Undrafted – – And In The Hall Of Fame

When the NFL announced this year’s entrants into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, I thought it was interesting that one of the new members – – Adam Vinateiri – – went undrafted as he came out of college.  My first reaction was to use that fact as an example of the NFL’s Draft as a crapshoot and not a science.  However, that thought got sidetracked when I asked myself if there were other players already in the Hall of Fame who were undrafted free agents.  Tracking down some data on that question has led me to this:

• There are indeed some very good football players in the Hall of Fame who were never drafted by any NFL team – – AND – –
• There are some undrafted players who are not in the Hall of Fame but have a résumé worthy of consideration for that honor.

Two very obvious examples came to mind:

1. Warren Moon – – not only undrafted, but he also got no camp invitations and had to go play in Canada to attract attention.
2. Kurt Warner – – he was famously bagging groceries prior to getting an invitation to Training Camp by the Rams.

Perusing the list of members already in the Hall of Fame yielded some other undrafted honorees:

• Willie Brown – – DB – – Named to the NFL’s All-Decade team for the 1960s and for the 1970s.
• Antonio Gates – – TE – – He never played college football; he was a basketball player in college.
• Cliff Harris – – DB – – Six times selected for the Pro Bowl he was named to the NFL’s all-Decade team for the 1970s.
• “Night Train” Lane – – DB – – Seven times selected for the Pro Bowl and 64 career interceptions.
• Larry Little – – OL – – Five times he was selected for the Pro Bowl and was named to the NFL’s All-Decade team for the 1970s
• John Randle – – DT – – Six times he was named an All-Pro.
• Emmitt Thomas – – DB – – He had 58 interceptions in his career.
• Willie Wood – – DB – – Eight times selected for the Pro Bowl and 48 career interceptions.

And here are some undrafted players who are not in the Hall of Fame now, but it would not desecrate the Hall of Fame should they be elected down the line:

• Coy Bacon – – DE – – Three times selected for the Pro Bowl and 130 sacks in his career.
• James Harrison – – LB – – Two times an All-Pro and two other times a second team All-Pro; also, he was Defensive Player of the Year once.
• Priest Holmes – – RB – – Three times an All-Pro and Offensive Player of the Year one time.
• Jason Peters – – OT – – Nine times selected for the Pro Bowl and named to the NFL’s All-Decade team for the 2010s.
• Wes Welker – – WR – – Five times named as All-Pro and led the NFL in receptions three times.

I am sure I have missed some entries on both of these lists; it was not intentional; it was merely oversight.  But there is one other thought that sprang to mind when Adam Vinatieri’s name was announced as a Hall of Fame inductee:

• There are only two members of the Hall of Fame who were kickers and nothing else – – Morten Andersen and Jan Stenerud.
• [Aside: Yes, George Blanda was a kicker, and Lou Groza was a kicker, and they are both in the Hall of Fame.  But they also played “regular positions”.]

Obviously, the Selectors do not go overboard when considering kickers for entrance to the Hall of Fame.  And so, I wonder what might happen when Justin Tucker becomes eligible for consideration.

• Justin Tucker – – K – – Five times named as an All-Pro and the most accurate kicker in NFL history.  At the time of his last game, he also held the record for the longest field goal in NFL history (66 yards).

However, Justin Tucker stands accused of “inappropriate sexual behavior” during a series of massage therapy sessions with about a dozen masseuses.  There have been no criminal charges filed that I can find; so, it might be interesting to see what the Selectors do with that situation.

Finally, since I obviously took myself down a rabbit hole with this train of thought, I should close today with this from Alice in Wonderland:

“Alice asked the Cheshire Cat, who was sitting in a tree, “What road do I take?”

The cat asked, “Where do you want to go?”

“I don’t know,” Alice answered.

“Then,” said the cat, “it really doesn’t matter, does it?”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………