Harry Carson doesn't deserve to be the HOF

by user Shrubbery

Few professional athletes get the privilege of being immortalized in their respective sports. This year’s class set for enshrinement in Canton, Ohio is filled with intriguing names. Troy Aikman, Warren Moon, John Madden, Reggie White, Ratfield Wright, and Harry Carson are all about to receive the highest individual honor in their sport. NFL’s Hall of Fame is an elite fraternity in which only the best players ever are privileged members. To have your likeness carved in bronze and placed on display in Canton means you’re a football deity. Which begs the question…why is Harry Carson now in the Professional Football Hall of Fame?

There are many who deserve consideration yet who’ve been unduly snubbed. It’s not to say Carson wasn’t a gifted player but is he truly one of the best linebackers ever. Let’s look at the principle candidates and compare their careers to Carson’s…

Harry Carson made nine Pro Bowls, including seven in a row, was All-Pro six times, and was part of the Super Bowl XXI Champion New York Giants. Carson had 14 career fumble recoveries, 11 interceptions, and was part of arguably the greatest linebacker corps ever.

Randy Gradishar was a seven-time Pro Bowler, was Associated Press’ Defensive Player of the Year in 1978, and anchored the infamous Orange Crush defense that propelled the Denver Broncos to Super Bowl XII. Gradishar had 20 career interceptions as well as 11 fumble recoveries.

Cornelius Bennett had 71 career sacks, was part of the NFL’S All 90’s Team, and made five Pro Bowls. He played in five Super Bowls and had 27 career fumble recoveries. Bennett was UPI’s AFC defensive MVP in 1988 and 1991.

Sam Mills recorded over 1300 career tackles, 20 sacks, 11 interceptions, and played 12 seasons in the NFL. By the time he retired in 1997 Mills had been named to five Pro Bowl teams and eventually went on to be a linebackers coach for the Carolina Panthers. Mills died in 2003 after losing his fight with intestinal cancer.

Andre Tippett was the best defensive player to ever suit up for the New England Patriots. Tippett finished with 100 career sacks, 19 fumble recoveries, five Pro Bowls, and a start in Super Bowl XX. He was UPI’s AFC Defensive MVP in 1985.

Kevin Greene is third all-time with 160 sacks, was a five-time Pro Bowler, and is ranked third all-time with 26 fumble recoveries. Greene was a hybrid defensive end-outside linebacker.

Charles Haley, another DE/OLB hybrid, recorded 100 career sacks, 8 fumble recoveries, and two interceptions. Haley was part of FIVE Super Bowl winning teams and was a five-time Pro Bowler.

Ricky Jackson had 128 career sacks, averaged 85 tackles a year, and made six Pro Bowls. He was part of one of the best linebacking units ever assembled. Jackson is still number ten all-time in NFL history in career sacks.

Now, in order for Carson to truly deserve Hall induction you must make the contention that he is a bit better than everyone on this list. When you consider that guys like Haley, Jackson, Tippett, Bennett, and Greene have more sacks, and others like Jackson and Gradishar were more complete players, or when a Tippett and Bennett have more fumble recoveries the case for Carson becomes increasingly weak. Of all the guys on this list Jackson, Gradishar, and Tippett deserve to be immortalized more than Carson. But the HOF voters have spoken and who am I to judge.

Date

Thu 07/27/06, 10:45 am EST

Manny StilesMajor Leaguer

1259 days ago

Score 1

Nice piece, but you can't talk numbers when comparing football players. LBs are tough to 'quantify'. Football stats don't relate like in baseball. No one will ever nominate Mark Gastineau for the Hall, if you know what I mean. Art Monk has over 1000 catches, but there are approx. 823 WRs that were better than him. Harry was a dominant player and affected the game plan of the opponents. His impact was greater than numbers and he definitely deserves to be in the Hall... Be patient, some of the other guys you listed will make it eventually.

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ShrubberyVarsity Captain

1259 days ago

Score -1

Manny, LT and Carl Banks were more dominant on that team than Carson was. Carson's production was a function of opposing blocking schemes focusing on Taylor and Banks. Carson was a great run stopper but his play was utterly one dimensional. Tippett, Gradishar, and Jackson were great all-around players, certainly more complete than Carson.

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Sayhey-rodSoccer Kid

1259 days ago

Score 1

Well, you say that you are comparing these careers to Carson's, but you do not. You provide sack #'s for these others, but sacks weren't introduced as an official stat until 1982. You also provide tackle (total tackles or avg per yr) for the others but not Carson. I'm not saying he's necessarily better than these players but you can at least be more objective about it.

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Anonymous Fanatic #1

806 days ago

Score 0

Just because someone has high stats doesn't mean that they were great players. Carson had to be accounted for on every play. When you watch LT highlights you can see Carson in the background getting double or even triple teamed. I would much rather have a player that takes up atleast 2 out of the 11 bodies on the field. Just a bit of knowledge he was the tackle leader for the team for 5 years.

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Anonymous Fanatic #2

304 days ago

Score 0

i

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Anonymous Fanatic #2

304 days ago

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I think harry was an absolute great player. But the real person who should have been taken out of this class was, cowboy fans don't kill me, but troy aikman should have waited at least a year to make it. Really he should have i mean he had 2 options throw to Michael Irvin or hand it off to emmitt smith. It should have been Randy Gradishar to take troy's place in the hall of fame. No offense troy but these 2 awesome players are just better at what they did than you.

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Anonymous Fanatic #2

304 days ago

Score 0

hi

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Anonymous Fanatic #2

304 days ago

Score 0

hi

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Anonymous Fanatic #3

53 days ago

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I'm guessing that the author of this article never saw Harry Carson play. Carson was arguably the best 4-3 middle linebacker in the league from '76-'78, and the best 3-4 inside linebacker from '79-'81 before Taylor was drafted. He had sideline-to-sideline speed before that was a characteristic most teams looked for in a linebacker. He was also about 240 lbs. in an era when lineman were in the 260-280 lb. range. He was an athletic, physical monster, a locker-room leader and made all the play calls.

The 3-4 outside linebackers mentioned for comparison, including Tippett, Jackson, Bennett and Greene, played drastically different positions as pass-rush-first players. They should be compared to similar players like Taylor and Derrick Brooks, or even defensive ends statistically.

Grandishar and Mills were both excellent players who played the same position as Carson. The assertion that they were "more complete players" than Carson is ludicrous. Grandishar has nearly equal accomplishments and should be considered for induction. Mills was a cut below, but still great.

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