Did Earl Campbell deseve to be put into Canton (1 Viewer)

[mdharper]

My criteria for Hall of Fame:

Be a dominant force in the NFL for half a decade or more that opposing team co-ordinators scheme to pay special attention to. Coaches and former NFL coaches only could vote for players they coached or coached against. But my Hall of Fame wouldn't be as much of a public draw because there would be a lot of players in it that were known as no more than an NFL starter by the national media and a lot of media darlings would not make the cut.

Earl is definitely in.

 

[mmule]

I admit that I don't keep up with the HOF and all of the politics that go into selections, etc. But one thing I definitely wouldn't have a problem with and that would be Earl Cambell being selected to the HOF. He was one awesome guy. One of my favorites Bum quotes was something like this...reporter commenting on how slow Earl gets up after a tackle..."yeah but he goes down slow too" Bum replied. Shut the reporter up.

Here's to Earl making it to the HOF.

Wasn't that followed up with a question about how do you know he's hurt?
Bum's response,
"If he gets up and goes to the huddle, he's okay. If he gets up and comes to the sideline, you know he's hurt." Classic.

Mikeeeee

 

[St. PJ]

The Terrel Davis post got me thinking about how short his career was and how he wasnt in the NFL very long to accomplish that great yardage required of him to get that honor of being into Canton? Well what about Earl Campbell then? His career wasnt long either, he only played like 8 or 9 years in the NFL, sure he did a lot during his career, and broke a lot of rushing records in the NFL and on the Oilers teams he played on.

My point is if you consider Terelle Davis career to be short and not enough to be in the HOF and not year wise, then its a valid comparison to make in Campbell case too. He didnt play very long nor did he win any Super Bowls even though h came pretty close, he still didnt have HOF material.

I know I may get some disapprovals on this, and I welcome as a matter of fact, Its just Earl Campbell played on some bad teams and some very very good teams in Houston with the Oilers, but was his career good enough to warrant HOF induction? and how does it compare with Terelle Davis's?

You know, I love TD. He always had a great work ethic and was a great teammate. Without him, Denver never wins a superbowl. That said, Davis only played 7 seasons. I know you have someone like Gale Sayers who had a short career in the NFL, but you have to understand that every single season people like Sayers and Jim Brown played was a good one. Not only that, but Sayers changed the RB position. Until him, there had never been an elusive, barry sanders type. In Davis' 7 years, his last 3 were injury riddled, rushing for 200+, 700+, and 900+. His 3 years preceding that were all good. His rookie season isn't worth mention. In other words, the man has only had 3 good seasons in the NFL. He's a quality guy, with a lot of character, but I do not think he will make it to the Hall of Fame.

 

[RayM]

If you ever saw Campbell run you'd know why he belongs in the HOF. Numbers aren't everything. The man was dominant in his time.

 

[St. PJ]

Well let me take it a step further: Do you think that Deuce has been hugely underrated as far as top tier RB's go thorugh his career? If you look at Deuce, the guy rarely has ever mentioned in the same breath as Jamal Lewis, LT, hell even Larry Johnson gets more reps then Deuce has gotten over the past few years.

Look at this way: Deuce ran for over 1600 yards in one season in 2003 hell thats almost MVP worthy and he did it with a 8-8 team too, yet he gets very little attention compared to Shaun Alexander and company.

I agree when it comes to programs like ESPN and Fox, but when it comes to opposing players and coaches, as well as former players and coaches like the crew on Sirius, for the last 3 years they have all taken notice of Deuce. And that is where it will count the most come balot time. Some of our bad Saints teams had no business winning some of the games we won. Like beating Tampa twice in the year they won the Superbowl, thanks to Deuce averaging 130 yards against them every time he plays. Deuce may not get the mentioned in the same breath, but only becuase his fantasy football numbers aren't as consistant over the years. As for as how good a player he is, everyone in the league knows he is a MAN among boys.

 

[whiteshadowen]

mdharper posted the dead-on response, in my opinion. It's not just about numbers, be it by productivity or by longevity. It's about domination, and Earl Campbell just dominated pro-football during his career. Go watch some of the youtube videos of him. The guy was an unbeleivable FORCE. There have been a quite a few running backs I loved to watch play, some who "dominated" games, but none like Campbell. As much as I loved to watch the brilliance of Sayers and Sanders, there has never been a running back that just dominated like Campbell.. Watch the youtubes, it's just absoluetly crazy. He ran over and through NFL defenders like they were junior high scrubs.

 

[Super Dave]

O.J , Marcus Allen, and John Riggins were also great, but Earl Campbell was a superstar.

Would you take Marcus Allen over Tiki Barber? Marcus is in, Right?

I would...

As far as Barry Sanders he is definately a better back than BOTH Tiki and EMMITT.

Now as far as Monk, he should be in...

To say OJ or heck even Marcus weren't "SuperStars" is a little far fetched... you ask the average fan and EVERYONE knows about OJ... EVEN before his... uh... "if it don't fit, you must aquit" crimes 10 years ago...

OJ = SuperStar
Marcus, Riggins, Dickerson, Earl = Stars

IMO

 

[lechapman]

I have watched NFL games(by attending or TV) for over 50 years. Earl Campbell is without question one of the best power runners I have ever seen, if not the best. In my opion, he definitely belong in Hall of Fame.

 

[Super Dave]

mdharper posted the dead-on response, in my opinion. It's not just about numbers, be it by productivity or by longevity. It's about domination, and Earl Campbell just dominated pro-football during his career. Go watch some of the youtube videos of him. The guy was an unbeleivable FORCE. There have been a quite a few running backs I loved to watch play, some who "dominated" games, but none like Campbell. As much as I loved to watch the brilliance of Sayers and Sanders, there has never been a running back that just dominated like Campbell.. Watch the youtubes, it's just absoluetly crazy. He ran over and through NFL defenders like they were junior high scrubs.

As much as I don't like Jim Brown, didn't he do this first. This becomes the issue of Speed versus Power back.

Jim Brown, Earl Campbell = power back

Barry Sanders, Walter Payton, Gayle Sayers = Speed Back

 

[xpuma20x]

mdharper posted the dead-on response, in my opinion. It's not just about numbers, be it by productivity or by longevity. It's about domination, and Earl Campbell just dominated pro-football during his career.

Just to play devil's advocate here, if its about domination more than produtivity and longevity, why isn't Bo Jackson in the HOF? He totally dominated games and to top it off, iirc he wasn't even the starter, Marcus Allen was. Here are some per carry numbers for some of the guys talked about, or the ones being voted on for 07 HOF. The one's with a * are already in the HOF.

Jackson - 5.4 per carry average
Brown* - 5.2 per carry average
Sanders* - 5.0 per carry average
Sayers* - 5.0 per carry average
Simpson* - 4.7 per carry average
Barber - 4.6 per carry average
Davis - 4.6 per carry average
Payton* - 4.4 per carry average
Dickerson* - 4.4 per carry average
McAllister - 4.3 per carry average
Dorsett* - 4.3 per carry average
Thomas - 4.2 per carry average
Smith - 4.2 per carry average
Walker - 4.2 per carry average
Allen* - 4.1 per carry average
Harris* - 4.1 per carry average
Watters - 4.1 per carry averag
Craig - 4.1 per carry average
Riggins* - 3.9 per carry average

Note: This is just me asking a question, not saying its what I think should happen.

 

[SaintSausagehead]

Earl belongs in he killed d-fences and good ones too like the steel curtain played em 2 time a year and usally again in the playoffs dude was a hoss of a back.He did all that when football was truly smash mouth ball