This was sudden.

LaMarcus Aldridge, who recently signed with the Brooklyn Nets abruptly retired due to issues with his heart.  In his last game, Aldridge experienced an irregular heartbeat, and after consulting with doctors, the former Trail Blazer elected to call it a career.

Aldridge was the second overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft from Texas, where he was the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.  Taken by Portland, Aldridge showed gradual improvement, going to his first All-Star Game in 2012, and would appear in six more.  A one-time Second Team All-Star, Aldridge averaged over 20 Points per Game seven times, and twice cracked the double-digit mark in Rebounds per Game.

He was traded to the San Antonio Spurs in 2016, where he played the remainder of his career, save for the five Games with Brooklyn this year.  Aldridge leaves the game with career averages of 19.4 Points and 8.2 Rebounds over 1,029 Games.  He was 49 Points shy of 20,000.

Aldridge will be eligible for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2025.  He will be a bubble candidate, and will be ranked by us.  In our 2020/21 pre-season rank of those to consider for the Hall, Aldridge was #18.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to wish LaMarcus Aldridge the best in his post-playing career.

Recently we wrote about the retirement of Julian Edelman, who has been the topic of Hall of Fame discussion, as countless publications have prognosticated about his chances.  It has ranged from good to zero, and if we can give our pair of pennies on it, it is this.

The New England Patriots Hall of Fame will nominate him, and the voting public will induct him.  When it happens, it should be celebrated by the Patriot fan base, and it will be.

As for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, we have said often and will say it here bluntly:  Edelman has no chance to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

Zero.

Not only that, he will NEVER even be a Pro Football Hall of Fame semi-finalist.

This is not to diminish Edelman’s accomplishments, which is punctuated by his post-season accomplishments. He won three Super Bowls, won a Super Bowl MVP, and is second behind Jerry Rice in playoff Receiving Yards.  He produced more significant gridiron memories than many Hall of Famers, but his overall body of work falls well short of the bar, and that is one lofty horizontal plane.

For a football player to make the Hall, they have to be one of five chosen.  Edelman is not even in the top five of those who have already retired this year, as he is behind Drew Brees, Maurkice Pouncey, Jason Witten, Philip Rivers without question, and arguably a level below Greg Olson, Mike Pouncey and Mike Iupati.   Frank Gore and Adrian Peterson could be done.  It is also projected that Larry Fitzgerald could be done, meaning Edelman is not even close to being the top Wide Receiver to retire this year.

The glut of talent that retires exceeds those who are fighting to get in.  

What year will Julian Edelman be among the top five eligible players for the Hall?   For that matter, how about the top 15?  The top 25?  

It isn’t happening.

Running Back, LeSean McCoy, who also could be calling it a career, meaning that his eligibility will also be 2026, was asked about Edelman’s Hall of Fame chances by Yahoo Sports, and also his own:

Hall of Famer? No, come on, man

You have 16 weeks to showcase who you are, what you can do each year. The playoffs matter but a lot of guys don’t get a chance to play in the playoffs.  I won’t discredit him because I think he’s a great player, plays with a lot of heart, a lot of attitude, a lot of passion. I don’t want to rain on his parade because he’s retiring and he’s a hell of a player, but I don’t know about Hall of Fame

I think I’ve got a good shot at it.  I put my numbers up with any other running backs. In my decade I was the lead dog. I’ve got good numbers, touchdowns, yards, yards per carry, all those things. And you add two Super Bowls with it

In our 2020 pre-season list of active players based on Hall of Fame credentials, McCoy was ranked #31and #3 among Running Backs. McCoy, who was also chosen to the 2010’s All-Decade Team has a much better shot than Edelman, but he is not a lock.

The MLS started in 1996 in the US as a result of a bid to host the world cup in 1994. It was keen to make use of football’s popularity after one of the world’s most celebrated sports tournaments was held there.

The first championship game was won by D.C. United. They won the most league titles between that team and the Los Angeles Galaxy, with four championships each. 

MLS doesn’t yet come anywhere near the prestige of the English Premier League or other European football forms. Nevertheless, it has caused many well-known international stars from Grassroots football UK to join the league, thanks to greater exposure to the increasing American football market.

Beckham is One Major Star Who Joined the MLS

After joining back in 2007, he enabled Galaxy to achieve back to back wins in the MLS. Perhaps one of the best advantages of this is that it enhanced the league’s media attention through mainstream and entertainment media. 

Therefore, it can be argued that this helped raise the league’s profile somewhat, which clearly raised interest for the MLS for many Americans, similar to what Pele achieved back in the 70s.

Beckham is just one of 78 other players from the UK who have joined the MLS. Today, 10 are on current rosters, but since its beginnings in 1996, there have been another 68 other players involved.

Previously, Beckham was playing for Manchester United, a high-profile UK team who dominated the Premier League for many years. Unfortunately, their close rival Man City are outshining them completely this season, with City being given odds of 1/16 (1.06) of winning the Premier League, according to one UK online bookmaker.

Bradley Wright-Philips, Like Beckham, was Another Successful MLS Player

Recently taken on by LAFC, this former New York Red Bulls striker has played for some big UK teams. This includes Man City, Plymouth Argyle, Southampton, Brentford and Charlton Athletic. He then took up his MLS position in 2013. 

He has a reputation for being one of the best finishers in the league, scoring an impressive 27 goals over 32 regular-season games. 2014, in particular, was a standout year for him.

Working with Thierry Henry, he produced goal after goal. Upon finishing the league, he actually became the top scorer for it, with 24 goals over 34 games. 

So why is he so good at this? He’s speedy, intelligent and persistent, three factors that make him very dangerous.

Considering this, it’s no surprise that he comes in as 7th of all time on the scoring charts, tying with Jason Kries with 108 goals. 

What’s interesting is that Wright-Phillips took 195, compared to Kries with 305 games. He’s done well to have such a successful season, despite back in 2019 suffering from many different injuries. 

These days, he brings his top performance to LAFC, taking his place as a solid veteran striker for the club. 

Interestingly, his younger brother Shaun also seems to have followed in his footsteps, enjoying a successful stint with the Red Bulls between 2015 and 2016 before joining Phoenix Rising FC in 2017, before retiring at 37 in August 2019.

Have any Other Players Experienced Much Success with MLS?

Absolutely - there are a fair few! However, we feel that two, particularly Mandela Egbo and Saphir Taider, deserve specific mention.

Firstly, there’s Egbo, a former Crystal Palace player who, after playing for Borussia Monchengladbach in Bundesliga, then moved onto Darmstadt in the first half of this season in the German second tier. 

Despite not achieving outstanding success levels by other players like Jadon Sancho or Reece Oxford, this London born defender eventually joined the New York Red Bulls. 

Now, he’s looking to improve on the elimination of last season in the first round and the end of season playoffs.

Saphir Taider didn’t spend long in England after spending some time on loan with Southampton. This was cut short for some mysterious reason back in 2014, and he’d only had one chance to appear in one friendly before making a departure.

The good news is that this hasn’t appeared to affect him very much. He put in an impressive performance at Bologna before a good two further years at Montreal Impact. while on loan once more.

Luckily, a loan deal has now been permanent in the offseason, with two further players also benefiting from this in 2020: Lassi Lapalainen and Orji Okwonkwo.

Now 25 Years Old, the MLS has Come a Long Way from its Humble Beginnings

Starting in 1996 as a modest football tournament, the MLS has developed over the years, benefiting from much media attention thanks to major stars joining the league. The future of the league is looking bright and with exponential sums of money being invested into some clubs, the league may become competitive on a international scale. 

The Canadian Football Hall of Fame has announced the Class of 2021, which comprises of five former players, a coach and contributor.  

The new members are:

Will Johnson, Linebacker.  Calgary 1989-96 & Saskatchewan 1997.  From Northeast Louisiana, Johnson briefly played for the Chicago Bears, before finding a home with the Calgary Stampeders.  A five-time CFL All-Star, Johnson anchored the team to a win in the 1992 Grey Cup.  Individually, Johnson recorded 99 Sacks over his career, twice leading the league in that stat.

Marv Levy, Coach.  Montreal 1973-77.  Before he made himself a legend in Buffalo, Levy led the Montreal Alouettes to two Grey Cup wins (1974 & 1977) and had a 43-31-4 record.  Levy becomes the third person to enter both the Canadian and Pro Football Hall of Fame, joining Bud Grant and Warren Moon.

Nik Lewis, Slotback.  Calgary 2004-14 & Montreal 2015-18.  Lewis was a Division II All-American at Southern Arkansas, and he became one of the top receivers in CFL history.  Winning two Grey Cups with the Stampeders, Lewis was the 2004 Rookie of the Year with and was named to three straight All-Star Games (2010-12).  Statistically, Lewis had 13,778 Receiving Yards and 71 Touchdowns, and is the all-time league-leader in Receptions with 1,051.

Doug Mitchell, Commissioner, 1984-1988.  Mitchell was a three-time Grey Cup Champion (Hamilton 1967 & 1972, Montreal 1974) as a Center, but achieved more notoriety as the CFL Commissioner in the mid-80s.

Orlondo Steinauer, Defensive Back. Ottawa 1996, Hamilton 1997-2000 & Toronto 2001-08.  Steinauer was a five-time CFL All-Star who won two Grey Cups as a player, one with Hamilton (1999) and a second with Toronto (2004). Recording 49 Interceptions, Steinauer is second all-time in Interception Return Yards (1,178).  He is currently the Head Coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Mike Walker, Defensive Tackle.  Hamilton 1982-89 & Edmonton 1990-91.  Walker was a three-time CFL All-Star who helped lead the Tiger-Cats to a win in the 1986 Grey Cup and had 95.5 career Sacks.  The former Washington State Cougar has been the Defensive Line Coach for the Edmonton Eskimos since 2009.

Don Wilson, Defensive Back.  Edmonton 1987-89, Toronto 1990-92, Edmonton 1993-94, Toronto 1995-96, B.C. 1997 & Edmonton 1998.  Wilson was a part of four Grey Cup championships (Edmonton 1987 & 1993, Toronto 1992 & 1996) and was a four-time All-Star.  A college player at North Carolina State, Wilson had 61 Interceptions, which is fifth all-time.

The ceremony is scheduled for November, which will be four months after the COVID-postponed Class of 2020 enters.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the newest members of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.