him. Where we were similar -- he’s such a nice guy off the field. Such a great person. But on the field he was totally different. He would tear your head off. And I was the same way. That’s what we had in common.
"We have such a mutual respect for one another. I feel like he’s a brother from another mother. Maybe he felt like I had a lot to do with his development as a professional player. And I think that might have had a lot to do with why he chose me."
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