To all the doubters

The consensus response to my Hall of Fame predictions is that Tom Brady could retire tomorrow and be a Hall of Famer despite playing only six full seasons. My response is to point out one player who is shockingly not in the Hall of Fame, one whose career was tragically cut short, the man who holds maybe the most unbreakable record in the NFL with 8 sacks in a single game. I am of course referring to the late Derrick Thomas. He played 11 years in the NFL and would have most likely been in the HOF by now had he played a few more years.

Terrell Davis player a mere four full seasons, so it's harder to predict his HOF candidacy. There are surprisingly few Pro Football Hall of Fame caliber players whose careers were cut short by injury. Gale Sayers is the classic example, who had an explosive seven season career, four and a half of which he played full time. Lynn Swann played nine years. Steve Young started in more than half of his team's games in eleven seasons, and he played in a relatively small number of games when compared to his Hall of Fame contemporaries. Tom Brady has played in roughly half as many games as Young. I'm not saying he won't be a Hall of Famer, but he needs another two or three seasons upright.