The Kansas City Chiefs have been around a long time, and many Hall of Famers have called KC home. This would make you expect that a player who has only suited up for a few years as a Chief could not crack this list so high, so early. Patrick Mahomes was not aware of this expectation.
Taken with the 10th Pick in 2017, the Quarterback from Texas Tech was an understudy to Alex Smith as a rookie, but the plan was for him to take over in 2018, and boy, did he ever! In 2018, Mahomes threw for 5,097 Yards with a league-leading 50 Touchdowns against only 12 Interceptions. Mahomes proved he could use his legs, but with a cannon-like arm, he was a pass-first QB, despite his ability to be the other. Mahomes was the AP MVP, PFWA MVP, Bert Bell Award Winner, and the Offensive Player of the Year in 2018, and he was also a First Team All-Pro.
Mahomes missed a pair of Games in 2019 due to injury, but he still threw for over 4,000 Yards with a sparkling TD Ratio of 26-5. More importantly, he took the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl win in 40 years, defeating the San Francisco 49ers. Mahomes was named the Game’s MVP, throwing for two TDs and rushing for another.
The Quarterback again had a great 2020, with 38 Touchdowns and 4,740 Passing Yards. Mahomes again led Kansas City to the Super Bowl, but that second ring eluded him as Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would not be denied. Mahomes again made the Pro Bowl in 2021, along with another postseason appearance. In 2022, Mahomes would not be denied in his quest for a second Super Bowl, where he narrowly defeated the Philadelphia Eagles. That year, Mahomes also won his second MVP, second Touchdown Pass Title, and first Passing Yards Title. He also added a Pro Bowl and First Team All-Pro.
When you thought it could not get any better, Mahomes led the Chiefs to another Super Bowl win, this time with a second win over San Francisco. He also added a sixth straight Pro Bowl. Last year, Mahomes had another great year, and led the Chiefs to their third straight Super Bowl appearance, though this time mortality struck as K.C. lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in embarrassing fashion.
Entering the 2054 season as the most decorated active Quarterback in Football, it is not without the realm of possibility for Mahomes to do it all again. We are lucky to be watching him in real time.
The retirements keep coming in sports, as Dallas Cowboy Linebacker, Sean Lee, is calling it a career after 11 seasons.
Lee arrived in Dallas as a Second Round Pick from Penn State in 2010 and was their starting Middle Linebacker as a sophomore. Lee would lead the NFL in Interception Return Yards (174) in 2013, but a torn ACL took him out of the entire 2014 Season.
Despite the setback, Lee returned to the Cowboys, and put forth the best back-to-back campaigns of his professional career. Lee went to the Pro Bowl with a 128-Tackle year, and in 2016, he improved it to 145 with an Approximate Value of 19. He was so impressive, that he was chosen to be a First Team All-Pro.
Lee played four more seasons, but injury after injury compounded, and he retired after the 2020 Season.
Lee will be eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2026, and while he is unlikely to make it, he might make it to the preliminary stage.
We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to wish Sean Lee the best in his post-playing career.
After what can only be described as a trying league for European Football, it is nice to move on with something positive, as the Premier League Hall of Fame has announced their first two members.
Former Blackburn and Newcastle star, Alan Shearer and former Arsenal player, Thierry Henry are the first two members of a group that will also include six more members based on a public vote.
Shearer’s 260 Goals are the most on Premier League history, and his striking ability is second to none of his day.
Henry played for Arsenal from 1999 to 2007 and the native of France was a four-time Premier League Golden Boot winner. The Gunners won two FA Cups while he was there.
We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate both Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry for earning this very prestigious honor.
Yes, we know that this is taking a while!
As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity. As such, we are very happy to present our pre-2021 revision of our top 50 Minnesota Vikings of all-time.
As for all of our top 50 players in football we look at the following:
1. Advanced Statistics.
2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the NFL.
3. Playoff accomplishments.
4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.
This our first revision in two years, and it has yielded two new entries. There are no changes in our top five, but as always, we present our top five. They are:
1. Alan Page
2. FranTarkenton
3. Carl Eller
You can find the entire list here.
Free Safety, Harrison Smith, moved up seven spots to #34.
The two new entries are Tight End, Kyle Rudolph (#48) and Defensive Tackle, Linval Joseph (#49).
In the future, Running Back, Dalvin Cook will likely be on next year’s list if he repeats his 2020 Pro Bowl campaign.
We also suspect that Quarterback, Kirk Cousins, who has only been a Viking for three years, but has been entrenched in the upper half of NFL pivots could crack the top 50 too.
We welcome your input and commentsand as always, we thank you for your support.