Polishing my Ken Anderson Hall of Fame pitch

[fredtoast]

Trying to get it as concise as possible.  And not just a jumble of numbers.  Tell me what you guys think.

No matter how much they deny it, NFL fans love to have numbers to compare players.  This creates a major problem when comparing quarterbacks from different eras.  In Ken Anderson's 1971 rookie season the NFL team average passing statistics were.  .  .  156 yards per game, 15 tds, 21 int, 51% completion percentage, and 59.5 passer rating.  Last year the numbers were.  .  .  244 yards per game, 26 tds, 14 ints, 63% completion percentage, and 88.4 passer rating.  Clearly we can not just compare raw statistics.  Instead we need to look at how a player stacked up against the competition of his era.  

Ken Anderson entered the league when the passing game was near an all time low.  As late as seven years into his career NFL teams were still just averaging 158 yards per game and 17 passing tds per year in 1979.  But due to many factors, from rule changes to new offensive schemes, the passing game began to rise dramatically.  In just three seasons passing yardage went up by 30% to over 200 yards per game in 1981.  Anderson is unique in that he thrived in both eras.  Among all NFL QBs who started their careers before 1979 only two have a higher career passer rating than Anderson, and both of them are already in the Hall of Fame (Sonny Jurgensen, Roger Staubach). When you look at passer rating since 1981 ten of the top thirteen QBs started their careers after 1998.  Among the three that did not Steve Young and Joe Montana are already in the Hall of Fame while Anderson is not.

Anderson dominated in his prime.  In 1981 Anderson won the league MVP and lead the Bengals to their first Super Bowl.  He won the famous AFC Championship "Freezer Bowl" game against Hall of Fame QB Dan Fouts' Chargers.  Despite wind chills fifty degrees below zero Anderson competed 64 percent of his passes for 162 yards and a 116 passer rating.  He also ran for 38 yards to account for 200 of the Bengals 308 yards of offense.  Anderson produced all three of the Bengals tds by throwing for 2 and running for one.  In his very next game he broke the Super Bowl completion percentage record and threw for 300 yards against a Forty-Niners defense that ranked #2 in the league.  

The following year, 1982, Anderson broke the league single-season completion percentage record and held it for an incredible 27 years.  Drew Brees is still the only QB in history with a better single-season completion percentage. In 1982 Anderson was the only QB to have lead the league in passer rating 4 times.  He was the only QB with 3 seasons with a rating over 95, and he held 4 of the top 15 single-season passer ratings (minimum 20 attempts per game).  Only two other QBs held more than one slot (Stabler, Unitas) and they only had two each.  

Anderson was not just efficient.  He was also productive.  He lead the league in passing yards twice and finished in the top 5 three other seasons.  When he retired Anderson ranked 5th all-time in career passing yards.

In addition to his passing prowess Anderson was also a top running QB.  Since 1950 only twenty-six NFL QBs have accumulated over 2,000 rushing yards.  Anderson ranks 21st with 2,220.  Among the 26 with 2000 rushing yards Anderson ranks 5th in passing yards, but 3 of the 4 in front of him started their careers after 1983 (Elway, McNabb, Steve Young).  At the time Anderson retired Fran Tarkenton was the only other QB in history with 30,000 career passing yards and 2,000 rushing yards.  Among the 26 QBs with 2000 career rushing yards Anderson ranks 9th in yards per carry.  His 5.6 average is better than Hall of Fame scramblers Roger Staubach, Fran Tarkenton, John Elway, and Bobby Lane. In his '81 MVP season Anderson was the second leading rusher on the Bengals and the number one rushing QB in the league.

Anderson also excelled in the post season.  At the time he retired his 166 post season attempts ranked 18th in NFL history, and his post season passer rating (minimum 75 attempts) was second only to Bart Starr ahead of Hall of Famers Unitas, Montana, Bradshaw, Marino, and Staubach.  Despite the inflation of passing numbers over the years Anderson's post season passer rating still ranks 12th all-time.

[*bfine32*]

I've used this compared against the rest of his contemporaries angle back when folks tried to compare Carson's best year to Boomer's. It was often met with disdain.

As to the should Kenny be in the HOF angle: it is no doubt. Last year I was trolling the Raider's message board before our season opener (BTW, time to start trolling NYJ MB) and I compared Anderson's numbers to Stabler's, They weren't really even close and it made Raider Nation so mad.

[Sled21]

The 2 part You Tube video making Anderson's case says it all.

[3wt]

From different interviews I've heard on ESPN,  Lance McCalister and Mo Egger Kenny's case appears to be gaining momentum.

You make an excellent case for him Fred

[yellowxdiscipline]

I think we can all agree theres a lot of reasons why Ken should be in the HoF, but can anyone bring any good reason why he shouldn't be? If not then that's all the proof we need that Ken belongs in.

[fredtoast]

(07-12-2016, 12:45 PM)yellowxdiscipline Wrote: I think we can all agree theres a lot of reasons why Ken should be in the HoF, but can anyone bring any good reason why he shouldn't be? If not then that's all the proof we need that Ken belongs in.

1.  He did not win enough. 1981 was the only year he won a playoff game.

2.  In a four year stretch that should have been near his prime (age 28-31) he had a 20-32 record as a starter and a 69 passer rating.  Over the rest of his career he was 71-49 with a 86.8 rating.

[*jason*]

Ken Anderson is the Drew Bledsoe of his era. He bongs in the Hall of Pretty Good.

[*bfine32*]

(07-12-2016, 01:05 PM)fredtoast Wrote: 1.  He did not win enough.  1981 was the only year he won a playoff game.

2.  In a four year stretch that should have been near his prime (age 28-31) he had a 20-32 record as a starter and a 69 passer rating.  Over the rest of his career he was 71-49 with a 86.8 rating.

This is one that folks on the Raider's board would throw out; of course I would counter with something such as: He has a better winning record that the likes of Warren Moon or Dan Fouts. Then they'd come up with Super Bowl win and I'd bring up the likes of Brad Johnson (added dig because he beat the Raiders) and Trent Dilfer.

The only thing anyone could bring up that held any water was it is The Hall of Fame. not Hall of Great Players and Anderson just isn't famous; unlike The Snake. 

[*bengalfan74*]

(07-12-2016, 01:05 PM)fredtoast Wrote: 1.  He did not win enough.  1981 was the only year he won a playoff game.

2.  In a four year stretch that should have been near his prime (age 28-31) he had a 20-32 record as a starter and a 69 passer rating.  Over the rest of his career he was 71-49 with a 86.8 rating.

#2 is the part that killed him in the eyes of the beholders outside of Cincinnati. I mean sure it's true the "if he had a ring he'd be in blah, blah". But I feel if not for the pretty bad four years he would still be in.

Even among fans who were around back then I think many forget nearly everybody wanted Kenny's head on a platter for quite some time. He was out injured for a good bit and dinged up off and on and every time a drive stalled the whispers started. Every interception and it became a roar, "gotta move on from Anderson". Those seasons hurt his overall rep. pretty bad !

[fredtoast]

(07-12-2016, 02:23 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Even among fans who were around back then I think many forget nearly everybody wanted Kenny's head on a platter for quite some time. He was out injured for a good bit and dinged up off and on and every time a drive stalled the whispers started. Every interception and it became a roar, "gotta move on from Anderson". Those seasons hurt his overall rep. pretty bad !

"With the third pick in the first round the Bengals select Jack Thompson, quarterback, Washington State."

[Crowe]

I still can't believe the HOF committee has not put him in. I wonder how his play would be if he was in his prime today.

[yellowxdiscipline]

I think his career was pretty on par with Sonny Jurgensen's who got in the HoF. Only major difference was Sonny won a pre Superbowl championship.

[fredtoast]

(07-12-2016, 12:13 PM)3wt Wrote: From different interviews I've heard on ESPN,  Lance McCalister and Mo Egger Kenny's case appears to be gaining momentum.

Of course, now that he is a Steeler.

[fredtoast]

Almost forgot that Ken also had one of the best best mustaches in NFL history.

[*Awful Llama*]

(07-19-2016, 03:23 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Almost forgot that Ken also had one of the best best mustaches in NFL history.

And, a coffee achiever to boot.

[*Go Cards*]

Think he deserves to be in and it was a good read Fred.

[*Go Cards*]

(07-12-2016, 02:37 PM)fredtoast Wrote: "With the third pick in the first round the Bengals select Jack Thompson, quarterback, Washington State."

Never was a fan of the Throwin' Samoan.

Liked Turk better personally. 

[Sled21]

I was always, and still am, a huge Kenny Anderson fan. But did anyone besides me always think his helmet was too small?

[BFritz21]

Throw in that I dated his daughter in grade school