Football historian John Turney wrote about safeties for Talk of Fame Two. We present that story here to begin our series on the status of defensive backs in a league hell-bent on passing the ball.
A few decades ago, a new member of the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame board of selectors made his introductory appearance at the annual voters' meeting notable—but not by anything he did. Instead, it was by something he said.
"Gentlemen," he announced to his colleagues, "safeties do not belong in the Hall of Fame."
True story.
According to an employee of the Hall who was there, "he turned out to be a good voter," and, well, good for him. But thank goodness his was a minority opinion -- hopefully, a minority of one.
Still, there was a time when it seemed he had support within the room, with voters enshrining almost everyone but safeties. Paul Krause, the NFL's all-time leading interceptor, and all-time AFL safety Johnny Robinson, for instance, waited longer than their careers seemed to warrant.
But all that has changed, especially recently. In the past eight years, 11 safeties have been elected to the Hall, more than any one position ... and there are more waiting to be chosen, with former Cowboys' star Darren Woodson possibly next. A modern-era safety, he was in this year's top 10, making him one of the frontrunners for the Class of 2025.
But plenty of others are still waiting, including a backlog of seniors. Some should've been elected years ago but weren't. Let the selectors tell you why. I'm more interested in how you would order a list of senior safeties and whom you'd choose first for a Gold Jacket if you could wave a magic wand.
So let's get started.
The guys with the most Pro Bowls are Eddie Meador (one as a cornerback), Joey Browner, Dennis Smith, Deron Cherry and Tim McDonald with six each, and maybe you don't think that's the best measure. OK, then, perhaps a consensus All-Pro is your determining factor. If so, then the top name would be Jimmy Patton with five. The next-most is three, and a handful of players are tied.
Then there are the players who made all-decade teams. They are Meador, Dick Anderson, Deron Cherry, Browner, Nolan Cromwell, Carnell Lake and Darren Sharper. George Saimes, Goose Gonsoulin and Kenny Graham were voted to the All-Time AFL team, that league's de facto all-decade team.
Sharper is the outlier here, and for good reason. He's persona non grata, serving a 20-year prison sentence in federal prison after pleading guilty to numerous counts of sexual assault. Though off-field actions aren't supposed to be considered by voters, his actions are a bridge too far. If he were ever to get a Gold Jacket it would be a surprise to me.
So, what's next? How about numbers, starting with interceptions. After all, playing deep balls is a classic skill set for NFL safeties. Again ... yikes! ... it's Sharper with 63 career picks, including 11 returned for TDs. Then it's Eugene Robinson, who was always highly graded by Proscout, Inc., an independent NFL scouting firm. He had 57 thefts.
Robinson also has the greatest longevity, once considered a key element to a Hall-of-Fame candidacy. But that has diminished recently. Robinson played 16 years and in 250 games. Next in line would be Lawyer Milloy who had a 15-year career and participated in 234 games.
Rodney Harrison. a modern-era candidate who was a finalist for the Class of 2024, has 30-1/2 career sacks, the most ever by a safety. If that's your thing, he might be someone you'd support. Harrison also owns two Super Bowl rings.
But maybe the ring's not your thing. If so, then Woodson would be the choice. As a member of the 1990s’ Dallas Cowboys. he was part of three Super Bowl-winning teams. Among seniors with substantial All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections, Dick Anderson, Jake Scott, Charlie Waters, and Dwight Hicks each have two rings. George Saimes was a starter for the Bills' two AFL title teams.
If someone wanted to eschew all of that and simply rely on the "eye test," the list could really expand. Reasonable people could pick any of the above-mentioned names, but, for me, the choice is somewhat easy.
It would be Nolan Cromwell.
Former Rams’ defensive coordinator Bud Carson called him "the best free safety ever," and he coached a few. Cromwell played slot corner in nickel and dime defenses under Carson. Under Fritz Shurmur, who later coached the Rams' defense, he'd pop up as a dime linebacker.
He was close to qualifying for the 1976 U.S. Olympic team as a hurdler, so he was an elite athlete. And with his skill set, he could play today.
Anything else?
How about big hitters? After all, it wasn't that long ago that an intimidating safety could punish receivers daring to cross the middle. Not anymore. Nevertheless, two of the biggest hitters — Kenny Easley and Steve Atwater — are among the surge of safeties enshrined since 2017.
Jack Tatum would probably top that list. Doug Plank would be on it, too, but he never made an All-Pro, All-NFC or Pro Bowl team. His Bears' teammate, Gary Fencik, did, so he would be on it. A lot of physical safeties, however, were good tacklers but weren't regarded as intimidators.
Not so Rodney Harrison. He was both. So was not-yet-eligible Kam Chancellor, maybe the last of that kind of safety.
All this simply means that when it comes to Hall-of-Fame safeties, there are choices galore — candidates with quality cases. It also means that a fan's choice may not be the best overall just because we think he is. As I said, safety is a tough position to separate Hall of Fame-worthy candidates.
You just found out why.
Editor’s note: I added a picture of former Raiders/Oilers safety Jack Tatum, whose candidacy for the Hall of Fame has been inappropriately arm-barred due to the tragedy involving New England Patriots wide receiver Darryl Stingley. I will revisit this subject at another time — Frank Cooney