One of the biggest steals in Broncos' draft history, Karl Mecklenburg went from 12th-round pick to Ring of Honor

Apr. 15—Karl Mecklenburg had it all planned for April 27, 1983. After being selected in the NFL draft, he would celebrate by enjoying a margarita with his girlfriend and some buddies at his Minneapolis residence.

The Minnesota defensive tackle had led the Big Ten in sacks as a junior in 1981 and tied for the lead in 1982. So he didn't figure he would have to wait too long to be taken on the second day of the two-day draft.

The hours, though, continued to go by, and Mecklenburg's name wasn't called. The second day of the draft wasn't televised, and he eventually gave up waiting by the phone.

"I was tired, so I just went to bed," Mecklenburg told The Denver Gazette. "Then the phone rang around midnight. It was (then-Broncos coach) Dan Reeves' secretary. She said I was drafted, and that we're going to mail you an airline ticket to come out and start working out with the team."

That's how Mecklenburg found out he had been taken in the 12th and final round with the No. 310 overall pick. There was no call from the general manager or a coach or even a scout.

So what happened with the margarita?

"I did have it and then went back to bed," Mecklenburg said of the quick celebration he had with Kathi, now his longtime wife.

It's been 40 years since Mecklenburg was the last of 12 players selected by Denver in that draft. The draft was cut to eight rounds in 1993 and then to its current format of seven in 1994.

Mecklenburg went on to become one of the biggest steals in Denver's draft history, playing his first two seasons as a reserve defensive lineman before finding a home as a starting linebacker in 1985. He played through 1994 and was named first-team All-Pro three times and to six Pro Bowls. Known for his versatility, Mecklenburg played all seven defensive spots up front in his career, and he remains third on Denver's all-time sack list with 79.

Since he retired, Mecklenburg, 62, has been a motivational speaker. And you better believe he brings up having beaten the odds as a late-round draft pick to become a member of the Broncos Ring of Honor.

"That's the nature of the NFL is you've got to prove yourself," Mecklenburg said. "But every day I knew I belonged. ... I wasn't going to sell myself short."

Even if the NFL sold him short. Literally.

Looking back at the 1983 draft, Mecklenburg said one reason he dropped is teams were inaccurately informed that he was 6-foot-2 rather than 6-4. He didn't find out about the error until after the event.

Mecklenburg, not helped by playing on a 3-8 Minnesota team, also wasn't invited to the combine. He was clocked at an unimpressive 4.9 seconds in the 40-yard dash and was undersized for a defensive lineman at 240 pounds. Still, he had put up impressive college stats and had been told by Atlanta Falcons officials they would select him in one of the middle rounds.

"I slipped back to Denver," he said. "Thank goodness. It was the perfect place for me."

Mecklenburg believes one reason the Broncos took him with their final draft selection is he had two sacks in a 1982 game against Northwestern left tackle Chris Hinton. The Broncos had selected Hinton with the No. 4 overall pick before trading him the following week in the deal for quarterback John Elway, who had gone No. 1 to Baltimore but refused to play for the Colts.

"I pretty much manhandled him," Mecklenburg said.

Mecklenburg and Hinton have joked about that over the years.

"He always says that, but I've been digging around to try to find some film," Hinton said.

Joe Collier, then the Broncos' defensive coordinator, remembers pre-draft conversations surrounding Mecklenburg.

"We saw some sparks in him as a pass rusher when he was playing at Minnesota, and we knew he was going to pursue a medical degree," Collier said of Mecklenburg, whose father was a doctor and who at one point had considered also becoming one. "So we figured he must be a pretty smart guy."

When Mecklenburg first arrived for training camp, he was just another guy in camp. The Broncos had 110 players on hand, and the regular-season roster limit was 45.

"My first number was 66, and that was Brison Manor's number, too," Mecklenburg said of being handed a number duplicate to one worn by an established defensive lineman.

Mecklenburg said he continued to use his college cleats in camp. And he went to the equipment manager once when he had a hole in a sock and hardly got the treatment that a high draft pick would.

"They weren't going to give me a pair of socks," Mecklenburg said. "They only would give me one sock."

The Broncos initially had Mecklenburg beef up to 255 pounds to play nose tackle, but that wasn't a good fit. He then was moved to defensive end, and it went well.

"In the first preseason game, we were playing Seattle and in the fourth quarter they finally put me in and I'm playing defensive end and for some reason, their starting offensive tackle was still in the game," Mecklenburg said. "A guy by the name of Ron Essink. I had two sacks against him and forced a fumble and I was defensive player of the game."

Dave Studdard, then Denver's starting left tackle, remembers how Mecklenburg began to turn heads as a rookie.

"I think he was an afterthought when he came in but he was heck of an afterthought," Studdard said.

After Mecklenburg made the team, he was given No. 77, which he continued to wear throughout his career. As a rookie, he got into all 16 games as a third-down pass rusher and had two sacks. He was even better in his second season in that role, playing again in 16 games and getting seven sacks.

Entering the 1985 season, Mecklenburg was moved to inside linebacker. And that changed everything.

"Myrel Moore, our linebackers coach, said, 'Well, let's try him out at linebacker and see how he does in space.' " Collier said. "He went to training camp and just improved. He showed a lot of stuff, so we decided to keep him there. He was great."

He sure was. In 1985, Mecklenburg was named first-team All-Pro and had 13 sacks.

"Randy Gradishar had retired and Jack Lambert had retired," Mecklenburg said of suddenly emerging to become one of the best linebackers in the AFC. "I was leading the league in sacks when they did the Pro Bowl vote. ... As a tackler, if I got my hands on you, you were coming down."

Lambert made nine Pro Bowls in his legendary career with Pittsburgh before retiring after the 1984 season. Gradishar was selected to seven Pro Bowls while playing for the Broncos from 1974-83.

Mecklenburg didn't move to linebacker until two years after Gradishar's final season. Nevertheless, that hasn't stopped Gradishar from joking with Mecklenburg about when the two were teammates for the only time in 1983.

"I try to have some fun, and I tell him that I taught him everything he knew at linebacker," Gradishar said. "I retired and he got good."

Gradishar starred for the Broncos after being the No. 14 pick in the first round of the 1974 draft. He long has been impressed with what Mecklenburg did after being such a late draft pick, and that's no joke.

"As time went by, as year after year went by, you're saying, 'This guy is pretty good,' " Gradishar said.