The problem with running a Hall of Fame-related website is that many of the big ones we cover all have announcements within months of each other.  The backbone of what we do is list-related, resulting in a long push to revise what we already have, specifically now with our Football and Basketball Lists.

At present, we have a minor update as we have completed the next twenty-five of the 2024 Football List, which you can comment on and vote on:

The new 276 to 300:

276. Keith Millard
277. Derrick Johnson
278. Stanley Morgan
279. Leon Gray
280. David Akers
281. Buster Ramsey
282. Beattie Feathers
283. Russ Francis
284. Carson Palmer
285. Keith Brooking
286. Dennis Smith
287. Frank Cope
288. Charles Mann
289. Ed “Too Tall” Jones
290. Rich Gannon
291. Seth Joyner
292. E.J. Holub
293. Mel Gray
294. Bart Oates
295. Fred Arbanas
296. Michael Vick
297. Bill Stanfill
298. George Svendsen
299. Hanford Dixon
300. Mike Quick 

*Denotes First Year of Eligibility.

Rankings are impacted annually based on your comments and votes.

Thank you all for your patience. We will soon unveil more changes to the football and basketball lists.

Bill Stanfill arrived in Miami already carrying a résumé. At Georgia, he helped the Bulldogs win the Cotton Bowl, earned All-American honors as a senior, and took home the Outland Trophy as the top interior lineman in college football. The Dolphins drafted him 11th overall in 1969, and he stepped into a defense still finding its identity but about to become one of the best in the league.

He made the AFL All-Star Game as a rookie and then settled into a four-year Pro Bowl run from 1971 through 1974. During that stretch, he was a constant on the right side of the line, part of the group that won Super Bowl VII and Super Bowl VIII. In 1972, he earned first-team All-Pro while the Dolphins went undefeated, and the following year he unofficially led the NFL with 18.5 sacks. Those peak seasons showed a defensive end who could rush the passer and hold the edge against the run, making him a steady piece of a unit that didn’t rely on one star.

What set Stanfill apart was the combination of size and quickness for the era. At 6-foot-5 and around 250 pounds, he was big enough to set the edge and disrupt running plays, yet he still got off the line fast enough to pressure the quarterback. He was not the flashiest rusher on those Dolphins teams, but he was consistent, and opposing offenses rarely found a soft side of the line when he was healthy. The unofficial sack total and the string of Pro Bowls reflected a player who was effective on both run and pass downs.

Knee and neck problems cut into his production in 1975 and 1976. He started fewer games, the sack numbers dropped, and by the end of the 1976 season it was clear the body was no longer cooperating. He retired before he turned 30, after eight seasons spent with the Dolphins. Sacks were not an official statistic at the time, but he is credited with 69.5 for his career, a total that stood as the franchise record for years. The Dolphins placed him on their Honor Roll in 2010.

It is hard to consider someone underrated when you were a member of the only undefeated team in NFL history and were in your prime when you earned your two Super Bowl Rings, but this is what we have in Bill Stanfill.

A star at the University of Georgia, the Miami Dolphins chose him in 1969 with their 11^th Overall Pick.  Sacks may not have been an official stat back then, but the rookie had eight of them, and throughout his eight-year career (all of which in Miami), he was one of the game’s most feared pass rushers.  A Pro Bowl Selection as a rookie, Stanfill earned four more consecutively from 1971 to 1974, and during that period, he earned two All-Pro selections (First Team in 1972 and Second Team in 1973).  It was no coincidence that this coincided with the Dolphins’ back-to-back Super Bowls.

Stanfill’s peers always discussed how great he was, but for whatever reason, he has not been remembered like some of his other teammates, even those who did far less to earn those two rings.