Devin Hester a finalist for the Hall of Fame

[Sweetness34]

Third times the charm? He made the final 15 again. I'm certainly partial, as I am sure most here are as well, but damn I really hope he gets in this time. Just loved watching him play. He was a game changer in an art that rarely exists any more in todays game. I do realize NFL rule changes are some of the reason. But even with today's rules, there is no doubt Hester in his prime would still make a few house calls a year. Amazing talent for his craft. Let's go Hester!!

[bearsoldier]

[HisRoyalSweetness]

The Bears current ST Coordinator speaking about Hester:

“I don’t know why it’s three years. I thought he should’ve been first-ballot.”

“When you just sit back and think about how prestigious that is and all the people that are in the Hall of Fame, you think about guys that have had a huge impact on their position and a huge impact on the game of football. And to me, that’s Devin Hester. So I really hope that happens this time.”

“I don’t think we’ll ever see another player like Devin Hester again; I know I probably won’t in my time. Maybe our kids’ kids or somebody will, but I don’t ever think you’ll see a player change their position the way he changed his position.”

[HisRoyalSweetness]

Kurt Warner's take:

https://www.nfl.com/videos/warner-react ... et-finalis

[Burl]

Hope he makes it, but man that's a stacked list.
I feel like odds are against him, but hope I'm wrong.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

Peppers and Gates are surely shoe-ins for 2 of the 5. What's surprising is how many years some of the others have been eligible without yet getting in.

I continue to believe Charles Tillman is a glaring omission; he doesn't even get on the semi-finalists list. It's absurd when you consider how many fumbles he forced as a DB and that he has a technique for doing so named after him. People talk about how Hester changed the game and a position, but it could be said that with the Peanut Punch Tillman did the same. If the Hall is all about recognising those who were the best then he is head and shoulders above any non-pass rusher when it comes to forcing fumbles. He was a mighty fine CB too, but there's a stupid snobbery about CBs who play in a Cover 2-based defense rather than one that emphasises man-to-man. Tillman's body of work and stats match up favourably with other CBs who are in the Hall, yet he's not even in the running.

[Arkansasbear]

Peppers and Gates are surely shoe-ins for 2 of the 5. What's surprising is how many years some of the others have been eligible without yet getting in.

I continue to believe Charles Tillman is a glaring omission; he doesn't even get on the semi-finalists list. It's absurd when you consider how many fumbles he forced as a DB and that he has a technique for doing so named after him. People talk about how Hester changed the game and a position, but it could be said that with the Peanut Punch Tillman did the same. If the Hall is all about recognising those who were the best then he is head and shoulders above any non-pass rusher when it comes to forcing fumbles. He was a mighty fine CB too, but there's a stupid snobbery about CBs who play in a Cover 2-based defense rather than one that emphasises man-to-man. Tillman's body of work and stats match up favourably with other CBs who are in the Hall, yet he's not even in the running.

I think Tillman is close, but I think he's a hair shy of being HOF worthy. He should, IMO, however, made some semi-finalist list.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

I think Tillman is close, but I think he's a hair shy of being HOF worthy. He should, IMO, however, made some semi-finalist list.

Career stats with per game average in brackets:

Ty Law
1995 - 2009 (15 years)
Games: 203 (189 starts)

• Interceptions: 53 (0.261)

• Passes Defensed: 169 (0.833)

• Fumbles Forced: 7 (0.034)

• Fumbles Recovered: 4 (0.020)

• Total Turnovers: 57 (0.281)

• Touchdowns: 7 (0.034)

• Total Tackles: 845 (4.163)

• Solo Tackles: 708 (3.488)

Ronde Barber
1997 - 2012 (16 years)
Games: 241 (232 starts)

• Interceptions: 47 (0.195)

• Passes Defensed: 205 (0.851)

• Fumbles Forced: 15 (0.062)

• Fumbles Recovered: 12 (0.050)

• Total Turnovers: 59 (0.245)

• Touchdowns: 12 (0.050)

• Total Tackles: 1,251 (5.191)

• Solo Tackles: 1,044 (4.332)

* Played at FS in his final year and had 4 INT, 13 PD, 1 FF and 1 TD

Champ Bailey
1999 - 2013 (15 years)
Games: 215 (212 starts)

• Interceptions: 52 (0.242)

• Passes Defensed: 203 (0.944)

• Fumbles Forced: 7 (0.033)

• Fumbles Recovered: 6 (0.028)

• Total Turnovers: 58 (0.270)

• Touchdowns: 4 (0.019)

• Total Tackles: 931 (4.330)

• Solo Tackles: 832 (3.870)

Charles Tillman
2003 - 2015 (13 years)
Games: 168 (164 starts)

• Interceptions: 38 (0.226)

• Passes Defensed: 140 (0.833)

• Fumbles Forced: 44 (0.262)

• Fumbles Recovered: 12 (0.071)

• Total Turnovers: 50 (0.298)

• Touchdowns: 9 (0.054)

• Total Tackles: 930 (5.536)

• Solo Tackles: 790 (4.702)

Darrelle Revis
2007 - 2017 (11 years)
Games: 145 (142 starts)

• Interceptions: 29 (0.200)

• Passes Defensed: 139 (0.959)

• Fumbles Forced: 4 (0.028)

• Fumbles Recovered: 12 (0.083)

• Total Turnovers: 41 (0.283)

• Touchdowns: 3 (0.021)

• Total Tackles: 497 (3.428)

• Solo Tackles: 411 (2.834)

Tillman compared to 4 recent cornerback Hall of Fame inductees on a per game basis:

Interceptions:
1. Law (0.261)
2. Bailey (0.242)
3. Tillman (0.226)
4. Revis (0.200)
5. Barber (0.195)

Passes Defensed:
1. Revis (0.959)
2. Bailey (0.944)
3. Barber (0.851)
4. Tillman (0.833)
5. Law (0.833)

Forced Fumbles:
1. Tillman (0.262)
2. Barber (0.062)
3. Law (0.034)
4. Bailey (0.033)
5. Revis (0.028)

Fumbles Recovered:
1. Revis (0.083)
2. Tillman (0.071)
3. Barber (0.050)
4. Bailey (0.028)
5. Law (0.020)

Total Turnovers (INT & FR):
1. Tillman (0.298)
2. Revis (0.283)
3. Law (0.281)
4. Bailey (0.270)
5. Barber (0.245)

Touchdowns:
1. Tillman (0.054)
2. Barber (0.050)
3. Law (0.034)
4. Revis (0.021)
5. Bailey (0.019)

Total Tackles:
1. Tillman (5.536)
2. Barber (5.191)
3. Bailey (4.330)
4. Law (4.163)
5. Revis (3.428)

Solo Tackles:
1. Tillman (4.702)
2. Barber (4.332)
3. Bailey (3.870)
4. Law (3.488)
5. Revis (2.834)

One final stat:
With a bit of digging I was able to ascertain that of the 44 fumbles Tillman forced in his career, 24 were recovered by his team. Even assuming (improbably) that all the fumbles forced by those other players were recovered by their team that still results in:

Total turnovers the player had a part in:
1. Tillman 74
2. Barber 74
3. Bailey 65
4. Law 64
5. Revis 45

A "hair shy of being HOF worthy"? Not for me.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

One final stat:
With a bit of digging I was able to ascertain that of the 44 fumbles Tillman forced in his career, 24 were recovered by his team. Even assuming (improbably) that all the fumbles forced by those other players were recovered by their team that still results in:

Total turnovers each player had a part in:
1. Tillman 74
2. Barber 74
3. Bailey 65
4. Law 64
5. Revis 45

I just realised I didn't factor in fumbles that Tillman forced and then recovered himself, so I took the time to do a thorough dive into FF and recoveries for all 5 players:

Total turnovers the player had a part in:

1. Tillman 71
(38 INT + 12 FR + 21 FF recovered by teammates)

2. Barber 68
(47 INT + 12 FR + 9 FF recovered by teammates)

3. Bailey 61
(52 INT + 6 FR + 3 FF recovered by teammates)

4. Law 60
(53 INT + 4 FR + 3 FF recovered by teammates)

5. Revis 42
(29 INT + 12 FR + 1 FF recovered by teammates)

On a per game basis:
1. Tillman (0.423)
2. Law (0.296)
3. Revis (0.290)
4. Bailey (0.284)
5. Barber (0.282)

Not only did Tillman help generate more turnovers than any of those 4 Hall of Fame CBs did in their careers, he also did so far more frequently (at least 43% more) than any of them.

Given how critical turnovers are to success in the NFL, with teams that win the turnover battle winning almost 70% of the time (increasing to 84% if the margin is by two and over 90% if by three), how can this alone not be enough for Tillman to be in the Hall of Fame?

Then factor in his 44 forced fumbles, which ranks joint 6th all-time. Charles Woodson is the only other DB to feature in the top 70, ranking joint 20th with 33. Not only did he play in 86 more games than Tillman to log that number, he also played his last 55 at Safety during which he notched 5 of them. Oh and he doesn't have a football technique named after him either. Is there any Hall of Fame player who does?

[The Marshall Plan]

I really would like to hear an argument for why the greatest special teams player of all time isn't in the HOF, but the 112th (or whatever it is) OL or DL is in there.

It's complete and total bullshit that Hester wasn't a first ballot HOF'er. Who in their right mind DOESN'T think he should be in there?

[karhu]

If Hester and McMichael don't get in this year...well, the Nobel Prize in Literature used to mean something, and then it didn't. Ohio can specialize in marketing stupid, pointless halls of fame to gullible tourists at that point.

And Tillman's almost that kind of litmus. He needs to be in, too, if the HoF is going to mean what it says it does.

[Arkansasbear]

Holy crap. It turns out that every return Hester had either tied or broke an NFL or Bears' record.

That's kind of insane.

https://www.windycitygridiron.com/2024/ ... ame-canton

[Grizzled]

This year's class of inductees will be announced on Thursday February 8 on the NFL network starting at 8:00 p.m. CST. Go Mongo and Hester, make it so!

[HisRoyalSweetness]

Wow, Devin's really not happy with not being a first ballot Hall of Famer....

[Sweetness34]

Great video. Thank you for sharing. As said in the video more than once, he revolutionized the game. And with the rules in place today, we will never see another player like him at the position ... ever. I really hope he gets in this time, his place is well deserved and earned..

[Arkansasbear]

Wow, Devin's really not happy with not being a first ballot Hall of Famer....

He should be pissed. That's was a joke that he didn't make it.