I guess he was pretty good. But let's compare Pro Football Hall of Fame candidate John Lynch to another "pretty good" Safety who will never even come close to being nominated to the Hall of Fame...the Packers' LeRoy Butler.
John Lynch (Tampa Bay Buccanneers, Denver Broncos, New England Patriots)
John Lynch Hoisting The Hardware |
9x Pro Bowl
3x All Pro (1st Team)
1x All Pro (2nd Team)
1x Superbowl Champion (1 Appearance)
STATS:
13 sacks
16 FF (8 recovered)
26 INT
89 Passes Defended
0 TDs
1051 tackles (4.7 per game)
224 games
LeRoy Butler Inventing The Leap |
HIGHLIGHTS:
4x Pro Bowl
4x All Pro (1st Team)
90's All Decade Team
1x Superbowl Champion (2 Appearances)
STATS:
20.5 sacks
11 FF (8 recovered)
38 INT
95 Passes Defended
1 INT Return TD (Culminating in the invention of the Lambeau Leap)
726 tackles (4 per game)
181 games
So in 43 less games, Butler has 7.5 more sacks, 12 more INTs, 6 more passes defensed and a TD, while Lynch forced 5 more fumbles. Who's the Hall of Fame nominee here?
This somehow resulted in 5 more trips to the Pro Bowl for Lynch? Based on fan voting, no doubt. Lynch always had a pretty amazing media presence, whereas LeRoy kept to himself. That will ultimately be Butler's undoing when it comes to enshrinement. It'll never happen.
Another guy who probably deserves the Hall of Fame more than Lynch? Steve Atwater! But that's another story.
2x Super Bowl Champion, 8x Pro Bowler, 3x All Pro, 90's All Decade Team, 1180 Tackles, 24 INT |
Cough Rodney Harrison Cough
ReplyDelete2× Super Bowl champion (XXXVIII, XXXIX)
2× Pro Bowl (1998, 2001)
3× First team All-Pro (1998, 2001, 2003)
Second team All-Pro (2004)
San Diego Chargers 50th Anniversary Team
New England Patriots 50th Anniversary Team
Career NFL statistics
Tackles: 1,205
Sacks: 30.5
Interceptions: 34
Forced fumbles: 11