Once again, former Denver Broncos safety Steve Atwater has been selected as a semi-finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
As part of celebrating the 100th year of the National Football League, the Hall of Fame decided to create a Centennial Class for this year only. This class will include 20 members, including five modern-era players. The semi-finalist list includes 15 players, one of which is Atwater.
If Atwater is ever going to gain entry to the Hall, the time is now.
As part of the Centennial Class, all of the coaches and contributors have already been selected. Atwater doesn’t have to worry about getting beat out by an owner or former league commissioner, for instance.
Instead, he just has to be one of the five players selected from this list:
Troy Polumalu
Edgerrin James
Bryant Young
Zach Thomas
Richard Seymour
John Lynch
LeRoy Butler
Reggie Wayne
Torry Holt
Isaac Bruce
Sam Mills
Tony Boselli
Alan Faneca
Steve Hutchinson
That’s a good list, but the spots are wide open because there really is no “slam dunk” selection as there has been in year’s past.
You could easily make the argument for guys like Polamalu and Wayne, but Atwater’s numbers and career success can’t be denied.
One of the best safeties of his era, Atwater was selected to eight Pro Bowls. He was named a First-team All-Pro in 1991 and 1992. He registered over 1,100 tackles in his career with 24 interceptions.
But the reputation he created as a bone-rattling hitter was what set Atwater apart from most of the safeties of the 1990s.
“@SteveAtwater27 doesn't exist in the NFL anymore. You don't see players like Steve Atwater anymore. The game has changed, but we have to honor those who played the game before the change, and Steve Atwater in my mind, has long been a Hall of Fame player.” — @Jeff_Legwold https://t.co/5HHFrA8OpB
— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) February 2, 2019
You’ll notice that former Broncos safety John Lynch is also a semi-finalist, but I’m not making the case here for him. That’s not to slight Lynch in any way, but Atwater is more deserved of the honor.
Part of the Broncos’ back-to-back Super Bowl champion teams in 1997 and 1998, Atwater is one of the overall best defensive players in team history. But for a player that retired 20 years ago, his career is starting to be forgotten.
And that’s the concern.
Atwater should be in the Hall of Fame, but is his resume better than the guys on this list? Recently, Deion Sanders made the comment that too many players are gaining entry into the Hall of Fame.
Right or wrong, the committee is going to listen to a comment like that and perhaps make its criteria even more stringent.
If Atwater is going to get in after all this time, it has to be during a year where there aren’t multiple “main event” level entires. For instance, Peyton Manning, Calvin Johnson and Charles Woodson are all eligible in 2021.
Atwater won’t get in with that class.
We must also keep in mind that this committee has still yet to include Randy Gradishar even in a year where 10 senior players were inducted. Not to take anything away from guys like Harold Carmichael and Alex Karras, two senior members of the 2020 class, but Gradishar is someone you simply can’t credibly leave out.
But he has been left out and he is more deserving than almost anyone who is not already there, not just former Broncos.
This has to be the year for Atwater. If it’s not, it may be never.