Some Neat Hall of Fame Data [OC]

[TheFrenzy]

Spent a few minutes digging around in ProFootballReference.com this afternoon. Threw together a spreadsheet of Hall of Fame careers and there's some really interesting stuff.

For example, the 1971 season featured a record 78 future Hall of Fame players suiting up and taking the field.

(obviously the post-2000 data is a bit incomplete given that only a few worthy players have reached eligibility)

[TheFrenzy]

Did you know that out of the league's 279 Hall of Fame players, only ten had careers shorter than eight season?

7 seasons - Dick Stanfel, G
7 seasons - Fritz Pollard, RB
7 seasons - Gale Sayers, RB
7 seasons - Kenny Easley, DB
7 seasons - Terrell Davis, RB
6 seasons - Arnie Weinmeister, DT
6 seasons - Cliff Battles, RB
6 seasons - Doak Walker, RB
6 seasons - Ernie Nevers, RB

At the other end of the spectrum, only seven players have had careers of twenty seasons or more.

20 seasons - Brett Favre, QB
20 seasons - Jackie Slater, T
20 seasons - Jerry Rice, WR
20 seasons - Junior Seau, LB
22 seasons - Lou Groza, T/K
26 seasons - Morten Anderson, K
27 seasons - George Blanda, QB/K

[TheFrenzy]

Fun Fact: Starting with 1938, there have always been either two or three Hall of Fame centers active in the league with the exceptions of 1958-1959 and 1991-1993 when Jim Ringo and Dermontti Dawson were the only active Hall of Fame centers and 1974 which featured four Hall of Fame centers: Jim Otto, Mick Tingelhoff, Jim Langer, and Mike Webster.

[TheFrenzy]

Fun Fact: The average length of a Hall of Fame career is 13.03 seasons. The average length of a Hall of Fame quarterback's career is 15.14 seasons. (14.7 seasons if set aside the QB/K career George Blanda)

Only four Hall of Fame quarterbacks played for fewer than twelve seasons:

11 seasons - Jim Kelly
11 seasons - Roger Staubach
10 seasons - Ottot Graham
8 seasons - Bob Waterfield

[TheFrenzy]

Fun Fact: The average length of a Hall of Fame running back's career is 10.98 seasons.

Sixteen Hall of Fame running backs played fewer than ten seasons. Three played only six seasons (Cliff Battles, Doak Walker, Ernie Nevers). However, only four played more than fifteen seasons:

16 seasons - Arnie Herber
16 seasons - Joe Perry
16 seasons - Marcus Allen
19 seasons - Ken Strong

[TheFrenzy]

If you're looking for the seasons with the most and fewest Hall of Fame running backs and quarterbacks:

The 1968, 1988 and 1989 seasons each featured only four Hall of Fame running backs. In 1968 it was Leroy Kelly, Gale Sayers, Floyd Little, and a rookie Larry Csonka. In 1988 it was Tony Dorsett (in his final season), Marcus Allen, Eric Dickerson, and a rookie Thurman Thomas. In 1989 Dorsett had retired and Barry Sanders had been drafted.

Going by Hall of Famers, the six-season stretch from 1958 to 1964 was definitely the golden age of running backs with nine Hall of Famers playing in every season. For 1958-1963, this included:

- Joe Perry
- Frank Gifford
- Ollie Matson
- Hugh McElhenny
- John Henry Johnson
- Lenny Moore
- Paul Hornung
- Jim Brown
- Jim Taylor

In 1964, Joe Perry retired and Leroy Kelly was drafted.

As for quarterbacks, the 1970-1971 and 1973 seasons saw ten Hall of Fame quarterbacks suit up: (George Blanda was still active, but only as a kicker)

- Bart Starr (70, 71)
- Johnny Unitas (70, 71, 73)
- Len Dawson (70, 71, 73)
- Sonny Jurgensen (70, 71, 73)
- Fran Tarkenton (70, 71, 73)
- Joe Namath (70, 71, 73)
- Bob Griese (70, 71, 73)
- Roger Staubach (70, 71, 73)
- Ken Stabler (70, 71, 73)
- Terry Bradshaw (70, 71, 73)
- Dan Fouts (73)

By far the worst seasons for Hall of Fame quarterbacks were the 1981-1982 seasons in which only Ken Stabler, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, and Dan Fouts were active.

[Siberian13]

Quit bumpin this thread

[TheFrenzy]

Originally Posted by Siberian13

Quit bumpin this thread

Fun Fact: Of the 38 NFL quarterbacks with more career passing yards than Siberian's post count, 12 are already enshrined in Canton.

[hostilecarrot]

Very well researched. Kinda want to steal this for that sweet, sweet Reddit karma.

[Siberian13]

Originally Posted by TheFrenzy

Fun Fact: Of the 38 NFL quarterbacks with more career passing yards than Siberian's post count, 12 are already enshrined in Canton.

Only 12, weak

[TheFrenzy]

Originally Posted by hostilecarrot

Very well researched. Kinda want to steal this for that sweet, sweet Reddit karma.

Internet databases + Excel make research easy in 2019.

The big graphs showing the overlapping careers of every HOFer are still here on my laptop. Besides, if you get too much karma I heard that Reddit locks you out of your account and sells it to Russia or Pelosi or whoever the boogeyman is supposed to be.

[Dallas Cowboys]

Very well done Frenzy! I love stuff like this.
You need to do one on the most common names in the Hall so we all know what to name our kids to increase their chances of being future HOFers. I know there are several Willies and Georges.

[PrimeTimeScott]

This is very cool. I also like stuff like this. I wonder how the numbers would change if you did each of the above fun facts with both players that were elected by the writers, and then guys that were selected by the senior committee. Not that it matters, but I wonder which positions are more heavily represented by senior committee nominations.

[altaeria]

Originally Posted by TheFrenzy

Fun Fact: The average length of a Hall of Fame career is 13.03 seasons. The average length of a Hall of Fame quarterback's career is 15.14 seasons. (14.7 seasons if set aside the QB/K career George Blanda)

Only four Hall of Fame quarterbacks played for fewer than twelve seasons:

11 seasons - Jim Kelly
11 seasons - Roger Staubach
10 seasons - Otto Graham
8 seasons - Bob Waterfield

It feels like Jim Kelly played more than 11 seasons.
It must be those additional years of USFL exposure.

[Archangel1775]

The closest I can get to the highest number is the 2012 season with about 5-10 players that can still get in potentially if they can continue their careers(Matt Ryan,Matthew Stafford, etc.). I'm also sure I missed a few guys including the O-Line. I included a few young guys that are on that career trajectory.
*Active players
2012

1. Tony Gonzalez HOF
2. Peyton Manning HOF
3. Randy Moss HOF
4. Charles Woodson
5. Tom Brady*
6. Drew Brees*
7. Larry Fitzgerald*
8. Reggie Wayne
9. Steve Smith
10. Andre Johnson
11. Ben Roethlisberger*
12. Phillip Rivers*
13. Aaron Rodgers*
14. Frank Gore*
15. Antonio Gates*
16. Jason Witten*
17. Devon Hester
18. Adrian Peterson*
19. Calvin Johnson
20. Julio Jones*
21. Rob Gronkowski
22. Antonio Brown*
    
    
    DEFENSE
23. Ray Lewis HOF
24. Champ Bailey HOF
25. Brian Urlacher HOF
26. Julius Peppers
27. Ed Reed HOF
28. Troy Polamalu
29. Terrell Suggs*
30. DeMarcus Ware
31. Vince Wilfork
32. Richard Sherman*
33. Darrelle Revis
34. Patrick Peterson*
35. Dwight Freeney
36. Von Miller*
37. JJ Watt*
38. Luke Kuechly*
39. Bobby Wagner*
    
    OL
40. Joe Thomas
41. Tyron Smith*
42. Maurkice Pouncey*
43. Jason Peters*
    
44. Adam Vinatieri*
    
    POSSIBLE
45. Patrick Willis
46. Earl Thomas
47. Russell Wilson*
48. Marshawn Lynch
49. LeSean McCoy*
50. Clay Matthews*
51. Elvis Dumervil
52. London Fletcher
53. Eli Manning*
54. Robert Mathis
55. Wes Welker
56. Eric Berry
57. Jared Allen
58. Haloti Ngata
59. James Harrison
60. Jahri Evans*
61. Ndamukong Suh*
    

[Archangel1775]

The lowest amount of HOF running backs could be next year if Adrian Peterson and Frank Gore retire. Careers just dont last very long anymore

[TheFrenzy]

Originally Posted by Archangel1775

The lowest amount of HOF running backs could be next year if Adrian Peterson and Frank Gore retire. Careers just dont last very long anymore

Which makes it all the more ironic that some actually want to hold Frank Gore's longevity against him.

Just looking at the career lengths of most of the Hall of Fame running backs makes Gore all that much more of a slam dunk. I mean, we've got four HOFers who only played six NFL seasons! That's crazy.

[TheFrenzy]

If anyone is interested in some AP 1st Team All-Pro data:

The Hall of Fame committee definitely goes easier on WRs and RBs than any other positions when it comes to AP 1st Team All-Pro selections.

11 HOF WRs only made All Pro once and 6 never made it all.

13 HOF RBs only made All Pro once and 3 never made it at all.

As for QBs, 4 never made All Pro (Aikman, Moon, Elway, and Staubach) while 8 only made it once (Stabler, Kelly, Bradshaw, Tarkenton, Namath, Blanda, Starr, and Van Brocklin).

The record for most AP 1st Team All Pro Selections is shared by WR Jerry Rice and C Jim Otto at 10.