As we approach the training camp of the NFL season, it is an annual occurrence to expect sudden retirements. We have our first significant one, with Michael Bennett, a Defensive End with the New England Patriots.

Bennett went undrafted out of Texas A&M in 2009, but was signed by the Seattle Seahawks, though was released after a brief run on the practice squad.  The Tampa Bay Buccaneers claimed him, where he made the team and as a backup Defensive End.  Bennett became a starter in 2011, and in 2012, he had his best year as a Buccaneer with nine Sacks and 41 Tackles.

After that year, he rejoined Seattle as a Free Agent, where he would have his best run in football.  Bennett helped the Seahawks win Super Bowl XLVIII, and would go to the Pro Bowl three straight seasons (2015-17), with the first of those seasons being a ten-sack year.  

Bennett would play for Philadelphia in 2018, and for Dallas and New England in 2019.

Bennett retires with 69.5 Sacks and 359 Tackles.

In the future, we will be writing a bio for Bennett in the 2025 Football Futures section.

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

Garden State Greatness in the World of Sports

New Jersey is known for many things including the iconic Atlantic City and its fabulous hotel and casino operations, world-famous sports teams, and NJs mind-boggling population density. From an sports and entertainment perspective, the Garden State stands proud. It is home to New York's finest – not the police officers – the New York Jets and the New York Giants – NFL titans. These teams play for the Empire State, but their stadium is located in East Rutherford New Jersey, at MetLife Stadium. Interestingly enough, according to 888sport’s Brett Chatz, the New York Jets and the New York Giants are the only NFL teams to share a stadium since 1984. Granted, the LA Chargers will be sharing a stadium with the LA Rams from 2020 onwards, at the SoFi stadium in California.

The New Jersey Devils Stun the Crowds at the NHL 

The best New Jersey Devils Teams of all time are pretty easy to identify. They're the ones who won the Stanley Cup, back in 1994/5, 1999/2000, and again in 2002/3. As the quintessential picture of perfection, these New Jersey Devils teams went hell for leather and brought home the ultimate prize in the NHL. Their first Stanley Cup victory took place under the management of coach J. Lemaire. Fast forward to 1999/2000. The New Jersey Devils again performed superbly under coaches L. Robinson and R. Ftorek, winning their second cup. The last time the New Jersey Devils won the Stanley Cup was back in 2002/3. That year, it was coach P. Burns who led the team to victory in a spectacular way. The New Jersey Devils are without doubt one of the best exports to emerge from the state. They are currently ranked at #14 in the Eastern Conference (2019/2020) with plenty of opportunities to move up the ranks in coming seasons.

The New York Giants and the New York Jets Playing Out of Jersey

No sport captivates the attention of fans more than the NFL. The other 3 major sports in the US include MLB, NBA, and NHL, in that order. True to form, New York's NFL prospects – the Giants and the Jets have cemented their place in history among fans. What many folks outside of New York and New Jersey don't know is that both these NFL teams are based in the Garden State. According to NFL power rankings (2019 regular season), the New York Giants in the NFC East are in third place, and the New York Jets in the AFC East are also in third place. Both of these teams have their home base at MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Giants have won 4 NFL Championships, in 1956, 1938, 1934, 1927. They also won 4 Super Bowls, in 2012, 2008, 1991, and 1987. The New York Jets have just 1 NFL Championship to their credit, when they beat the Baltimore Colts 16-7, back in 1969.

The Brooklyn Nets Playing Out of New Jersey

The Brooklyn Nets were once known as the New Jersey Nets, and this NBA team certainly made waves in the basketball arena. The best Brooklyn Nets players include the likes of: Jason Kidd, Julius Erving, Buck Williams, Drazen Petrovic, Brook Lopez, Richard Jefferson, Rick Barry, John Williamson, Keith Van Horn, Kerry Kittles, andKenyon Martin, among others. Some of their best performances ever took place in the following years:

• 1973/4– the Brooklyn Nets delivered a 55-29 win/loss performance in the ABA. Legendary players, Larry Kenon and Julius Erving starred.
• 1975/6- the 1976 Slam Dunk contest with none other than Julius Irving a.k.a. Dr J won the hearts of fans the world over. He was named the ABA Most Valuable Player, and was appointed to the ABA First Team. In that year, the Brooklyn S came in second with a 55-29 record in the ABA.
• 2002/3– during the season, the Brooklyn Nets had the best defensive rating in the league. Richard Jefferson stepped in, replacing Van Horn. Just two games were lost during the play-offs in the Eastern conference, as the Brooklyn Nets made it to the NBA Finals. In 2002, their win percentage was .634, and in 2003 their win percentage was .598.
• 2001/2– in this year, Jason Kidd spearheaded the Nets towards greatness as they reached the NBA finals. While the Lakers dominated, the Nets showed their grit. The Eastern conference team could not possibly hope to compete with the Western Conference team, but their regular-season winnings got them to the finals.

These New Jersey teams have left an indelible impression on the sports world. Many of these teams are etched into the annals of history in the NHL Hall of Fame, the NBA Hall of Fame, and the NFL Hall of Fame. It's been some time since a team from New Jersey lifted a championship trophy, but they've done it before and they can certainly do it again!

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 the second revision of our top 50 Houston Astros of all-time.

As for all of our top 50 players in baseball we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in their respective League.

3. Playoff accomplishments.

4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

This is the first time that we have revised this since 2018, and it has led to a few minor changes, one of which affecting the top five.

Remember, this is ONLY based on what a player does on that particular team and not what he accomplished elsewhere and also note that we have placed an increased importance on the first two categories, which has altered the rankings considerably.

This list is updated up until the end of the 2019 Season.

The complete list can be found here, but as always we announce our top five in this article.  They are:

1. Jeff Bagwell

2. Craig Biggio 

3. Lance Berkman

4. Jose Altuve

5. Cesar Cedeno

The top three remain the same with the “Killer B’s” of Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio and Lance Berkman.  Jose Altuve moved up one spot from #5 to 4, switching places with Cesar Cedeno.

Based on the 2019 season, we have had additional rank improvements.

George Springer moved from #27 to #19.  Alex Bregman rockets from #48 to #21.

Gerrit Cole, who won the Cy Young last year debuts at #27, but since he signed with the New York Yankees, he won’t climb any higher.

We welcome your input and commentsand as always, we thank you for your support.

There might not be a Canadian Football League Season this year, but we did have a CFL Hall of Fame Class of 2020.

The new members include four former players (Clyde Brock, Henry Burris, Freddy Childress and Greg Vavra) and two builders (John Hufanagel and Larry Uteck).

From Utah State, Clyde Brock played two seasons in the NFL (Dallas & San Francisco) before signing with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1964.  The Offensive Tackle stayed with the Green Riders until 1965, where he won a Grey Cup in 1966 and was a four-time CFL All-Star.

Burris will likely be considered the headliner, as the former Temple Quarterback became the 21^stperson to enter the CFL Hall of Fame in their first ballot.  Debuting in the CFL in Calgary in 1998, Burris was a backup in their Grey Cup win that year, and he later became the starter in Saskatchewan in 2000.  He only played there for one year, as he signed with Green Bay of the NFL in 2001, where he was on their practice squad, and was with the Chicago Bears in 2002.  After playing for NFL Europe, he rejoined the Roughriders and stayed in the CFL until he retired in 2016.  Burris played for Saskatchewan for two years, and rejoined the Stampeders in 2005, where he led them to a Title in 2008, and was the league MVP in 2010. The Quarterback was then with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2012-13) and he finished his career with the Ottawa RedBlacks, where in the twilight of his career he won his second MVP in 2015, and retired as a Grey Cup Champion.

Burris left the game as a two-time All-Star, three-time Grey Cup Champion, and two-time Most Outstanding Player Award. He threw for 63,227 Yards and 374 Touchdowns.

Childress played his college ball at Arkansas, and he would play one year in New England and one in Cleveland before the Offensive Guard signed with Shreveport of the CFL in 1994.  Childress was only there for one year, as the team folded, and it was the same scenario in 1995 with Birmingham.  He moved north to Calgary, where he played from 1996 to 2003, and he finished his career in Saskatchewan from 2004 to 2006. Childress was a six-time CFL-All-Star and he was named the league’s Outstanding Offensive Lineman in 1998.

Vavra is from Red Deer, Alberta, and he played his college ball at Calgary where he led the Dinos to a Vanier Cup win in 1983, while also winning the Hec Creighton Award as the Canadian University Football player of the Year.  Vavra went on to play in the CFL for five seasons with tenures in Calgary, B.C. and Edmonton.

Hufnagel enters as a builder, and he was a decent player in his own right.  An All-American Quarterback from Penn State, Hufnagel was a backup in Denver for three years before travelling north to play in the CFL.  He would have stints in Calgary, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg and Saskatchewan again over a twelve-year period, throwing for 21,594 Yards and 127 Touchdowns.

Hufnagel became a coach in Saskatchewan in 1988, and would have runs in Calgary, New Jersey (Arena), Cleveland, Indianapolis and New England, before becoming the New York Giants Offensive Coordinator in 2004 for three years.  In 2008, he became the Stampeders Head Coach, posting a 102-41-1 record with two titles.  Hufnagel has won four Grey Cups, two as a player, and two as a Head Coach.

Uteck was the former Head Coach and Athletic Director at Saint Mary’s University.  His induction in posthumous.

There will be no induction ceremony this year, as this class will be inducted with the Class of 2021 next August.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the impending members of the CFL Hall of Fame.