Tag: Jim Marshall

Two Ohio State greats named semifinalists for Pro Football Hall of Fame

In case you missed it, there are two former Buckeyes with a chance to get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. #GoBucks

The Pro Football Hall of Fame is perhaps the most iconic of all of the professional sports Hall of Fames. Situated in Canton, Ohio, it’s just a buckeye nut’s throw from the Horseshoe and 10 former Ohio State players are enshrined within its walls.

There could be more coming soon as well. Two former Buckeye greats were announced as semifinalists on Wednesday. Those two iconic names are Randy Gradishar and Jim Marshall. They are among 31 names that the Hall of Fame’s senior committee will have to sort through to name the 2024 class.

Gradishar played for Ohio State from 1971-1973 and was called by Woody Hayes “the greatest linebacker I ever coached.” He was a two-time All-American at Ohio State and starred in the NFL with the Denver Broncos.

He amassed a slew of tackles and is one of the all-time leaders in bringing down ball carriers despite official stats not being tallied since 2001. He made the Pro Bowl seven times and was selected as a first-team All-Pro three times. He was the Defensive Player of the Year in 1978, is a part of the Denver Broncos Ring of Honor, and became a member of the College Football Hall of Fame in 1998.

Marshall wore the scarlet and gray from 1956 to 1958 and was named an All-American. He was part of the 1957 national championship team before leaving school a year early to play in the Canadian Football League with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1959.

He began his NFL career with the Cleveland Browns in 1960 but starred for the Minnesota Vikings from 1961 to 1979 and is included in the organization’s Ring of Honor. He made two Pro Bowls during his time with the “purple people eaters.” He started 270 consecutive games, still a record for an NFL defensive player. We can’t mention Marshall unfortunately without bringing up the wrong way fumble return he is most well-known for.

Here’s to hoping one or both of the two icons get a bust in Canton next year.

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Jim Marshall named senior semifinalist for Pro Football Hall of Fame

Minnesota Vikings DE Jim Marshall was named a semifinalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It’s time to enshrine him in Canton.

After playing for 20 years in the National Football League, Minnesota Vikings legend Jim Marshall is one step closer to being enshrined in Canton, OH. On Wednesday, Marshall was one of 60 former players, coaches and contributors named as a semi-finalist for the 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame class.

Acquired by the Vikings via trade from the Cleveland Browns in 1961, Marshall was the NFL’s iron man playing in a remarkable 282 games with 270 consecutive starts and accumulating an estimated 130.5 sacks per Pro Football Reference.

Fellow members of the Purple People Eaters Alan Page and Carl Eller are already enshrined in the Hall of Fame, one of the likely reasons why Marshall is not yet enshrined, along with the wrong way safety.

It’s been long enough, as Marshall has the resume to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

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6 with Browns ties named Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2024 semifinalists

There are six with Browns connections were named as Pro Football Hall of Fame semifinalists.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame has announced their Class of 2024 semifinalists from their seniors, coaches, and media classification. This means no first-ballot candidates will be selected from this pool. We are now just three weeks away from offensive tackle Joe Thomas being inducted into the Hall of Fame, and soon others with ties to the Cleveland Browns could join him.

Of the list of semifinalists released, there were six players, coaches, and an owner who the city of Cleveland has disdain for to make the cut. Here is the complete list of individuals with ties to the Browns who are Class of 2024 semifinalists.

70 days until Vikings season opener: Every player to wear No. 70

As we hit 70 days until the start of the Vikings season, we take a look at every player to wear No. 70 for the team.

It’s the final countdown…

Well, sort of.

The Minnesota Vikings will kick off their 2023 regular season in 70 days at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 10.

From now until then, we will take a trip down memory lane and count each day by revisiting the players that have worn that specific jersey number.

Defensive end Jim Marshall, who has played the most seasons in the NFL among defensive players, is the only player to ever wear No. 70 for the Vikings. After Marshall’s long career with the Vikings, the number was retired, never to be worn again.

With 70 days until kickoff, here’s a look at every player to wear No. 70 with the Vikings (via Pro Football Reference):

Marc Trestman Believes Jim Marshall Belongs in the Hall of Fame

It’s been too long of a wait for Marshall

Earlier this week, the NFL Hall of Fame Selection Committee named their three senior additions to the Hall of Fame. While he was a semifinalist, Jim Marshall wasn’t even named a finalist, let alone addition to the Hall of Fame.

A member of the Purple People Eaters, Marshall was a sack artist under head coach Bud Grant.

In an article for The 33rd Team, former Chicago Bears Head Coach and Minnesota’s own Marc Trestman wrote about how Marshall deserves to be in the hall of fame.

“Jim Marshall was more than the epitome of an NFL iron man,” Trestman wrote. “The speed rusher amassed a total of 130.5 sacks in his career – sacks were not an official statistic until 1982, three years after he retired – and held the career fumbles-recovered record of 30 for 24 years until Rod Woodson’s 32 surpassed him.”

What was even more impressive was how prolific of a sack master he was. As Trestman noted, sacks weren’t counted as an official stat until 1982, Pro Football Reference went back and charted every game and attributed sacks from the 1960 season through today.

Trestman said it best. “After having his jersey retired in Minnesota in 1999 and being selected as a Hall of Fame finalist in 2004, Marshall’s rare mix of unparalleled longevity, production and influence on a franchise is worthy of propelling him into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”

Vikings land three players in top sack leaders list from 1960 through 1981

The Minnesota Vikings were well represented on the list of top sack leaders from 1960 through 1981.

It’s been well known that the Vikings have deployed some of the best pass rushers in NFL history.

It was hard for younger generations to grasp just how good the defensive linemen of old were, especially players who were getting to the quarterback before 1982. That year was when sacks started being officially recorded.

Pro Football Reference is trying to change that, putting sack numbers from 1960 through 1981 on their website.

That helped contextualize how good some of the old defensive lines used to be, such as the “Purple People Eaters,” the legendary defensive line unit on the Vikings.

Here are updated sack numbers for a few former Vikings players, followed by their rank from 1960 through 1981:

Pro football’s top sack artists from 1960 through 1981

The quarterback sack became an official statistic in 1982. Now, we know the names of the great players who had the most sacks before then.

One of the most unfortunate statistical issues in pro football is that there are no official sack numbers before 1982. This obviously leaves a lot of the game’s greatest players out of the loop when it comes to determining their historical importance. Pre-1982 unofficial sack totals have been floating around for years, but Pro Football Reference has taken the giant step of putting those totals from 1960 through 1981 on their website. John Turney of Pro Football Journal has been renowned for his work in this regard (Paul “Dr. Z” Zimmerman pointed out Turney’s work a long time ago), and it’s Turney’s work, along with that of Nick Webster, both members of the Professional Football Researchers Association, that has cleared the gap.

This new information presents quite the alternate history of pro football. All-time greats like Deacon Jones, Jack Youngblood, Alan Page, and Jim Marshall finally get their due, and lesser-known names like Al “Bubba” Baker (who now holds the single-season sack record with 23.0 in 1978), Coy Bacon, and Elvin Bethea find their profiles where they always should have been — right up there with the all-timers.

How much does this mean to the players who have been overlooked? Al “Bubba” Baker, who is finally revealed at the NFL’s single-season sack leader with 23 in the 1978 season (his rookie season, to boot) said on the Around the NFL Podcast that it was quite an emotional experience.

“For some reason, and I’m not kidding you, without any prompting, tears just started running down my eyes,” Baker said, via Lions Wire’s Jeff Risdon. “And my wife was inside, I opened up the patio doors. And my wife, first thing she said was, ‘What’s wrong?’ And I said, nothing’s wrong and I said come look at this. And, you know, we hugged and then I lost about an hour and a half, two hours. My daughter called. It was really emotional for my family. I guess at 6-foot-8, 290 pounds, that doesn’t sound really tough, but, we were all crying.

“You know somebody tells you you’re a sack leader and what do you do, you start crying. And I guess it’s because none of us really sat around like some players and, ‘We want this and we want that.’ We hadn’t thought about it for at least, for at least, I’m not kidding you, 20 years.”

Baker, who led the league in sacks in both 1978 and 1980 (with 17.5), and now has 131.0 sacks shown for his NFL career, is one of so many whose excellence is now more obvious to football fans of any stripe.

With that in mind, here are the top sack artists in professional football from 1960 through 1981 — presenting a far clearer picture of those players who contributed the most to quarterback disruption before the numbers became official. There were 13 players who had at least 100 sacks before the sack became an official statistic, and here they are.

2 former Vikings on ‘top 25 players not in Hall of Fame’ list

The question remains: Will Jim Marshall ever get into the Hall of Fame?

Over at CBS Sports, Bryan DeArdo ranked the top-25 players who aren’t in the Pro Football Hall of Fame right now.

On that list were two former Vikings.

At No. 20 was defensive lineman Jim Marshall.

This has been a player that the NFL world has been advocating for over the years. Here’s what DeArdo wrote about Marshall:

A valued member of Minnesota’s “Purple People Eaters” defensive line, Marshall holds numerous NFL records, including the most seasons played by a defensive player (20, along with Junior Seau and Darrell Green), most consecutive games by a defensive player (282), most consecutive starts by a defensive player (270), and most career fumble recoveries (30). Marshall, who was still a starter at age 42, helped the Vikings win three NFC titles along with the NFL championship in 1969.

The other former on the Viking came it at No. 4. That was running back Roger Craig. Craig only spent two seasons with the Vikings at the end of his career. Of course, Craig is mostly known for his days with the 49ers, winning three Super Bowls and making four Pro Bowl teams.

You can check out DeArdo’s full list here.

Vikings’ most notable Hall of Fame snubs

From Jim Marshall to Jared Allen, the Minnesota Vikings have had some notable Hall of Fame snubs.

Minnesota is well represented in Canton, Ohio, but the team still has its share of Hall of Fame snubs.

From Fran Tarkenton to Randy Moss, plenty of Hall of Famers have donned the Purple and Gold. Still, the Vikings have had plenty of players deserving of being enshrined, only to fall short in recent years.

So here is a list of some of the more notable snubs to have played for the Vikings. Just a note: I left off some notable former Vikings whose great years didn’t overlap with the team. So players like Donovan McNabb will not be on this list.

Here it is: