Tag: Pro Football Hall of Fame

Texans great Andre Johnson reflects on Pro Football Hall of Fame selection

Texans legend Andre Johnson said being named to the Hall of Fame was one of the “best feelings that I’ve had in a very, very long time.”

As former Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson sat courtside at the Houston Rockets game with CEO and Chairman Cal McNair, his lovely wife Hannah, and former Texans defensive lineman Travis Johnson, he was asked a question by Cal that may have seemed like small talk at the time. Still, the conversation would impact Johnson for the rest of his life.

“Do you think you’ve got a good shot this year?” Mr. McNair asked Johnson during a Rockets timeout about his chances of being inducted into the 2024 Class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The stoic Johnson, who rarely shows emotions, answered the question how he responded to most questions throughout his playing and retirement days.

“If there’s a year for me to go in, it’s this year,” Johnson said. “He was like, ‘Really? You think so?’”

It was challenging for the 14-year veteran (which included 12 years with Houston), who was selected to two All-Pro teams and seven Pro Bowls during his playing days, to get a read on what Cal was asking him since they both keep the expression of a poker player who makes a living not allowing other players to see when they are bluffing. Johnson never knew that Mr. McNair was holding a huge secret from him.

One day later, the secret was revealed at Johnson’s home when he got a knock on the door from 2013 Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter, whom Johnson revered for his accomplishments on the football field to let him know that he had been selected to the 2024 Hall of Fame Class.

“It’s probably one of the best feelings that I’ve had in a very, very long time,” said the 2017 inaugural Houston Texans Ring of Honor inductee. “Just getting that knock at the door was very emotional, and it was just kind of a sense of closure to my career. I always said that I never ever thought of being a Hall of Famer, but to have that happen, it was a tremendous feeling.”

Houston drafted Johnson with the third overall pick in the 2003 NFL draft from the University of Miami, where he shined as a player, helping lead the Hurricanes to their fifth football national championship in 2001. He was the bright spot in Houston heading into their second full season of professional football activities after a brief hiatus when the Houston Oilers moved to Nashville, Tenn.

Johnson, 42, finished his NFL career ranked 11th in NFL history with 14,184 receiving yards and 1,062 receptions. He is the all-time franchise leader in receiving yards, receptions, and receiving touchdowns for the Texans.

Fans around Houston flooded social media during the 2024 NFL Honors in Las Vegas, Nev., when the announcement was made that Johnson had finally been selected. Many of those fans were just as celebratory on the local sports radio shows the next day in support of one of the biggest Texans legends.

On Wednesday, Johnson acknowledged those fans during his press conference.

“I don’t think this (Hall of Fame) was only just for me,” Johnson said. “This was for the whole city of Houston. It’s for the whole organization. Grown men telling me they were crying. Having people tell you, ‘God gave us a superhero here in Houston.’ Those are things that you don’t even realize how people look up to you or you playing that game can affect a city.”

Johnson also warned the organizers of the induction ceremony about what is about to happen in August now that he has been selected.

“I already told people in Canton that they better get ready, because Houston’s going to show up and show out,” Johnson said with a smile. “The love I’ve received from this city and the fans, it’s truly been great.

“It’s been a fun time. I know that they are super, super excited for this to be happening. Honestly, I can’t wait to see what happens in Canton. I hear it. I could be in the grocery store or wherever, and all you hear is, ‘If they let you in Canton, we’re coming.’ So, I know there will be a lot of people there, and I know it will be a great moment for everybody.”

Why Lance Briggs should be the next Bears Hall of Famer

Making the case for Lance Briggs to be the next Bears player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The Chicago Bears saw a few of their all-time greats make it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame last week — Devin Hester, Steve McMichael and Julius Peppers. The Bears were the first team to have three players (at least four years with the team) who made the Hall of Fame in the same year since the San Francisco 49ers in 2000.

These guys will be celebrated and rightfully so. It will also drive the conversation about who from the Bears’ storied history deserves to make it to Canton. A few really good candidates come to mind, but linebacker Lance Briggs is at the top of the list.

Briggs spent a lot of incredible years as a linebacker for the Bears after they drafted him in the third round of the 2003 NFL draft. From that moment on, he became a franchise legend. He should be in the Hall of Fame based on all of his accomplishments.

Was he as good as Brian Urlacher? No, he was not. Playing the same position at the same time as Urlacher might make some people question his legitimacy as a Hall of Fame candidate but it shouldn’t. Two elite players can play together at the same time. Just because one was slightly better doesn’t mean that the other should be punished.

There are a few numbers to support Briggs as a Hall of Famer with or without Urlacher around. For one, Urlacher missed the entire 2009 season after suffering an injury in Week 1. Briggs went on to lead Chicago in tackles with 118 that year. That effort earned him a trip to the Pro Bowl.

Briggs is a three-time All-Pro, seven-time Pro Bowler and among the 100 greatest Bears of All-Time.

He also had a total of six career defensive touchdowns, which are the third most in team history. Five of those were interceptions, which is the second most interception touchdown returns for any Bear ever. He had one in each of his first three NFL seasons, which are the most ever. There is no doubt that this guy was as impactful as anyone during his time.

We don’t know when Briggs’ time is going to come, but it should be soon. He’s been among the original 100-plus nominees, but he hasn’t yet made it to the semifinalist stage. Briggs is one of the best linebackers from his era and deserves to be recognized as such.

Tom Jackson will present Randy Gradishar at Hall of Fame induction

Former Broncos linebacker Tom Jackson will present Randy Gradishar at his Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony in August.

When it comes to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the inductee’s speech itself becomes secondary, after choosing the person who will present them prior to their bust unveiling.

This time around, the “Orange Crush” defensive anchorman, Randy Gradishar, has chosen former Denver Bronco linebacker and Ring of Famer Tom Jackson to present him.

Jackson and Gradishar were Broncos teammates from 1973-1983, and recently, Jackson has become a major voice for Gradishar’s induction.

It has been a special time for former Broncos defensive members. Gradishar received “The Knock” from fellow Hall of Fame defensive star Steve Atwater, who was enshrined in Canton in 2021 (as part of the delayed 2020 class).

Gradishar is the latest, but hopefully not last, Bronco to be inducted into the halls of Canton.

Here are the previous presenters from other Denver Hall of Famers:

  • John Lynch – Jake Lynch, son and Herm Edwards, coach
  • Peyton Manning – Archie Manning, father
  • Steve Atwater – Dennis Smith, Broncos teammate
  • Champ Bailey – Jack Reale, Champ’s agent
  • Pat Bowlen – Steve “Greek” Antonopulos, longtime Broncos trainer
  • Brian Dawkins – Troy Vincent, friend and former teammate
  • Terrell Davis – Neil Schwartz, Terrell’s agent & friend
  • Shannon Sharpe — Sterling Sharpe, Shannon’s brother & former Green Bay Packers wide receiver
  • Floyd Little  — Marc Little, Floyd’s son
  • Gary Zimmerman — Pat Bowlen, Denver Broncos President & CEO
  • John Elway — Jessica Elway, John’s daughter

The 2024 class will be enshrined in Canton on Saturday, Aug. 3.

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Julius Peppers: Steve Smith should already be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Soon-to-be Pro Football Hall of Famer Julius Peppers thinks former Panthers teammate Steve Smith Sr. is past due for Canton.

Hopefully, former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. will soon join fellow franchise legend Julius Peppers in Canton. But it’s Peppers who believes that he should be the one having to join Smith Sr.

This past weekend was certainly a memorable one for Peppers, who was just named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his very first year of eligibility. The NFL’s fourth leading sack artist of all-time also made time to appear at Allegiant Stadium for Super Bowl LVIII, where he ran into his old teammate on the sideline.

And while catching up on the congratulatory messages he’s received in the past few days, Peppers made sure to catch us up on his thoughts about Smitty’s Hall of Fame candidacy . . .

Smith Sr., a semifinalist in each of his three bids, has been eligible since 2021. But he has yet to advance into the finalist group.

If you ask Peppers, that’s no place for his pal—who is eighth all-time in receiving yards and 12th in receptions. And if you ask us, he’s right.

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Panthers great Luke Kuechly asked about his candidacy for Pro Football Hall of Fame

Up & Adams host Kay Adams asked Panthers great Luke Kuechly about the prospect of becoming a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer in 2025.

Will the Carolina Panthers be able to boast back-to-back first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famers? Well, to be frank, it’s pretty likely.

Former linebacker Luke Kuechly joined the post-Super Bowl LVIII edition of Up & Adams—where he talked not only about the upcoming induction of fellow franchise great and ex-teammate Julius Peppers, but also about the possibility of his own. Host Kay Adams asked Kuechly, who is eligible beginning in 2025, for his thoughts on the prospect.

“I think when you think about the Hall of Fame, it’s obviously awesome,” he replied. “It’s the highest honor that you can have as a football player on an individual basis. And you look at the guys that got in there at the linebacker position, the guys I grew up watching—Derrick Brooks, Brian Urlacher, Ray Lewis, obviously Pep got in. Those three guys that I mentioned and then Patrick [Willis]. And all of ’em were a little bit different.”

As he mentions, Willis is headed in—and in his first year of eligibility. Considering all that separates the two is an AP Defensive Player of the Year award and a second-team All-Pro nod (both of which belong to Luke), Thursday’s news bodes rather well for Kuechly’s immediate chances.

Kuechly went on.

“We’ll see what happens,” he added. “I did my best when I was playing. I had a lot of really good help around me from players and coaches and people in the organization. I did everything I could, I loved every second of it and now we’ll just kinda see what happens.”

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Luke Kuechly names the 1 thing that sets Julius Peppers apart

Panthers greats Julius Peppers and Luke Kuechly sent each other a nod this week.

The love for Carolina Panthers legend and soon-to-be Pro Football Hall of Famer Julius Peppers is continuing to spread. But on Tuesday, he began giving the love right back.

Former Panthers linebacker and ex-teammate Luke Kuechly was asked about big ol’ No. 90 on Monday’s post-Super Bowl LVIII episode of Up & Adams. And of all the unique qualities Peppers possesses, Kuechly admitted he was always enamored with one in particular.

“One thing that I think sets Pep apart from people is just, you watch him and love when Pep smiles,” he told host Kay Adams. “That big smile that he has, it’s just so fun to me. There was one thing that when I was gettin’ ready to play with Pep that I was excited about. You know Pep always had that dark visor and I always wanted to be there when Pep got a sack and he had that dark visor and the only thing you could see on him was that smile.”

In turn, Peppers hit Twitter this morning to show his respect for No. 59 . . .

Kuechly, who shared a field with the Canton-bound pass rusher for 31 games, got a chance to see 16 of those smiles. Peppers played out the final two years of his immortalized career back in Carolina—where he posted 16.0 sacks, 28 quarterback hits, four forced fumbles and, obviously, a bunch of pearly whites.

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It seems Fred Taylor was an afterthought for Hall of Fame voters

Reports from behind the scenes of Hall of Fame discussions make it sound like Fred Taylor never stood much of a chance.

Former Jacksonville Jaguars running back Fred Taylor got as close to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as he’s ever been this year when he was one of 15 modern-era finalists for the Class of 2024. It seems he wasn’t that close to being one of the five selected to be enshrined, though.

On Monday, Peter King of NBC Sports — a member of the selection committee — offered some insight into the group’s deliberations on the finalists. Thoughts on Taylor were few and far between in King’s column.

When the committee cut the list of candidates from 15 to 10, King didn’t list Taylor as one of the 10 players to get his vote. He also didn’t put the former Jaguars running back on his list of the dozen players likeliest to reach Canton in the Class of 2025. King did include Marshawn Lynch — who will be newly eligible next year — on that latter list, though.

More specific details of the discussions and votes are confidential, so it’s impossible to know how many other committee members felt the same as King. It sure seems like Taylor never stood much of a chance, though.

When it came time to debate Taylor’s case, the committee evidently didn’t take much time to reach a conclusion. King listed the length of each discussion and Taylor’s was one of the shortest.

“Parker, 70 minutes, 38 seconds; *Gradishar, 15:26; *McMichael, 10:02; Powell, 15:00; *Hester, 22:22; Gates, 35:55; Holt, 13:00; *Johnson, 22:45; Wayne, 37:30; Anderson, 13:40; Evans, 11:58; Jared Allen, 14:05; *Freeney, 11:35; *Peppers, 7:50; *Willis, 12:55; Eric Allen, 10:52; Harrison, 19:18; Woodson, 13:53; Taylor, 12:08.”

King cautioned readers to not make much of the discussion lengths, but added that often “discussions for those deemed very likely to enter are short.” Julius Peppers, Steve McMichael, and Dwight Freeney, three members of the Class of 2024, were subjects of three of the four shortest discussions.

Taylor is 17th in NFL history with 11,695 career rushing yards. Only two of the players ahead of him on the list — Frank Gore and Adrian Peterson — aren’t Hall of Famers, although neither has reached eligibility yet.

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Washington’s 1991 team ranked as greatest Super Bowl champion of all time

It’s about time that 1991 team is recognized for its greatness.

The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in Super Bowl LVIII to become the first repeat champion in nearly 20 years. Kansas City is officially a dynasty with three Super Bowl championships in the past five seasons.

Where do the 2023 Chiefs rate among the greatest Super Bowl champions ever?

ESPN’s Aaron Schatz recently ranked the top 57 Super Bowl champions ahead of Sunday’s game using the DVOA metric. Once the game ended, Schatz updated his rankings.

Where were the 2023 Chiefs? No. 42.

Before we reveal No. 1, let’s give a brief explanation of what the DVOA metric is, courtesy of FTN:

DVOA measures a team’s efficiency by comparing success on every single play to a league average based on situation and opponent.

That’s just the ultra-short version of the DVOA. FTN’s website has a much more in-depth explanation.

Back to the list. No. 1 is none other than the 1991 Washington Redskins. We’ll allow Schatz’s own words to explain why Washington came in on top of the list.

Here’s the team that DVOA says is the greatest of all time. Washington led the NFL in points scored and was second in points allowed. It lost by a field goal to the Cowboys after an 11-0 start, then sat its starters in the second half of the final week and lost to the Eagles by two points. That was it for losses.

For the 1991 season, Washington was second in offensive DVOA behind San Francisco, third on defense behind Philadelphia and New Orleans and first on special teams. But what’s more impressive is where Washington ranks in DVOA out of 1,309 teams going all the way back to 1981. It’s the only team to rank in the top 50 for all three phases. (Specifically, Washington is 50th in offense, 36th in defense and 19th in special teams.)

Washington won games during the regular season by scores like 45-0 (Detroit), 34-0 (Phoenix) and 23-0 (Philadelphia). It beat the Falcons 56-17 and the Rams 27-6. Then came the playoffs. A rematch with the No. 8 Falcons ended with a score of 24-7. The Lions made it to the NFC championship despite ranking only 13th in DVOA, only to be pummeled by Washington, 41-10. Washington had a 37-10 lead over the No. 4 Bills with half of the fourth quarter left in Super Bowl XXVI, eventually winning the Lombardi Trophy 37-24 after two late Bills touchdowns sandwiched around a successful onside kick.

This isn’t Schatz cherry-picking the winner. This isn’t a case of Schatz drawing a team from a hat. Schatz uses in-depth data to show Washington’s greatness.

Washington fans have always believed the 1991 team was shortchanged in terms of its greatness. Everything on that team was elite, from the coaching to the offensive line to the running game, passing game, special teams and defense. It’s a shame that era of Washington football doesn’t have more members in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which is a discussion for another day.

Panthers greats Julius Peppers and Steve Smith Sr. reunite at Super Bowl LVIII

20 years after sharing a Super Bowl sideline, Panthers greats Julius Peppers and Steve Smith Sr. reunited at the biggest stage of the game.

In 2004, the New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers gave us one of the most thrilling games in Super Bowl history . . . or at least one of the most thrilling second halves in Super Bowl history. And now, 20 years later, two of that night’s biggest stars reunited on the biggest stage of the sport.

Although they weren’t a part of the action, Panthers legends Julius Peppers and Steve Smith Sr. crossed paths at Allegiant Stadium during Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday:

The fella on the left, of course, was in Las Vegas to claim his selection into the Pro Football Hall of Fame while the fella on the right, now an NFL Network analyst, was busy at work . . .

Unfortunately, their fingers were not adorned with Super Bowl rings when they met up. They were extremely close to that jewelry back on Feb. 1, 2004—where Peppers, Smith and the Panthers fell short in a heartbreaking 32-29 defeat.

But maybe they’ll reunite again in the near future, when both have busts over in Canton, Ohio.

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Watch the moment Julius Peppers learns he’s a Pro Football Hall of Famer

Panthers legend Julius Peppers got an appropriate welcome into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Not every Pro Football Hall of Famer is a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer. But that shouldn’t have been much of a worry for Julius Peppers, who made a career out of being different.

And now, that career is Canton-bound, as the Carolina Panthers great was named as part of the 2024 class last Thursday night. Before that, however, Pep had to get the news himself—which came courtesy of a knock from a fellow legendary pass rusher . . .

Considering he probably knows a thing or two about taking down quarterbacks and taking up space in the Hall of Fame, Smith was a pretty appropriate choice to welcome in Peppers. The two-time Defensive Player of the Year, eight-time first-team All-Pro and 11-time Pro Bowler finished his illustrious 19-year career with 200.0 sacks—the most in NFL history.

Not too far behind sits Peppers, who wrapped up his run with 159.5 sacks—the fourth-most of all-time.

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