Thread: Is WR Brandon Marshall (remember him?) a HOFer?

Too much of a logjam at that position as it is, and voters will hold the attitude/off field stuff against him. I'll be pretty stunned if he ever gets in.

22nd in receiving yards
22nd in TDs
19th in catches

Each of those in an era of dominant offenses, plenty of guys from earlier eras ahead of him, and many guys ahead of him NOT in the HOF.

I don't see any argument for him making it at all.

Originally Posted by BroncoWave

Too much of a logjam at that position as it is, and voters will hold the attitude/off field stuff against him. I'll be pretty stunned if he ever gets in.

I dont think the off field stuff will effect him much. LT and Irvin had off the field issues (and Owens was a cancer on his teams). But i agree with the other stuff that his numbers just match up with a lot of guys in front of him who are not even in yet. He was a decent WR for sure but not really consider one of the greats.

Originally Posted by Northman

I dont think the off field stuff will effect him much. LT and Irvin had off the field issues (and Owens was a cancer on his teams). But i agree with the other stuff that his numbers just match up with a lot of guys in front of him who are not even in yet. He was a decent WR for sure but not really consider one of the greats.

Those guys were all surefire guys though. I think the off field stuff will play in more when you're already a borderline hof guy. Can tip the scales against you.

And it absolutely did hurt TO. His career should have made him a no brainer first ballot guy, but they snubbed him for 3 years because of his behavior.

Originally Posted by Northman

I dont think the off field stuff will effect him much. LT and Irvin had off the field issues (and Owens was a cancer on his teams). But i agree with the other stuff that his numbers just match up with a lot of guys in front of him who are not even in yet. He was a decent WR for sure but not really consider one of the greats.

I think decent understates how good he was. He was very good and dominant at times. But very good combined with the weirdness wont get him in

I think you guys understate how political the voting is. It's a club and they vote in their members. Really, Terrell Davis' decision to take a media career made him a certainty to get in eventually, even though most voters considered that he hadn't played long enough by traditional standards.

I didn't agree with that idea, for a lot of reasons we don't need to mention, but the elite writers who are HOF voters did care. They have their little club rules and one of them is you are either in the club or out of the club.

Another club rule is that one member will never publicly criticize another member or worse, the club rules. "Only people who can't get into society criticize society." -- Snobs everywhere through time.

If you are so elite they can't possibly ignore you, then fine. You get in. But, if you're marginal? There are a lot of marginal guys and their number grows every year. Do they get in or not? That's where the politics gets you in or hurts you. You could be a guy who just retired and bought a sailboat; gone. Out of sight out of mind. That guy might never get in.

Another guy gets a job on ESPN and suddenly his face is all over TV. He has no problem getting in.

Originally Posted by BroncoWave

And it absolutely did hurt TO. His career should have made him a no brainer first ballot guy, but they snubbed him for 3 years because of his behavior.

I disagree. I wish he hadn’t gotten in. I think the HoF should reserve spots for receivers who can catch.

Originally Posted by spikerman

I disagree. I wish he hadn’t gotten in. I think the HoF should reserve spots for receivers who can catch.

Huh???

https://www.google.com/amp/s/profoot...eivers-do/amp/

After going through all the Stats, LLC, drops data for Owens’ career, I’ve compiled these notes on Owens’ dropped passes in each of his 15 NFL seasons:

1996: Owens dropped just one pass while making 35 catches as a rookie.

1997: Owens dropped five passes and wasn’t even in the Top 50 in drops. Hall of Famer Michael Irvin was second in the NFL with 11 drops, while Hall of Famer Tim Brown was tied for fourth with nine drops.

1998: Owens dropped five passes and wasn’t even in the Top 50 in drops while catching 64.4 percent of the passes thrown to him. His teammate Jerry Rice dropped eight passes and was tied for 12th in drops while catching 54.3 percent of the passes thrown to him.

1999: Owens again dropped five passes, again wasn’t even in the Top 50 in drops, and again had better marks than Rice while playing in the same offense: Owens caught 61.2 percent of the passes thrown to him while Rice dropped nine passes and caught 54.0 percent of the passes thrown to him.

2000: Owens dropped 13 passes and was fourth in the NFL in drops. Leading the NFL in drops that year with 16 was Rod Smith, who has been discussed as a Hall of Fame candidate.

2001: Owens dropped 10 passes and was tied for fourth in the NFL. (Owens also led the league in touchdown catches.)

2002: Owens dropped 10 passes, tied for ninth in the NFL. Tied with, among others, Jerry Rice, who dropped the same number of passes while having fewer catches, fewer yards and fewer touchdowns than Owens. Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison led the NFL with 16 drops.

2003: Owens dropped 11 passes and was tied for third in the NFL. He also caught 80 passes for 1,102 yards and nine touchdowns and went to the Pro Bowl.

2004: Owens dropped seven passes. There were 17 NFL players who dropped as many or more passes than Owens while catching fewer passes that season.

2005: Owens dropped five passes, tied for 36th in the NFL.

2006: Owens led the NFL with 17 drops. This is Owens’ first year in Dallas and the one and only year when it’s legitimate to argue that he dropped an inordinate amount of passes. It’s also worth noting that he led the NFL in touchdown catches.

2007: Owens dropped 10 passes, tied for third in the NFL. He also caught 81 passes for 1,355 yards and 15 touchdowns and was chosen as a first-team All-Pro.

2008: Owens dropped 10 passes, fourth in the NFL. He also caught 69 passes for 1,052 yards and 10 touchdowns.

2009: Owens dropped nine passes and was tied for fourth in the NFL. He also led an otherwise terrible Bills passing offense with 55 catches for 829 yards.

2010: Owens was tied with Brandon Marshall for third in drops. Wes Welker was first and Reggie Wayne was second.

So did Owens drop a lot of passes? Sure, especially as his career was winding down in Dallas, Buffalo and Cincinnati. But a lot of great receivers drop a lot of passes. Is Borges going to argue that Jerry Rice, Michael Irvin, Tim Brown and Marvin Harrison should be removed from the Hall of Fame because they were all on the drops leaderboards with Owens? Is Borges going to argue that Rod Smith, Brandon Marshall, Wes Welker and Reggie Wayne don’t have good career résumés because they were all on the drops leaderboards with Owens?

When you’re knocking a player because he did a lot of bad things — dropped a lot of passes or threw a lot of interceptions or fumbled a lot — it’s important to remember that you can only be in a position to do a lot of bad things if your team is relying on you a lot, and your team is only going to rely on you a lot if you’re a good player. Brett Favre is the NFL’s all-time leader in both interceptions and fumbles, but no one disputes that he belongs in the Hall of Fame.

Spike, you're my boy, but to say the guy who retired 5th all time in catches, second in yards, and second in TDs shouldn't be in the hof because he "couldn't catch" is a pretty wild take. He did drop a fair amount of passes, but he was also consistently one of the most targeted WRs I'm football. Drops come with the territory.

I get it buddy. I’ve just always thought he had the worst hands I’ve ever seen for a “big time” receiver. Couple that with his poisonous attitude and I’d look past the numbers to find someone else to enshrine.

Originally Posted by BroncoWave

Spike, you're my boy, but to say the guy who retired 5th all time in catches, second in yards, and second in TDs shouldn't be in the hof because he "couldn't catch" is a pretty wild take. He did drop a fair amount of passes, but he was also consistently one of the most targeted WRs I'm football. Drops come with the territory.

That’s good point. Like you’re gonna get a lot of STD’s if you’re with a lot of women.

I feel Rod Smith deserves it much more than him.

Originally Posted by spikerman

I get it buddy. I’ve just always thought he had the worst hands I’ve ever seen for a “big time” receiver. Couple that with his poisonous attitude and I’d look past the numbers to find someone else to enshrine.

I just don't think you can possibly leave out someone with his career numbers. The hof becomes meaningless if the best players aren't in it. I think the baseball Hof is a joke for that reason.

I get that he was a dick and dropped a lot of passes, but only Jerry Rice put up better stats than him in the 3 major receiving categories when he retired. The good simply outweighed the bad. To me he became a Hof lock when he played the super bowl on a broken leg and was the best player in the game.