Tag: Hall of Fame

Cornelius Bennett named finalist for Pro Football Hall of Fame

Cornelius Bennett is one of the greatest players in Alabama’s rich football history. 

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Cornelius Bennett is one of the greatest players in Alabama’s rich football history.

Bennett, who played his high school football at Ensley High School in Birmingham, Ala., starred for the Crimson Tide from 1983-86.

On Tuesday, Bennett was named a semifinalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2021. Of the 25 players named semifinalists, Bennett is one of four that has previously been eligible but not made the semifinals.

During his time at Alabama, Bennett was a three-time first-team All-American, three-time All-SEC performer,  and in 1986 won the Lombardi Award and SEC player of the year.

Bennett was drafted No. 2 overall in the 1987 NFL draft by the Indianapolis Colts, where he never played a game. Bennett was traded to the Buffalo Bills after he couldn’t agree to terms with the Colts in the 1987 season,

Bennett would spend 14 years in the NFL, but it was his nine years with the Bills where he would be known as one of the better defenders in the NFL.

He was an instrumental part of those four Buffalo Super Bowl teams and three times was named a first-team All-Pro, five-time Pro Bowl selection, and two-time AFC defensive player of the year.

Bennett would spend three seasons with the Atlanta Falcons and his final two years with the team that drafted him — the Indianapolis Colts.

In his 14-year career, Bennett played in 206 games, tallying 1,190 tackles, 31 forced fumbles, 27 fumble recoveries and 12 interceptions.

He was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2004, and in 2005, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

 

 

 

 

Former Seahawks RB Shaun Alexander snubbed for Hall of Fame

Former Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander has been snubbed from the 2021 Class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Every year, the NFL inducts new legends into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. For the 2021 class, the finalists were named on Tuesday. The class includes several first-time eligible icons such as quarterback Peyton Manning, wide receiver Calvin Johnson, and defensive end Jared Allen.

However, there appears to be a glaring omission among the 25 finalists . . .  Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander.

Alexander is perhaps the most underappreciated, great running back. He is a former league MVP, an All-Pro, three-time Pro Bowler, a member of the 2000’s Hall of Fame Team, and a former cover athlete for the popular Madden franchise. Despite playing in geographically isolated Seattle in the era before social media, Alexander was certainly a household name.

 

Alexander was the undisputed face of the Seahawks, and during his MVP year of 2005, he carried Seattle to its first-ever Super Bowl appearance with 1,880 yards and a then-NFL record 27 rushing touchdowns.

During his career, Alexander dominated the league en route to 100 career rushing touchdowns, which is tied with current Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk for No. 8 all-time in NFL history. Every other running back who has more touchdowns than Alexander is all enshrined in Canton, OH with the exception of Adrian Peterson, who is still actively playing football.

Alexander may only have 9,435 rushing yards over his career, but it is more than Hall of Famers Earl Campbell, Jim Taylor, Larry Csonka and Terrell Davis.

Unfortunately, what is probably hurting Alexander’s chances the most is the fact he does not have a Super Bowl title next to his name, which is rather unfair to judge greatness in regards to a championship ring considering other running backs in the Hall currently do not have one either.

Alexander has been eligible for the Hall of Fame since 2013. It is high time he is given serious consideration for the highest honors the league can bestow upon a player.

The Seahawks currently have 12 players attributed to the team who are currently in the Hall of Fame. However, of those 12, only four would be considered as true Seahawks legends, as the others are better known for their play with other teams, and only spent a short while in Seattle, such as wide receiver Jerry Rice.

When Alexander eventually gets his due, he will be the sixth, and his No. 37 jersey will hang from the rafters of Lumen Field alongside the likes of Steve Largent, Cortez Kennedy, Kenny Easley, and Walter Jones – the man who helped pave the way for Alexander’s legendary career.

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“Dome Patrol” legend Sam Mills again named Hall of Fame semifinalist

New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers linebacker Sam Mills, of “Dome Patrol” defense fame, was again named a Hall of Fame semifinalist.

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Legendary New Orleans Saints linebacker Sam Mills was nominated to the Pro Football Hall of Fame again this year, and it was announced Tuesday that he has reached the semifinal voting stage for the fourth time since becoming eligible, and for his third consecutive year. Last year, Mills was a Hall of Fame finalist for the first time, but he was ultimately not one of those picked for enshrinement.

And it will be tough for him to get back in the conversation again this year. Several big-name nominees made the cut for consideration in the upcoming Class of 2021, including several big-name semifinalists with Louisiana ties: New Orleans natives Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, and Alen Faneca, as well as former Saints cornerback Eric Allen.

It will be tough for Mills to crack that group, which includes other famous linebackers like Patrick Willis and Zack Thomas. But if Saints fans — and their Carolina Panthers rivals — have their say, Mills should get a bust in Canton. Here’s some of what I wrote in January when Mills was announced as a finalist:

Mills spent nine years in New Orleans, starring in the famous “Dome Patrol” defense alongside linebackers Vaughan Johnson, Pat Swilling, and Rickey Jackson, who was voted into the Hall of Fame back in 2010. Mills finished his career with the expansion-team Carolina Panthers, joining their coaching staff after his playing days were over. He died in Charlotte in 2005 of intestinal cancer, and a bronze statue stands in his memory outside the Panthers’ Bank of America Stadium to this day.

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Cowboys’ Darren Woodson again reaches semis for Hall of Fame induction

Darren Woodson makes his fifth appearance as a semifinalist for the 2021 NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame. A look at his career and the group.

Though the NFL was robbed of their Hall of Fame ceremony in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the league is full steam ahead with getting the class of 2021 ready to be enshrined in what very well be Dallas Cowboys heavy.

Former Cowboys safety Darren Woodson and 2015 Ring of Honor inductee is among 25 members to have reached the semifinals of the process to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. For Woodson, it will be the fifth time making it this far as he was a semifinalist in 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, and now once again in 2021.

Drafted in the second round of the 1992 NFL draft, Woodson was a part of three championships with the Cowboys. The safety was known for his ability to also play man-to-man coverage, often dropping into the slot to defend opponents receivers. His coverage ability, play diagnosis and hard-hitting nature earned him three All-Pro nominations and five Pro Bowl appearances.

For his career Woodson totaled 23 interceptions, 12 forced fumbles, 11 fumble recoveries, 11 sacks and 967 total tackles. He started in 162 of 178 career games, and each of them was in a Cowboys uniform.

This potential Hall of Fame class is headlined by four first-time candidates, QB Peyton Manning, DE Jared Allen, WR Calvin Johnson and DB Charles Woodson.

The initial list included 130 members that was whittled down to the current 25. There will be another cut down to 15 Modern-Era finalists. Former Cowboys wide receiving great Drew Pearson is one of three already among the finalists as a Senior Committee member.

If Woodson were to be selected, he would also be joining his two-time Super Bowl winning head coach Jimmy Johnson on stage to be enshrined.  Former Cowboys’ safety Cliff Harris will also be enshrined next August. Dallas was scheduled to play in the annual Hall of Fame game this past season, but all of the events were cancelled due to COVID-19.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2021 will be enshrined Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021 in Canton as part of the 2021 Enshrinement Week Powered by Johnson Controls. Other events during the week of festivities will include the rescheduled Hall of Fame Game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys on Aug. 5, the Gold Jacket Dinner on Aug. 6 and the Centennial Class of 2020 Enshrinement on Aug. 7.

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Former Chiefs DE Jared Allen among semifinalists for Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2021 class

Allen is one of just four first-year eligible players among 25 semifinalists for the 2021 class.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame has announced Modern-Era semifinalists for their Class of 2021.

Only one former Kansas City Chiefs player has made it to the group of 25 semi-finalists. Jared Allen is one of just four first-year eligible players to be selected as a semifinalist along with Peyton Manning, Calvin Johnson and Charles Woodson.

Allen was a fourth-round draft pick by the Chiefs in 2004 out of Idaho State and he exceeded all expectations with the team. He started 10 games as a rookie, recording 31 total tackles, nine sacks, and 10 tackles for loss. In 2007, Allen had the best season of his career to that point. He led the NFL in sacks with 15.5 and earned first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors.

Unfortunately, Allen wouldn’t last long in Kansas City. In 2008, Allen was traded to the Vikings for a haul of draft picks, including the one that was used to draft running back Jamaal Charles. Allen played for eight seasons after leaving the Chiefs with stops in Minnesota, Chicago and Carolina before retiring officially in February of 2016 with an epic retirement video.

When it was all said and done, Allen would be a four-time First-Team All-Pro, a five-time Pro Bowler, and a two-time NFL sack leader. He tallied 136 sacks during his career, which is currently good for No. 12 on the all-time list.

The next step in the selection process is to trim this group down to 15 Modern-Era semifinalists. Eventually, it’ll be whittled down to just five Modern-Era players. The group originally was comprised of 130 players. The 2021 Pro Football Hall of Fame class will be decided and announced during the week leading up to Super Bowl LV.

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Notre Dame, Green Bay Packers ‘Golden Boy’ Paul Hornung has died at 84

Sad news today Notre Dame and Green Bay Packers legend Paul Hornung has died at the age of 84.

The only man to ever win Heisman Trophy on a team with a losing record has died as Paul Hornung, a football legend at both Notre Dame and with the Green Bay Packers passed away Friday at the age of 84.

Hornung starred as a three-sport athlete at Flaget High School in Louisville before attending Notre Dame on a football scholarship.

“The Golden Boy” as he was known during his playing days, threw for 12 touchdowns and 1696 yards during his time at Notre Dame.  In 1956 his efforts not only at quarterback but on defense and special teams helped him win the Heisman Trophy despite the Irish going just 2-8 on the year.  To this day Hornung is the only player to win the award while playing on a losing team.

Hornung would go on to be selected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1985 and since 2010 The Paul Hornung Award has been given out to “The most versatile player in college football” each season.

Hornung graduated from Notre Dame in 1957 with a degree in business and became the first overall pick in the ’57 NFL Draft as the Green Bay Packers selected him.  Along with Vince Lombardi and the Packers dynasty of the sixties, Hornung would win four NFL Championships and twice be selected as a first-team All-Pro in what would end up a Hall of Fame career as he was enshrined in Canton in the 1986 class.

Hornung was a superstar in the sport but also found his way into various different controversies over the years.  He was involved in a betting ring alongside former Detroit Lions star Alex Karras that left the two suspended for the 1963 season.

In a 2004 radio interview Hornung also declared that Notre Dame  “can’t stay as strict as we are as far as the academic structure is concerned because we’ve got to get the black athletes. We must get the black athletes if we’re going to compete.”

Those comments understandably drew harsh criticism nationwide.

Hornung is survived by his wife of 41 years, Angela.

We’ll have more on this story as it develops but our thoughts are with all of those effected by the loss of a football legend.

Alvin Kamara is 69 yards away from setting another new NFL record

New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara needs just 69 rushing yards to become the first player in NFL history to hit a big milestone.

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Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but Alvin Kamara is close to making NFL history. The New Orleans Saints star running back is 69 rushing yards away from becoming the first player in league history to record 500-plus yards as both a runner and receiver in each of his first four seasons as a pro. Once he clears that bar, it will be just further proof that players as versatile as he is are few and far between.

Kamara surpassed that benchmark in each of his first three seasons, though it was a near thing in 2019. His injury-shortened campaign saw him rack up a career-low 533 receiving yards, which he has already improved upon in 2020 (with 556 receiving yards in just 8 games). Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Herschel Walker and the great Abner Haynes each climbed the mountain in their first three years (as did Kamara), but neither of them were able to keep it going through year four.

We’ll see soon if Kamara can pull it off against Tampa Bay. Their stingy run defense held him to just 16 rushing yards back in Week 1, but he still scored a pair of touchdowns and gained 51 yards as a receiver. Whether Kamara gets another footnote in the history books this week or not, he’ll still be keeping the Buccaneers on the defensive — and putting more than a little bit of fear into Bucs coach Bruce Arians.

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Bruce Arians on Alvin Kamara: ‘I coached Marshall Faulk, and this guy’s scarier’

It did not take long for Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians to build a healthy level of respect for New Orleans Saints RB Alvin Kamara.

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It didn’t take long for opposing NFL coaches to develop a healthy respect for Alvin Kamara. The New Orleans Saints running back has shredded every defense he’s come across, leaving everyone from Pete Carroll to Bruce Arians flabbergasted with what he’s done against their best defenders.

When previewing Week 9’s rematch with Kamara (who gained 67 yards of offense against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1, scoring two touchdowns), Arians offered the highest praise Kamara has received yet, saying: “I coached Marshall Faulk, and this guy’s scarier.”

Faulk, of course, is a New Orleans native who played for the Indianapolis Colts when Arians was working as their quarterbacks coach. Faulk’s Hall of Fame-worthy abilities were on clear display in Indianapolis, though he wouldn’t really come into his own until being traded to the St. Louis Rams (where he won three consecutive Offensive Player of the Year awards, as well as Most Valuable Player in 2000).

Kamara still has a ways to go before he’ll join Faulk’s company, but he’s on the right track. He is the only player in the NFL to eclipse 1,000 all-purpose yards (with 1,031 in just seven games) this year.

But those numbers and projected on-pace stats aren’t what has Arians worried. The weekly highlight reels Kamara has been creating, sometimes against Arians’ own squad, are heavy on his mind. Maybe his defense can come up with a better strategy to contain Kamara on Sunday night.

But with New Orleans’ top three wide receivers likely to return to action, Tampa Bay might have even more concerns than stopping the next Marshall Faulk.

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Morten Andersen on Saints hiring Jim Mora: ‘We went from a country club to boot camp’

New Orleans Saints legend Morten Andersen was the first kicker to go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He looks back on a long NFL carer.

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What was it like to experience a coaching change on the ground level? For legendary New Orleans Saints kicker Morten Andersen, the switch from Bum Phillips to Jim Mora in 1986 was drastic.

Andersen discussed the move and many other topics in a lengthy conversation with John Butler of Canal Street Chronicles, where he reflected on a storied NFL career and that included a heel turn with the NFC South-rival Atlanta Falcons. But the stark contrast in life under Mora’s administration as opposed to Phillips’ coaching helps illustrate what many NFL players experience amid regime changes.

“That’s like eating a cupcake and now you have to eat liverwurst,” Andersen began. “We went from a country club to boot camp. It was absolutely brutal because the ownership changed too. And John Mecom was fantastic. He spent money on the players. We had a really good training camp down in Vero Beach, great food, seafood. We worked, but it was relaxed; it was fun. That changed with Jim Mora. It was not fun with Jim Mora because we hadn’t had the results.”

But the results Mora brought in after that retooling impressed Andersen: he recalls his days with the “Dome Patrol” defense and quarterback Bobby Hebert fondly, though he’s still disappointed that group never had much playoff success. A four-time Pro Bowler in the 1980s, Andersen was also happy to know his coach trusted him to be more than a point-after kick specialist.

“I was glad to be part of it,” Andersen continued. “They used me as a weapon. I was used a lot. I was showcased, in many ways. It was unusual for a kicker to get that much action, but they trusted me for the long balls and the big kicks. That was my heyday for sure.”

It’s a fascinating read from an important member of the team’s — and the NFL’s — history, so check out the interview over at CSC.

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Cris Carter sees a lot of Drew Brees in Dolphins rookie Tua Tagovailoa

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagoviloa received a lofty comparison from Hall of Fame wideout Cris Carter: New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees

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Cris Carter has seen a lot of football. Inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame back in 2013, the all-time great wide receiver knows what to look for at quarterback. And in evaluating Miami Dolphins rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, recently named the team’s starter, he’s come up with his personal player comparison: New Orleans Saints living legend Drew Brees.

“There are certain people that are born for certain things,” Carter said on The Rich Eisen Show. “And this kid is meant to be — Drew Brees was meant to lead an NFL team, right? You know Drew. This dude, ‘is a dude’s dude.’ And Tua is the same way. He’s funny, he’s charismatic. Guys on the team love him. He’s got special, special arm talent.”

Brees is going to join Carter in the Hall of Fame someday, so it says a lot of Tagovailoa’s prospects that he’s drawing this sort of talk before starting his first NFL game. But both quarterbacks are known for their poise in the pocket and deadly accuracy, as well as their leadership qualities.

They also aren’t working with the greatest physical gifts (Tagovailoa weighed in at just 6-foot-0, 217 pounds at this year’s NFL Combine) and have recovered from career-threatening injuries, like Brees’ infamous rotator cuff tear with the Chargers and Tagovailoa’s dislocated hip at Alabama. They’re each resilient.

Brees was a sophomore at Purdue the year Tagovailoa was born. The biggest difference between the two of them, besides age, might be that Tagovailoa throws left-handed. On paper, anyway. We’ll know for sure once Tagovailoa has put together his own body of work in this league. But with veteran backup Ryan Fitzpatrick playing so well to start the year, it says a lot about what Tagovailoa has shown in practice to give the Dolphins coaches confidence that he’s ready to take the wheel.

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