A member of the prestigious Miami Dolphins Honor Roll, Bob Baumhower, played all nine of his NFL seasons with the team from Southern Florida.  A former star with the Alabama Crimson Tide, Baumhower was a five-time Pro Bowl Selection, and he was chosen for an All-Pro roster (one First Team and four Second Team) in all of those years.  Baumhower was a key figure on the Dolphins defense in the early '80s that was considered among the best in the league.  

In 1982, the Dolphins ranked first in Defense, and they would make it to Super Bowl XVII.  The following year was arguably his best, as that was his First Team All-Pro year, and Pro Football Weekly would name him their Defensive Player of the Year.

Bill Lee was a champion in college in 1934 at the University of Alabama, and five years later, he was a champion in the NFL in 1939 with the Green Bay Packers.  Lee was named to the Pro Bowl that year and the 1930’s All-Decade Team as a Tackle.  Prior to his stint with Green Bay, where he played for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1935 to 1937, and he was a Packer from '37 to 1942 and then would serve his nation during WWII.  He came back to play in 1946 and overall, he played 82 Games in the NFL.

A complete beast at the University of Alabama, Cornelius Bennett was drafted second overall in 1987 by the Indianapolis Colts and, as part of a mega-trade, would become a Buffalo Bill.   With the Bills, he would help them win four straight AFC Championships and was a five-time Pro Bowl Selection.   One of those seasons saw Bennett named a First Team All-Pro, and UPI named him Defensive Player of the Year twice.   Securing well over 1,100 Tackles over his career, the Bills may never have won a Super Bowl during Bennett's time there, but without the defensive stalwart, they never would have had four cracks at it.   Considering his versatility as a Linebacker, he should have received at least a look from the powers that be.

Coming out of the University of Alabama, Shaun Alexander backed up Ricky Watters in his rookie season (2000), and after Watters' retirement, he would become the lead back for the Seattle Seahawks.  Alexander went on to a five-year run in which he exceeded 1,000 Rushing Yards and, most importantly, became a touchdown factory.  In 2001, he led the NFL with 14 Rushing TDs and would never go below that in the next four seasons.

Alexander would be named to his first of three straight Pro Bowls (2003) when he had a 1,435 Rushing Yard season, and he would increase that to 1,696 in 2004 and was a Second Team All-Pro.   He followed that up with the best season of his career and one of the best offensive campaigns ever by a Seattle Seahawks player.  He rushed for a league-leading 1,880 Yards with 27 Rushing Touchdowns, and he was named a First Team All-Pro, AP Offensive Player of the Year, and the AP MVP.  

Unfortunately, injuries piled up, and he was out of football three years later and failed to reach the magic 10,000 Yard Rushing mark.  He is, however, one of the few players to rush for 100 Touchdowns, with 112 overall, and that is his key number for Hall of Fame consideration.

Before the Dallas Cowboys truly became “America’s Team”, they had to establish themselves as a true force in the National Football League.  A big part of that emergence was their defense, in which linebacker Lee Roy Jordan played a key role.

Lee Roy Jordan was an elite linebacker and a tackling machine.  Playing his entire fourteen-year career with the Cowboys, Jordan was a hard-hitting defender who always seemed to know how to strip opponents of the ball.  For a Linebacker, he had many interceptions and had multiple fumble recoveries in his career.  He was a serious contender for the Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1973 and reached the Pro Bowl five times.

Jordan was a Hall of Fame finalist in 1988, but that was as close as he ever got.  He is only eligible as a senior candidate now, but it appears the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor recipient will make the leap to Canton.

Chris Samuels was the Outland Trophy winner at the University of Alabama, and the Washington Redskins chose him 3^rd Overall in 2000.  It turned out to be an excellent choice, and Washington would be the only team that Samuels played for in his ten-year career.