At a glance, it should be clear to everyone that it is absurd to stand up for Julian Edelman as a candidate for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. At 620, he’s 75th at career receptions, despite the fact that his career spanned the most passable time in the league’s history. He is 156th in reception areas. He is the 261st to receive touchdowns.
You probably know this, but just to emphasize: there are no 260 passport recipients in the Hall of Fame.
MORE: Belichick, Brady praises Julian Edelman’s career
And yet there were several media outlets willing to put their names behind his case, including one of the most famous NFL reporters, ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
He’s being suggested as a candidate, for his performance as a recipient, of course, but also for his Super Bowl MVP award for the Patriots’ victory over Rams at the end of the 2018 season and his presence on three of the franchise’s championship teams.
Conveniently, that way we can crush his candidacy on all three fronts.
Five broad recipients who deserve the Hall of Fame more than Edelman
Torry Holt, Rams. Eligible since: 2015. Holt is 21st in career receptions (920) and 16th in yards with 13,332. He was a Super Bowl winner with the Rams in 1999 and made it back to the game in 2001. In 10 postseason games, he received one less touchdown than Edelman in 19. Holt played in seven Pro Bowls. Edelman wasn’t even chosen.
Reggie Wayne, Colts. Eligible since: 2019. Wayne is seen as the lesser talent of the tandem that included Marvin Harrison, and that’s fair, but that didn’t keep John Stallworth away. Wayne is 10th in career receipts with 1,070 and 10th in yards with 14,345. Did playing quarterback with Peyton Manning help for most of his career? For sure. Are we supposed to believe that playing with Tom Brady restricted Edelman?
Steve Smith, panther. Entitled since: now. Smith ranks 12th in receptions and eighth in yards. He appeared with Jake Delhomme as a quarterback in the Super Bowl in 2003 and played 11 postseason games during his time in Carolina and Baltimore. He caught nine postseason TDs and averaged 17 yards per reception in postseason games.
Hines Ward, Steelers. Eligible since: 2017. Ward overshadowed Edelman’s regular seasonal production. Ward is 14th in career receptions (1,000 to be exact) and 26th in yards. He had 85 touchdowns to Edelman’s 36. One argument against Ward is that he only made three Pro Bowls, but that’s three more than Wes Welker. And if we’re going to do a big deal about Edelman’s transition from college QB to the prolific NFL wideout, remember Ward also played running back and quarterback in Georgia before switching to receiver in his final college season .
Wes Welker, patriot. Entitled since: now. Although he played with the Patriots for most of his career, he had the bad timing to do so between Super Bowl championship runs. He appeared in five Pro Bowls and finished 22nd at career receptions. Although his touchdown total is relatively meager at just 50, it’s still way ahead of Edelmans.
Five Super Bowl MVPs who earn HOF more than Edelman
Chuck Howley, Linebacker, Cowboys, Super Bowl 5. Still known as the only Super Bowl MVP of a losing team, Howley played in six Pro Bowls and was a five-time All-Pro selection. He had 25 interceptions and 18 fumble recovery and won a Super Bowl with the Cowboys in 1971 at the age of 35. Can someone explain how he is on this list and not in the hall yet?
Hines Ward, recipient, Steelers, Super Bowl 40. Ward won as many Super Bowl MVPs as Edelman – and doubled his postseason with touchdowns. Edelman had 10 more reception spots per game and 1.3 more receptions per game in the postseason, but Ward’s two Super Bowl champions were more of a run-oriented teams.
Harvey Martin, Defensive End, Cowboys, Super Bowl 12. Martin shared the award with fellow lineman Randy White, who is in the hall. Martin was a four-time Pro Bowl election and was a member of the NFL’s All Decade team in the 1970s. He was named Defensive Player of the Year for the NFL in 1977 by The Associated Press. In 1982 the NFL introduced the sack as an official statistic. He had eight that season, a year before he retired.
Jim Plunkett, quarterback, Raiders, Super Bowl 15. Plunkett was the number 1 design to come out of Stanford in 1971, and his five years in New England were sort of a bankruptcy. He spent two years in San Francisco that weren’t much better, but with the Raiders he led two Super Bowl champions and won MVP honors in the first of those games. To say that the “postseason counts” as some have done, Plunkett was 8-2 in his 10 postseason games.
Jake Scott, security, dolphins, Super Bowl 7. There have been many who believed that defender Manny Fernandez’s six tackle performance earned the MVP award in the 14-7 win over the Redskins, but Scott’s two interceptions did it for him. But that day wasn’t his only notable achievement. He was five Pro Bowl and two All-Pros, and had 49 interceptions in a nine-year career. He had four or more interceptions in all but one season.
Five patriots who deserve HOF more than Edelman
Richard Seymour, defensive ending, 2001-08. Seymour won three Super Bowls with the Patriots, started their first championship group, and delivered eight solo tackles during the team’s run for the title. He made 105 starts and picked up 39 sacks for the Patriots before spending his last four seasons with the Raiders adding another 18.5 sacks to his total. He made seven Pro Bowls and was named All-Pro three times.
Logan Mankins, Guard, 2005-13. Mankins missed the early Super Bowl years with the Patriots and left just before things got great again. But he’s been a starter on both teams that lost Super Bowls to the Giants (2007, 2011), and he appeared in seven Pro Bowls, once named All-Pro, and from Pro to All-Decade for the 2010s Team elected Football Hall of Fame.
Corey Dillon, going back, 2004-06. Dillon played with the Bengals for most of his career, during some of their least impressive seasons. He produced six consecutive seasons of 1,000 yards for teams that were 26-70 together. That alone might make him worthy, but he also won a Super Bowl with the Pats in 2004, hitting 1,635 yards that season, and making one of his four Pro Bowl appearances. He ranks 20th in career. Of the eligible players placed in front of him, only Fred Taylor and Steven Jackson are not in the hall.
Vince Wilfork, nasal device, 2004-14. Wilfork didn’t produce the kind of sack stats that a defender would normally see. Of course, at 325 pounds, it was a problem for him to be seldom noticed. He only had 16 career bags, but he made 367 solo tackles during his career, including two seasons with the Texans. He was All-Pro once and was elected to the Pro Bowl five times.
Matt Light, Guard, 2001-11. There was light at the start of the Patriots’ reign and earned a job like Seymour during his rookie season. Light got three Pro Bowls and was once called All-Pro. It will be almost impossible for him to reach the hall with his ID cards. And they’re still better than Edelmans.
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