DMN: Gosselin: Darren Woodson belongs in HOF, but here's why he faces an uphill battle to reach Can

[NoLuv4Jerry]

You can't put Woody in the HOF and not put in other safeties like Johnny Robinson, Cliff Harris, Jake Scott, Donnie Shell, Deron Cherry, Steve Atwater, Eugene Robinson, Brian Dawkins and Darren Sharper. Making it more difficult for Harris and Woody for consideration are the additions of recently retired Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu as well. Not to mention, other players like Dick LaBeau, Ken Riley and Dave Brown who each have over 60 INT's to their credit and are still waiting for the call.

I thought Dick LeBeau was in?

 

[Plankton]

I thought Dick LeBeau was in?

He is.

 

[Plankton]

You can't put Woody in the HOF and not put in other safeties like Johnny Robinson, Cliff Harris, Jake Scott, Donnie Shell, Deron Cherry, Steve Atwater, Eugene Robinson, Brian Dawkins and Darren Sharper. Making it more difficult for Harris and Woody for consideration are the additions of recently retired Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu as well. Not to mention, other players like Dick LaBeau, Ken Riley and Dave Brown who each have over 60 INT's to their credit and are still waiting for the call.

Ken Riley and Dave Brown were both cornerbacks, not safeties. LeBeau was enshrined in 2010. Despite their big statistics, Riley made one All Pro team and never made the Pro Bowl, and Brown made one Pro Bowl, and never was an All Pro. That is playing a huge part in keeping them out of the HOF, fair or unfair.

Despite the Hall supposedly not taking off the field issues into account, I can't see Darren Sharper ever getting enshrined. Who would approve a serial rapist?

Johnny Robinson absolutely should be in - could be a little AFL bias going on there. Also, with HOF members such as Len Dawson, Curley Culp, Buck Buchanan, Willie Lanier, Bobby Bell, Emmitt Thomas, Jan Stenerud and Hank Stram from those great Chief teams of the 1960s already in, they may have decided that there are enough from that team already. Same goes for Donnie Shell. I think Dick Anderson is more deserving than Jake Scott myself. Deron Cherry was very good on some lousy teams, and probably gets overlooked for that reason. He also played in a very good secondary (Albert Lewis, Kevin Ross and Lloyd Burruss), and may get dinged for being surrounded by so many good secondary guys. Steve Atwater was too one dimensional for my tastes - I have always thought that he was an overrated player. Eugene Robinson was good, but not Hall of Fame good. Never made an All Pro team. Brian Dawkins should be in, but may get nosed out by Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu from this era. Dawkins was the best player on the Eagles for many seasons.

 

[jobberone]

It's not a large number, but what TE's have been left out that should be in? It's not much of a list, as the position really didn't take hold until the past 50 seasons.

Safeties have been a factor since Greasy Neale invented the Eagle defense, and in effect, the cornerback position, in the 1940s. There are plenty of safeties that should be in that aren't - three of whom are Cowboys - Cornell Green, Cliff Harris and Darren Woodson.

I was talking your statement of the lack of value given to the safety position not those who had been left out. While I agree there appears to be a Cowboys' bias it also may in part be a lack of value of the position itself. I think its the former more than the latter but I'm only once voice.

 

[conner01]

Members of the media are the ones voting
Fans are mostly biased but the sports media is just as bad
And goose is never went out of his way to really push for Cowboys to get in
Until we have a better advocate for our players the list of deserving players will continue to grow

 

[SportsGuru80]

Woodson is a Hall of Famer, they guy was a beast back there. He made secondaries way better!

 

[darthseinfeld]

The challenge is that Steve Atwater and Leroy Butler were selected to the All-90s team and Woodson was not. Neither Atwater of Butler are in the HOF which means it is VERY difficult for Woodson to get in.

In particular Woodson and Butler's careers overlap and in many ways look pretty similar. Woodson was drafted 2 years after Butler and retired 2 years after Butler.

Games Played -> Woodson 178, Butler 181
1st Team All Pro -> Woodson 3, Butler 4
Interceptions -> Woodson 23, Butler 38
Sacks -> 5, Woodson 20.5
Tackles -> Woodson 951, Butler 889

I suspect that the HOF voters view both Woodson and Butler as edge cases for HOF entry and that in many ways they are canceling each other out.

I honestly think Safeties of that era are greatly under appreciated. That was when the NFL really began transitioning from a run to a passing league and good safeties had to be very good at defending both. I also think players like Atwater, Butler, Lake, Robinson and Woodson redefined the position

 

[darthseinfeld]

The longer we take to find a FS the better his odds gets. The more your hear "The Dallas Cowboys still havent found someone to replace Darren Woodson " in the media