10 NFL players who should not be in the Hall of Fame
Fred Dean, DE, San Diego Chargers/San Francisco 49ers, 1975-85
Dean was a very good player who helped his team win two Super Bowls. And while that makes for a fine career, there would be a lot more players in the Hall of Fame if everyone meeting that criteria was elected.
While sacks were not an official statistic until the tail-end of Dean’s career, he is unofficially estimated to have 93 in his career. That’s a strong number, but there are so many defensive lineman who had more deserving numbers than Dean when he was elected in 2008.
For a player that was considered a rather one-dimensional pass rusher, it seems like Dean needed a bit more to get into the Hall of Fame, even if he was very good at that one skill. Dean was only named to four Pro Bowls and two All-Pro teams.
It’s not that those are bad accomplishments, but there were several defensive linemen with better numbers who were elected after Dean. For example, Richard Dent, the Super Bowl XX MVP and anchor of the legendary Chicago Bears’ defense of the 1980s, had to wait until 2011 to be elected. Dent finished with 137.5 career sacks.
Chris Doleman finished with 150.5 career sacks and eight Pro Bowl appearances. He wasn’t even a finalist before 2011, and was finally elected in 2012.
Defensive end is one of the most backlogged positions. While Dean may have had a stronger argument down the line, quite a few candidates are a little more worthy. The two Super Bowls, rather than his individual accomplishments, likely caught voters’ eyes.
Next: Roger Wehrli