Reading some football notes today during lunch I came across something that took me aback for a moment about former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin. It was from a blog called Sobering Thoughts, written by Paul Tuns yesterday. Tuns was talking about the Hall of Fame inductees, including Irvin's former teammate Emmitt Smith. In the post, he made the claim, “I'm not sure that Michael Irvin really is a Canton-worthy WR and way too much was made of The Triplets finally being in the Hall of Fame together.”
Since Tuns’s declaration was not prefaced with something regarding Irvin’s off-the-field issues being the reason for his Hall of Fame exclusion, I have to assume he actually means that The Playmaker didn’t rack up enough statistics to make it into Canton. I was not the biggest football fan up until about three years ago (thank you fantasy football league), so since my memory can’t help with this article I decided I would need to do some research on whether Irvin’s numbers were Hall of Fame worthy.
Michael Irvin became eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2005, but he was not selected to forever be enshrined in the Hall until 2007, his third year of eligibility. His 750 career receptions, 11,904 reception yards and 47 100+ yard receiving games put him at 27th, 17th and third on the NFL’s all-time records. He amassed 65 receiving touchdowns and was elected to five Pro Bowls, earning the MVP honor in the 1992 Pro Bowl game. Irvin was also selected to the second team of the 1990s All Decade Team.
These are all great facts and figures, but what does it mean when compared to other Hall of Fame wide receivers? We’ll start with the most recent addition to the Hall, which included the all-time leading wide receiver in multiple categories.
Jerry Rice is a terrible person to compare Irvin to, only because Rice’s statistics will diminish the great things Irvin did in Dallas. However, to be fair I must compare Irvin to as many types of Hall of Famers as possible.
Prior to the announcement of who would be in the 2010 Class, it was a no-brainer that Rice would be among them as a first-year inductee, meaning he was selected in the first year of eligibility. Since his retirement, Rice has led the league in receptions (1,549; 447 ahead of second place), receiving yards (22,895; 7,961 ahead of second place), and receiving touchdowns (197; 65 ahead of second place). Along with all the accolades thrust upon him throughout the years as one of the greatest to ever play the game, Rice was selected to the first team for both the 1980s and 1990s All Decade Teams.
Now that we’ve gotten the greatest wide receiver of all time out of the way, let us move on to more common Hall of Fame players.
Another first-year inductee, who Irvin comes close to in a few categories, is Seahawks great Steve Largent. At the time of Largent’s retirement, he had recorded 819 receptions, 13,089 receiving yards, and 100 touchdowns, which were all records for a wide receiver at the time. Largent was also selected to seven Pro Bowls. As impressive as Largent’s career was, his receptions and receiving yards are so far out of reach of where Irvin sat. Largent had 69 more receptions and a little more than 1,000 yards. Had Irvin’s career not been cut short by a hard hit in Philadelphia, he might have been able to surpass those numbers.
A first-year Hall of Fame inductee whose only statistics greater than Irvin’s were touchdowns (85 to 65) was Paul Warfield, however, Irvin more than surpassed Warfield’s 427 receptions and 8,565 receiving yards. There may be other reasons Warfield was selected in his first year of eligibility that I overlooked, but from a statistical viewpoint there is nothing so outstanding that Irvin can’t be in the same category.
Two names synonymous with wide receiver greatness who share Irvin’s disappointment with not being named a first-year inductee are Art Monk and Lynn Swann. Monk’s numbers vastly outweigh Swann’s, but Swann has four Super Bowl rings to fall back on.
Monk currently sits at ninth on the all-time reception leader board with 940, 14th all time in receiving yards with 12,721, and tied at 34th all-time in receiving touchdowns with 68. The former Redskin was the first in NFL history to record a 100-reception season. He finished with five 1,000+ yard seasons, 33 100+ yard regular season games and five 100+ yard playoff games. In comparison, Irvin had six career 100+ yard receiving postseason games.
With the Steelers, Swann was selected to three Pro Bowls during a career that resulted in 336 receptions, 5,462 receiving yards and 51 touchdowns. In Swann’s defense, the Pittsburgh teams of the 1970s were a run-heavy offense that didn’t rely on the wide receiver talents as much as in today’s game.
A few other Hall of Fame pass catchers who don’t come even close to Irvin’s numbers are Fred Biletnikoff and former Cowboy Bob Hayes. Biletnikoff’s reception total sits at 589, but like Swann he was on a run-based offense. In 11 years with the Cowboys, Hayes had 371 reception and 7,414 receiving yards. His 71 receiving touchdowns do beat out Irvin though.
It is impossible to compare the greatness of one wide receiver to another from different teams, let alone different decades, but I think it’s slightly wacko to claim that Irvin doesn’t deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. His numbers speak for themselves.
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