Clint Lamb
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Ever since Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman announced his retirement, people have been debating his Hall of Fame potential. For anyone who hasn’t been paying attention to the discussion, it’s been brutal.
Longtime NFL running back LeSean McCoy was blunt when Jared Quay of Yahoo Sports asked him whether Edelman is Hall of Fame material.
“Hall of Fame? No, come on, man,” McCoy replied. “You have 16 weeks to showcase who you are, what you can do each year. The playoffs matter, but a lot of guys don’t get a chance to play in the playoffs.
“I won’t discredit him because I think he’s a great player, plays with a lot of heart, a lot of attitude, a lot of passion. I don’t want to rain on his parade because he’s retiring and he’s a hell of a player, but I don’t know about Hall of Fame.”
McCoy better hope playoff stats aren’t heavily weighed. The man is a back-to-back Super Bowl champion, but he has only 326 total career yards and one score in the postseason. Of course playoff performances don’t sit high on his life of Hall of Fame qualifications.
Speaking of which, McCoy certainly thinks he deserves it.
“I think I’ve got a good shot at it,” McCoy said, via PFT. “I put my numbers up with any other running backs. In my decade I was the lead dog. I’ve got good numbers, touchdowns, yards, yards per carry, all those things. And you add two Super Bowls with it.”
That last line is a doozy. I guess that’s exactly what the man was going for to close out his career. Unlike a lot of people, he picked the right squad to carry him to a ring — twice. Good for him, but his opinion on Edelman’s Hall of Fame case shouldn’t hold much weight.
Granted, neither should mine. I don’t personally believe the longtime Patriot is a Hall of Fame guy, but no one cares what I think. If I had to guess, people probably put McCoy’s opinion on the matter only a peg above mine.
Follow Clint Lamb on Twitter @ClintRLamb.
I had to look.
1 Emmitt Smith 18,355
2 Walter Payton 16,726
3 FRANK GORE 16,000
4 Barry Sanders 15,269
5 ADRIAN PETERSON 14,820
6 Curtis Martin 14,101
7 LaDainian Tomlinson 13,684
8 Jerome Bettis 13,662
9 Eric Dickerson 13,259
10 Tony Dorsett 12,739
11 Jim Brown 12,312
12 Marshall Faulk 12,279
13 Edgerrin James 12,246
14 Marcus Allen 12,243
15 Franco Harris 12,120
16 Thurman Thomas 12,074
17 Fred Taylor 11,695
18 Steven Jackson 11,438
19 John Riggins 11,352
20 Corey Dillon 11,241
21 O.J. Simpson 11,236
22 LeSEAN McCOY 11,102
23 Warrick Dunn 10,967
24 Ricky Watters 10,643
25 Jamal Lewis 10,607
Literally just did the same thing. Have to admit it was much higher than I thought. Seeing Steven Jackson up there was a mind pretzel, too. Forgot how long he played.
Me too on McCoy. Fred Taylor was the one that really surprised me.
This is kind of the like the Bagwell situation in baseball. Does McCoy have that many yards because he was really good or was/is he just an accumulator because he played for a long time?
Neither of them aren’t going to the Canton. QB, TE, LB, WR and CB will be the focus.
I’ve always heard he was kind of shady…
Both belong solidly in the Hall of Really Good. Nothing more. Great careers, but HOFers? Nah.
Always liked McCoy, love Edelman. Both should be in the Hall of Very Good. But they’re not Hall of Famers
Lol