"Why Isn't One of the NFL's Best Pass Defenders, not in the HoF?"

[SunsetBengal]

(07-01-2020, 06:59 PM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: The real answer?

It's because he played in a small market, and he never won a ring.  Had he played in NY, or had won a couple rings, even with the same exact stats, skill level, and play then he'd be a shoe-in.

Being in small market was definitely a much bigger issue back in the day.  Unless he was playing on Monday Night no one got to see him play. And how often were they putting small market teams on National TV back in the day? A.) Not as often as bigger markets.

There was no watching a game at 1, watching and an out-of-market game at 4 and then tuning into Sunday night football.  There was no Thursday night football.  There was no ESPN or highlight clips and talking heads dominating the airwaves. There was no internet.  You had 3(?) channels, radio and the newspaper.

Had he played a more stat driven position (QB, RB, WR) then maybe he could've overcomed this. But as a DB he's getting shafted.  Not enough people saw him, and there aren't clear benchmarks to say, yeah this guy has HOF numbers.

It's a shame, because he clearly deserves being in.

Averaging 4+ INTs over a 15 year career is pretty damn benchmark and impressive, no matter what era or market he played in.  Dude's been getting hosed, as far as my opinion goes..