So…what does longevity mean?

As far as we are concerned, it should matter a lot!

As of this writing, Patrick Marleau is the most tenured player in the National Hockey League.  The Canadian forward played 23 seasons (21 with San Jose) and logged 1,779 Games with 1,197 Points.  Marleau was never a threat for any individual award, but he was consistent for a long time, played both ends of the ice, and was a clean player who rarely made mistakes.  He was also a three-time All-Star.

As good as he was, and as long as he played, is Patrick Marleau a Hall of "Very Good" player, or was he the next level?  Anyone, who holds the record for Games Played, is a member of the 1,000-Point club will likely be considered Hall of Fame worthy!

We are fascinated to debate this further!

Braydon Coburn had a phenomenal career in Junior Hockey, winning Gold in the World Juniors and WJU18 while excelling at the blueline for the Portland Winter Hawks.  Coburn was a First Round Pick (8^th Overall) in 2003, debuting two years later with the Atlanta Thrashers, but he only played 38 Games in ATL before he was traded to Philadelphia.

Coburn honed his skills in Broad Street, becoming a stalwart on Defense capable of providing an offensive rush.  Better as a traditional stay-at-home Defenseman, Coburn was dealt to Tampa Bay in 2015, giving depth to the contenders and playing a small role in their 2020 Stanley Cup win.  He finished his career with brief spells with the New York Islanders and Ottawa before retiring in 2021.

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB.  Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players, coaches and executives.  As such, it is news to us that the Washington Commanders will be retiring the number 9 of former Hall of Fame Quarterback, Sonny Jurgensen.

Jurgensen, who is 88, was associated with the franchise for over 50 years, primarily as a player, and later as a radio broadcaster.

After seven seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, the latter three where he was a starter, Jurgensen was traded to the then-named Washington Redskins before the 1964 Season, and it would prove to be an excellent fit.  A five-time Pro Bowl Selection in Washington, Jurgensen set a then record 3,747 Passing Yards in 1967, and was a five-time leader in Passing Yards, three of which as a Redskin.  Losing his starting job to Billy Kilmer in 1971, Jurgensen remained with the team until 1974.  

With Washington, Jurgensen threw for 22,585 Yards and 179 Touchdowns.  He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983.

He becomes the fourth player in Commanders history to have his number retired, joining Sean Taylor (#21), Sammy Baugh (#33) and Bobby Mitchell (#49).

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Sonny Jurgensen for this impending accolade. 

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 our post-2021 revision of our top 50 Dallas Cowboys.

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

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Football League. 

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

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

Last year, the Cowboys won their division with a 12-5 record, but were unable to make noise in the playoffs.  America’s Team still has stars, and we saw elevations and a top 50 debut.

As always, we present our top five:

1. Emmitt Smith

2. Bob Lilly

3. Roger Staubach

4. Randy White

5. Mel Renfro

You can find the entire list here.

The new entry is current Quarterback, Dak Prescott, who makes his first appearance at #47.

Tight End, Billy Joe DuPree has been knocked off the list.

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