Top 30 NFL players not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame

4. LB Tommy Nobis

He was not only the first player taken in the 1966 NFL Draft he was the first-ever draft choice of the Atlanta Falcons. University of Texas linebacker Tommy Nobis joined the league’s latest expansion franchise and wasted little time showing why he was so highly regarded.

He started every game for the team in each of its first three seasons, was named to the Pro Bowl each year and was also accorded All-Pro honors in his second pro campaign in 1967.

Injuries would soon become an issue. He missed nine games in 1969 but rebounded to be named to a fourth Pro Bowl the following year. In 1971, he once again went down with a knee injury but came back one season later and was a Pro Bowler for the fifth time.

Nobis played a total of 11 seasons with the Falcons and came up with 25 takeaways, including a dozen interceptions. However, the club failed to reach the playoffs during his tenure with the franchise.

Talk about a ringing endorsement? Pro Football Hall of Fame center Jim Otto once had this to say about the overlooked Falcons’ linebacker (via Hall of Fame voter Rick Gosselin). “I played against (Dick) Butkus and Nobis, and I don’t think there was 30 seconds difference between them. Butkus, Nobis and Willie Lanier were the best.”

Two of those gentlemen have busts in Canton, Ohio. However, the wait continues for one of the game’s best middle linebackers.