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 151 to 175:

151. Brian Mitchell
152. Lomas Brown
153. Tiki Barber
154. John David Crow
155. Byron “Whizzer” White
156. Gene Washington
157. Cameron Wake*
158. Boyd Dowler
159. Mike Alstott
160. Roger Brown
161. Chris Hinton
162. Eric Berry
163. Harlon Hill
164. George Christensen
165. Jimmy Smith
166. Michael Dean Perry
167. Fred Taylor
168. Drew Bledsoe
169. Billy Wilson
170. Wes Welker
171. James Brooks
172. Brandon Marshall
173. Mike Curtis
174. Eddie George
175. Art Powell 

*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.

Despite playing for a college juggernaut like Penn State, Linebacker Cameron Wake was not drafted in 2005.  He signed with the New York Giants as a Free Agent but failed to make the team; he kept working out and hoping for an opportunity, but it took a detour to Canada to get him to the NFL.

Wake made the B.C. Lions in 2007, and in the next two seasons, he was named the CFL Most Outstanding Defensive Player in both of them.  The NFL couldn’t ignore that, and he signed with the Miami Dolphins, one of several teams interested in the former Nittany Lion.

Wake was a backup as a 27-year-old NFL rookie, but he became a regular starter on the edge the year after and was one of the top pass-rushers over the next nine seasons.  He went to five Pro Bowls, was a First Team All-Pro in 2012, and had five 10-plus Sack years, peaking with 15 in 2012.  

Age caught up to Wake, and his final season in Tennessee (2019) was sub-standard compared to what he did before, but he accumulated 100.5 Sacks, an incredible accomplishment considering when he made it to the NFL.

Cameron Wake had a solid career at Penn State, but he went undrafted in 2005. The New York Giants gave him a look, but he didn’t stick. Instead of walking away, he headed to the Canadian Football League and signed with the BC Lions. In two seasons there, he made the All-Star team both years and was named the league’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player both years. That kind of production got NFL teams interested, and the Miami Dolphins signed him in 2009 after he worked out for several clubs.

He started only once as a rookie, but the pass-rushing ability was obvious. The next two seasons he lined up at linebacker. In 2010, he made his first Pro Bowl and led the NFL in tackles for loss with 22. The Dolphins moved him to defensive end in 2012, and the production stayed high. He made the Pro Bowl in four of the next five years, earned first-team All-Pro in 2012 with a career-high 15 sacks, and finished with double-digit sacks four other times. Even in years when the rest of the roster was up and down, Wake was usually the one constant on the edge.

What made him effective in those peak years was his first-step quickness and the way he used his hands. He was not the biggest edge rusher, but he got off the line fast, converted speed to power, and finished rushes. Quarterbacks had to account for him on every dropback, and even when the rest of the defense was inconsistent, he kept creating pressure. The 15-sack season and the string of Pro Bowls marked the high point of his time in Miami, and he finished second on the franchise’s all-time sack list behind only Jason Taylor.

Wake left for the Tennessee Titans in 2019 after ten seasons with the Dolphins. He finished two sacks shy of 100 and three forced fumbles short of 20 with the Dolphins.