Jim Saccomano couldn’t help but chuckle when asked Friday about being inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame next April along with former Broncos star center Tom Nalen.
The Hall announced Thursday that Saccomano, a longtime Broncos media relations director, and Nalen will be enshrined April 15 along with former Rockies star Carlos Gonzalez, Olympic runner and medalist Jenny Barringer-Simpson, former PGA Tour mainstay Dave Hill and Bolder Boulder co-founder Steve Bosley. When Nalen played for the Broncos from 1994 to 2008, he was known for not speaking to the media.
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“It’s ironic,’’ Saccomano, who worked for the Broncos from 1978 to 2013, said of joining Nalen in being honored. “It’s one of the guys who wouldn’t talk to the press and the guy who encouraged everybody to talk at the same time.”
Nalen, though, did want to clarify Friday that he talked to the media with the Broncos, it just wasn’t on the record. Many Denver offensive linemen during his era also were known to be mum.
“I spoke to the media every day,’’ Nalen said Friday. “I was friendly … There were guys I talked to, just not about football. It’s not like I was this boorish inhuman character that just brushed everybody off. We all talked to the media, but we just didn’t want anything printed. It kind of morphed into, ‘We don’t talk to the media.’ I just didn’t want to talk about the Broncos or who we were playing.”
Nalen, a Boston native and longtime Red Sox fan, said he would talk to the media about baseball. He didn’t want to discuss the Broncos or himself in order not to give any secrets away or “sound like a fool.”
Nalen said he always has been “uncomfortable talking about myself” but did offer thanks for being inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.
“I’m excited,” said Nalen, a five-time Pro Bowl selection who is now offensive line coach at Division III Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “I know there are a lot of people who are more than happy talking about themselves, but I’m more reluctant. I’ll just say it’s an honor. … I’m just extremely honored the committee would think of (inducting) me and congratulations to the (other) enshrinees.”
Saccomano was flattered when he got the call Thursday informing him of his selection.
“I am humbled and all I can say is, ‘Thank you,’” Saccomano said. “It’s nice of all of these people to think of me years after I retired and so forth. It’s great. I worked very hard. I tried very hard and did my job I think well. It’s nice to be remembered by everybody.”
Saccomano’s final title with the Broncos was vice president of public relations. After he retired in 2013, he had the television show “Sideline Stories with Jim Saccomano” through the 2025 season.
Nalen was inducted into the Broncos Ring of Fame in 2013, Saccomano’s final season with the Broncos. He remembers Nalen being reluctant to give a speech at Empower Field.
“When he got into the Ring of Fame, he said, ‘Gee, I’ve got to speak. I don’t know what to say,’” Saccomano said. “We told him, ‘Tom, just say, “Thank you, thanks to the fans, the coaches, the players and the owners.”’ And that’s what he did.”
Nalen said he did talk at a private banquet the night before the Ring of Fame ceremony at the stadium for four to five minutes. But he kept it quick the next day.
“My producer timed it at like 20.57 seconds,’’ said Nalen, who was then a Denver radio host. “I just wanted to be out of there as quick as possible. It was awkward.”
At the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremonies, inductees regularly give speeches. But Nalen, who does plan to attend, might have found a loophole.
“I read the letter and it said, ‘You have the option to speak for six to seven minutes,’’’ Nalen said. “I clued in on ‘option.’ It makes it sound like an out for me. Maybe I don’t have to speak. I’m really hoping to find a loophole to take up my six or seven minutes. I’d much rather talk baseball.”
Nalen said he might talk about Saccomano in his speech. That also would be ironic.