Football
Football
While Rosey Grier was better known for being one of the inaugural members of the Los Angeles Rams' "Fearsome Foursome," the defensive stalwart was a better player in the first two-thirds of his professional career when he was with the New York Giants. Grier helped the New York Giants win the 1956 NFL Championship, and he was named to two…
It is one thing to be highly touted out of college and rack up serious statistics in the National Football League. It is quite another to do that when you go undrafted. Rod Smith lit up the league when nobody saw it coming. After going virtually unnoticed at Missouri Southern State, Rod Smith was signed by the Denver Broncos and,…
A member of the 100 Sack club (133.5 exactly), John Abraham was a pounding Defensive End who terrorized Quarterbacks for years. He exceeded ten sacks eight times in a season and was a popular figure during his time with the New York Jets and the Atlanta Falcons. A very intriguing candidate, Abraham is, as of this writing, in the top…
Undrafted and out of Football, the Indianapolis Colts gave Jeff Saturday a chance to make their roster. Saturday did and would become the leader of the Offensive Line that protected the great Peyton Manning for a decade. He would make six Pro Bowls and earn two First Team All-Pro selections and was the 2007 NFL Alumni Offensive Lineman of the…
Chuck Foreman was called the “Spin Doctor”, but it was not due to his ability to spin his words. It was because he could effortlessly spin his body around would-be tacklers, making it look like ballet. When people think of the Minnesota Vikings of the 1970s, they recall the Purple People Eaters and Fran Tarkenton's scrambling. They should also remember…
It is not a stretch by any means to state that Nick Mangold was the greatest New York Jets center ever. We could easily go a step further and state that he is one of the best offensive linemen in franchise history. From Ohio State, Mangold started immediately at quarterback as a rookie, and he would start and play 164…
Geno Atkins, who had a dominant run at the University of Georgia, was considered small for a Defensive Tackle and fell to the fourth round in the 2010 Draft. However, this turned out to be a steal for the Cincinnati Bengals. Atkins began his career as a bench player, but he started at Right Defensive Tackle in his second year…
Gene “Big Daddy” Lipscomb enlisted in the military and played football at USMC Camp Pendleton, so if you think the teams of the NFL lightly recruited him, you would be right! The 300-pound Lipscomb would, however, sign with the Los Angeles Rams in 1952 and would win the starting Right Defensive Tackle job in 1953, but went on to greater…
We would love to make a case for Karl Mecklenburg just for his nickname of the “Albino Rhino,” but we have always been a sucker for colorful (or in this case, not so colorful) nicknames. For years, there was no argument that Karl Mecklenburg led the Denver Broncos defense. He was a major factor in multiple playoff appearances, and he…
Marshall Goldberg was a major star at the University of Pittsburgh, and he would ply his trade well for the Chicago Cardinals. Goldberg did it all in the early 1940s, especially in the 1941 season, when he rushed for 427 Yards, received passes for 313 yards, and was the top finisher in Kick Return Yards (290), earning him the league…
At one point, we here at Notinhalloffame.com debated openly that Donovan McNabb played himself out of the Hall of Fame, with horrific stints in Washington and Minnesota, but if he had won that Super Bowl (the one he threw up in), would that discussion even be held? What we have here is a six-time Pro Bowler who was a legitimate…
Art Monk may have been the lead receiver for the Washington Redskins for a long time, but he was paired with another great Wide Receiver who was somewhat in his shadow. Of course, at 5’ 9, Gary Clark was in a lot of players’ shadows. Five times during Gary Clark’s career, he caught for over 1,000 yards. He was a…
In the 1980s, the Dallas Cowboys had a slew of excellent defensive players, so cracking the main roster as an undrafted Free Agent was not too likely, though that is exactly what Everson Walls did in 1981.
A seven-time Pro Bowler who spent the majority of his career with the New England Patriots, Logan Mankins fought his way from being an undersized Offensive Lineman to a First Round Draft Pick to a First Team All-Pro Selection. The former Fresno State Bulldog did not win the Super Bowl with New England, but he helped protect Tom Brady and…
It might be hard to be named Keith Jackson when a very famous sports commentator with the same name had already become the voice of the sport. The Tight End with the same name still managed to carve out his own identity. Jackson took the football landscape by storm in his rookie year, catching 81 passes. He never reached that…
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…
In the early 1970s, the Miami Dolphins were one of the best teams ever and loaded with talent, but one of their stars, Dick Anderson, seems to have been forgotten. Let's try to rectify that. Anderson was drafted in 1968, and as a rookie, he led the league in Interception Return Yards, a feat he repeated in 1970. The Safety…
Retiring from the National Football League early so that he could devote more time to his humanitarian efforts, Anquan Boldin would secure seven seasons in which he had four digits in Receiving Yards. Boldin was an explosive force on the gridiron, making an immediate impact in his rookie year, finishing third in both Receptions and Receiving Yards. Boldin would have…
Joe Fortunato played his entire career with the Chicago Bears, the team that drafted him in the 7th Round in 1952. While the Linebacker was chosen for the 1950's All-Decade Team, many of his accolades took place in the 1960s. Four of his five Pro Bowls came in the '60s, as did all three of his First Team All-Pro Selections. …
