The long wait for Randy Gradishar finally ended Thursday night.

The former Broncos star linebacker, who first became eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989, was announced at NFL Honors in Las Vegas as a member of the class of 2024. He will be inducted into the Canton, Ohio, shrine on Aug. 3.

“It was a long time coming,” Gradishar said in Las Vegas after the official announcement. “But I’m so grateful to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”

Gradishar, 71, had been all but a slam-dunk to make the Hall of Fame since he was named a senior finalist last August. Gradishar needed to get 80% of the vote on a yes-no ballot by the 50-member Hall of Fame selection, which voted last month. Gradishar was then notified about his selection from the Broncos on Jan. 26 when he was surprised during a visit to the Centura Health Training Center. He flew Wednesday along with his son Mark to Las Vegas, site of Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday between Kansas City and San Francisco, for Thursday’s announcement.

“It’s fantastic,’’ said Joe Collier, 91, the defensive coordinator when Gradishar played for Denver from 1974-83. “It’s been a long time coming. I know he’s looking forward to it.”

Also named to the seven-man Hall of Fame class were defensive linemen Julius Peppers, Dwight Freeney and Steve McMichael, wide receiver Andre Johnson, linebacker Patrick Willis and kick returner Devin Hester. Like Gradishar, McMichael was a senior finalist.

In his 10 seasons, the 6-foot-3, 233-pound Gradishar made seven Pro Bowls, was twice named first-team All-Pro and was the 1978 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Tackles weren’t regularly calculated by teams during his career, but the Broncos had him with an astounding 2,049, although some have disputed that figure.

“I’m just very excited,’’ said Gradishar, who grew up outside of Warren, Ohio, which is about an hour from Canton. “It’s a fantastic feeling.”

Gradishar thanked Collier, who made him an inside linebacker in Denver’s 3-4 “Orange Crush” defense.

“He had good size, good speed and he had the ability to avoid blockers,” Collier said. “People would come out and throw blocks at his legs and try to knock him down and he’d step over them or jump over them He could avoid blockers like nobody I ever saw.”

Former Broncos star defensive lineman Barney Chavous called Gradishar’s selection “well deserved.” He said Gradishar “was smart and instinctive and could run pretty well.”

“Not only was he a great player, but he had great character,” Chavous said. “He has the type of character young people should look up to. He had great sportsmanship.”

Gradishar became the first player off Denver’s first Super Bowl team in the 1977 season to be enshrined in Canton. The Broncos lost Super Bowl XII 27-10 to Dallas in Gradishar’s only appearance in the big game.

“It was like we didn’t have a team in Colorado,’’ former Broncos star safety Billy Thompson said of no players off that team being named to the Hall of Fame until Thursday.

Gradishar joked that the Broncos “tricked” him when he got a call from and was told to come to the Centura Health Training Center last month to talk to owners Greg and Carrie Penner about the “Orange Crush” defense. He then was surprised when told he had made the Hall of Fame. Among the former teammates to greet him that day were Thompson and linebacker Tom Jackson.

“That’s great,’’ Thompson said of Gradishar finally making the Hall of Fame. “It’s about time. I think he’s very excited.”

While Gradishar was the defensive star on Denver’s first Super Bowl team, quarterback Craig Morton was the star on offense. Morton called Gradishar’s induction “long, long overdue.”

“He was one of the best inside linebackers to have ever played and I’m looking forward to being a part in honoring him,’’ Morton said. “All great linebackers have instincts, and he knew the game and he had all the physical attributes. He had all of those things and he just played like he knew what was happening.”

Morton has talked about it also being long overdue that the Broncos never have had a reunion for their first Super Bowl team. But he is expecting that now to happen at a game next season, with the team bringing in players from that team in conjunction with a celebration of Gradishar’s induction.

“I have been talking to people who have been talking to (Broncos officials) and it sounds like they are very favorable,’’ Morton said. “I would anticipate that we would be honored like we should have been for a long time.”

Gradishar knows what it is like to have a long wait. He initially was a modern-era candidate after first being eligible for the Hall of Fame in 1989. After he had been retired for 25 years, he began to be considered by the senior selection committee.

After that, it still took a decade and a half before Gradishar finally made it.

“I’m sure it was frustrating,’’ Collier said. “I know he’s talked about it over the years. But he’s looking forward to (his induction) now.”

Former NFL star defensive end Jared Allen was not selected for the Hall of Fame in his fourth straight year as a modern-era finalist. Allen worked with the Broncos in 2023 as a pass-rush guest coach.

Tackle Garett Bolles was Denver’s nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. The award went to Pittsburgh defensive tackle Cameron Heyward.

Many Broncos Hall of Famers were on hand to congratulate new Ring of Famers before the game against the Titans on Sunday, October 13, 2019. Randy Gradishar takes the field. (Photo by Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette)

JERILEE BENNETT THE GAZETTE

Former Denver Broncos star linebacker Randy Gradishar on Aug. 15, 2023, at the Centura Health Training Center in Englewood, where he signed autographs for fans during training camp. (Chris Tomasson, The Denver Gazette).

Chris Tomasson

Randy Gradishar, left, and Dwight Freeney, NFL Hall of Fame Class of 2024, attend a news conference at the NFL Honors award show ahead of the Super Bowl 58 football game Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024, in Las Vegas. The San Francisco 49ers face the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 58 on Sunday. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Godofredo A. Vásquez

Former Denver Broncos player Randy Gradishar poses for a portrait with his old helmet at The Gazette’s studio in Colorado Springs, Colorado on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. (Parker Seibold, The Gazette)

Parker Seibold