The news of Quenton Nelson being named an NFL All-Pro (along with two other former Notre Dame offensive linemen) earlier Friday afternoon put him in some very rare air where only the most-elite of NFL players have gone in recent memory.
It was the second time in Nelson’s two year NFL career that the former sixth overall draft pick of the Indianapolis Colts has been named a First-Team NFL All-Pro.
Who else has ever accomplished that?
Since the AFL-NFL merger in 1971 here is the list:
Earl Campbell
Eric Dickerson
Devin Hester
Keith Jackson
Barry Sanders
Lawrence Taylor
And now add in Quenton Nelson.
That’s it. That’s the list.
Campbell, Dickerson, Sanders and Taylor are not only in the Pro Football Hall of Fame but also regarded in the short list of best ever for the positions each played.
Hester isn’t in the Hall of Fame yet but was the greatest return man in the history of the NFL and by a wide margin.
Keith Jackson never wound up in Canton, Ohio but still had a tremendous nine year NFL career that saw him selected to five Pro Bowls and three times an All-Pro.
Nelson’s trajectory doesn’t just put him on a pace to one day make the Hall of Fame, but be one of the absolute best to ever play his position in doing so.
Perhaps he and fellow All-Pro Zack Martin (six times) will one day go in as members of the same class.