Best Players Not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Defensive Backs
Johnny Robinson was selected to seven Pro Bowls and earned first team All-AFL honors six times.
Our position-by-position look at the best eligible players not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame rolls along with a look at the top defensive backs that have yet to earn a bust in Canton.
The role of the defensive back has changed over the years as defenses have adjusted coverage schemes to account for offensive innovations.
Defensive backs are often measured by their interception totals. However, that can often be a misleading statistic.
Top defenders can disrupt the plans of a quarterback and basically take part of the field, or a particular receiver, out of the game plan simply through their presence.
Of the eight players in NFL history with more than 60 career interceptions, three are not in the Hall of Fame and all three were part of defensive backfields with at least one Hall of Famer or perennial All-Pro.
With 65 interceptions, Ken Riley has the most picks of any player not in the Hall of Fame. He spent his entire career with the Bengals and for many years teamed with Tommy Casanova, Lemar Parrish and Marvin Cobb to give the Bengals one of the best secondary units in the league.
Parrish was selected to eight Pro Bowls and Casanova was selected to three. Both earned first team All-NFL selections once. Despite regularly ranking among the league leaders in interceptions, Riley was never chosen to participate in the Pro Bowl and his only All-Pro selection came in his final year in the league.
Similarly, Dick LeBeau–with 62 career interceptions– teamed in the Detroit backfield with Hall of Famers Yale Lary, Dick “Night Train” Lane and Lem Barney for various stages of his 14-year career. LeBeau was selected to three Pro Bowls, but never was an All-Pro.
Dave Brown had 62 interceptions playing primarily for the Seattle Seahawks. He was named to one Pro Bowl while safety Ken Easley earned five Pro Bowl trips and was a first team All-Pro three times.
In selecting the top defensive backs not in the Hall of Fame I looked at interceptions as one factor, but also looked at other criteria including team success and prowess of the overall defensive unit, Pro Bowl and All-Pro recognition and how they compared with other defensive backs from their era in regards to interceptions and post season honors.
So, here is my list of the top 10 eligible defensive backs not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I look forward to your comments, discussion, and disagreements.
Click Here to read more and see pictures of each player in the top 10.
10. LeRoy Butler – Green Bay Packers – 1990-2001
9. Lemar Parrish – Cincinnati Bengals/Washington Redskins/Buffalo Bills – 1970-1982
8. Deron Cherry – Kansas City Chiefs – 1981-1991
7. Cliff Harris – Dallas Cowboys – 1970-1979
6. Eric Allen – Philadelphia Eagles/New Orleans Saints/Oakland Raiders – 1988-2001
5. Jimmy Patton – New York Giants – 1955-1966
4. Donnie Shell – Pittsburgh Steelers – 1974-1987
3. Dave Grayson – Kansas City Chiefs/Oakland Raiders– 1961-1970
2. Steve Atwater – Denver Broncos/New York Jets – 1989-1999
1. Johnny Robinson – Kansas City Chiefs – 1960-1971
Another position with some awful snubs and little love from HoF voters. Good catches on your part in Robinson, Patton, Harris, Parrish, Butler, and Atwater. Would also make a plea to include a few more from the '50s in Bobby Dillon and Abe Woodson (especially given the latter's monster kick return stats), from the '60s in Bob Boyd and Cornell Green and Eddie Meador, from the '70s in Lester Hayes, and from the '80s in Kenny Easley (short career) and Joey Browner. Why Emmitt Thomas (and now likely Dick LeBeau) are getting pushed to the head of the line ahead of these folks is beyond me.
Thanks. Again most of those you names are in the top 25 if not the top 10. I had LeBeau ranked number 12, right behind Boyd, and think it is a joke that he is being considered now. Just another knee-jerk reaction by the HOF committee to pressure from folks like Rod Woodson and the Steeler fans. When LeBeau is eligible to be considered for his entire coaching and playing career, then he should get in, but to say that on his playing career only he is deserving of the HOF is an insult.
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Why is Harris not higher? 6 time pro bowler. 4 time all pro. 70's NFL all-decade team. super bowl champion. What else could you ask for?
Cliff Harris is certainly very deserving of the HoF, but he's got a lot of competition. Here are the postseason honors numbers (AP 1st Team All Pro/Pro Bowl/All Decade Teams) for everyone on Dean's list:
Johnny Robinson (6/7/allAFL)
Steve Atwater (2/8/90s)
Dave Grayson (4/6/allAFL)
Donnie Shell (3/5/none)
Jimmy Patton (5/5/none)
Eric Allen (1/6/none)
Cliff Harris (3/6/70s), not (4/6/70s) if using just AP teams (the 4th one is via NEA)
Deron Cherry (3/6/80s)
Lemar Parrish (1/8/none) plus monster KR extra credit
LeRoy Butler (4/4/90s)
The only one who looks out of place here to me is Eric Allen. And that doesn't count the players I listed above:
Bobby Dillon (4/4/none)
Abe Woodson (2/5/none) plus monster KR extra credit
Bobby Boyd (3/2/60s)
Cornell Green (3/5/none)
Eddie Meador (2/6/60s)
Lester Hayes (1/5/80s)
Kenny Easley (3/5/80s)
Joey Browner (3/6/80s)
Note also that defensive players don't historically get a leg up on their competition by winning Super Bowls or NFL/AFL Championships. That's pretty much reserved for QBs and for some odd reason Lynn Swann and Paul Hornung.
It's a jungle out there for DBs and the HoF. Should Harris go to the head of the line? Not ahead of Johnny Robinson as far as I can see.
I would agree, Harris is one of several who should be in, but I think Johnny Robinson is at the top of the list.
That is also why I struggle with the thought that Dick LeBeau is being considered only for his playing days and could get in before Robinson, Harris, Patton or the rest.
As for Eric Allen, I saw him first hand in Philadelphia and then watched him throughout his career and I think he was as good a cornerback as any in his era, outside of Deion Sanders. He made big plays and was generally a shut-down corner. Wasn't at his peak by the time he went to the Raiders, but when in Philly he combined with the pass rush to make things awfully tough on opposing quarterbacks.
Some great calls; Johnny Robinson is criminally underrated. There's a lot of anti-AFL prejudice. Don't understand how anyone can criticize his backfield mate Emmitt Thomas, who was a star on one of the great defenses in history, the '67-70 KC Chiefs. Superior athlete and ballhawk who had huge interception numbers and played on an AFL and NFL championship team and still was a great player as the team declined in the '70s. Bob Boyd is also highly underrated for perennial NFL power and Harris also belongs.
I can't believe, though I'm not surprised, you don't mention Jack Tatum. He was the scariest hitting safety in history, bar none, a super athlete who intercepted a lot of passes (37) for a strong safety and defined the attitude of one of the great teams in history. A decade of elite play, but his reputation as a dirty player kept him off some All Pro teams he should have been on. The Stingley hit was a horrible accident on a badly thrown ball, and his defensiveness about something he felt terrible about shouldn't keep him out.
Here's the beef I have regarding Emmitt Thomas being in the HoF. Like Ken Riley and Dave Brown and Eugene Robinson and Dick LeBeau, Thomas is a DB with high lifetime INT totals and meager postseason honor stats. In his 13 year career, Thomas was a 1st team AP all-pro only once, went to 5 pro bowls, and is not on any all-decade teams. Compared to the players above, that's unimpressive, and it's not clear why Thomas (or LeBeau, Brown, Riley, etc.) should be in ahead of players like Grayson, Patton, Dillon, Boyd, Green, etc. If Thomas were as great a player as all that, one would think he'd have more postseason honors hardware to show for it.
Jack Tatum's postseason honors are very modest compared to the rest of these DBs (0/3/none, exactly that of LeBeau), plus his reputation as a dirty player does not help his case. If a player wants to roll in the pigpen, he should be prepared to pay the price for it — and that goes for players like Bill Romanowski as well.
Abe Woodson, one of the greatest kickoff return men in history, should definitely be in the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. For him not to be enshrined makes the HOF look like a Hall of Shame.