Quote:
Originally Posted by Amnorix
I'm compeltely befuddled that anyone doesn't think Seau is a sure fire, no question, no doubt first ballot HOFer.
19 year career, MANY first team All Pros, many Pro Bowls, starter on 1990s All Decade team, Defensive POY. It's not a resume many can match.
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I'll admit that I'm not a fan of his style and am probably tainted a bit by that. I'm not saying that he wasn't good or even that he doesn't deserve to be in, but I just think that his legend was bigger than his production, primarily because he called attention to himself a lot.
If you look at hard core production, his is certainly high, but let's compare him to Clay Matthews (senior - the Browns linebacker). Matthews has been eligible much longer, and I think he played on pretty comparable defenses. Matthews made it to the semifinals this year, but is not a finalist.
Clay Matthews -
19 seasons, 15 where he started 13+ games (he played in 2 strike-shortened seasons)
248 starts
1,561 tackles
69.5 sacks
16 interceptions
27 forced fumbles
Top three years in tackles: 128, 126, 113
Top three years in sacks: 12, 9, 6.5
Junior Seau
20 seasons, 14 where he started 12+ games
234 starts
1,522 tackles
47 sacks
18 interceptions
11 forced fumbles
Top three years in tackles: 129, 129, 124
Top three years in sacks: 7, 7, 7
I don't understand why Seau is considered a first-ballot guy while Matthews is not even a finalist.
One might point out what Seau was a 12-time pro bowler and 6-time all pro, while Matthews only made 4 pro bowls. But that's a lot about reputation. If you look at Seau's first five years in the league, here are his stats:
78 starts, 569 tackles, 18 sacks, 4 int, 3 forced fumbles. He was named all-pro three times and went to four pro bowls
In that same five-year period from 1990 through 1994, here are Clay Matthews' stats:
77 starts, 447 tackles, 25.5 sacks, 3 int, 11 forced fumbles. He didn't make a single pro bowl during that period.
Now, Seau had a lot more tackles, so I'll give him that. But Matthews was 38 years old at the end of this five-year period, so we're comparing Seau's peak years against Matthews' end-of-career years. Seau was piling up accolades when he was making fewer big plays.
Again, I'm not saying no to Seau, but I just think he was overhyped a lot, which produced a lot of pro bowls compared to other players with similar production.