Top 10 NFL Players Not in the Hall of Fame

One of the top three QBs pretty much every year he played. He had the stats and the records but played in a small market and in the shadow of others like Staubach, Stabler, young Montana, Fouts, Griese, and more. Anderson may only have the one MVP but was consistently great and played for some bad Bengals teams while still showing greatness.

Great quarterback who played on a team with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the same division, and led the league in passing for four different years. The Dan Fouts of his era. Put him in.

Ottis Anderson was actually pretty good. He got over 10,000 yards. I think anyone with over 10,000 yards should one day get enshrined in Canton.

The only player I know of who was All-Pro three or more times that isn't in the Hall of Fame. The Gale Sayers of WRs, he was the best WR in the league for several years in the early-mid 90s. Consider that this period coincides with the latter half of Jerry Rice's prime, and you have a solid case for induction. If Sayers is a Hall of Famer, then surely Sharpe is.

Sharpe also achieved in spite of playing with a terrible crop of QBs. Everyone remembers him playing with Favre starting part-way through the '92 season, but that was an outlier. Here was the norm - starting QBs for the Packers during Sharpe's pre-Favre tenure ('88-'92): Randy Wright, Don Majkowski, Anthony Dilweg, Blair Kiel, and Mike Tomczak. Majkowski had one Cinderella season, but apart from that, he was a very average QB. The rest were worse. One more compelling reason to put the man in Canton.

Lesser LBs are in the HOF. If he wasn't making the tackle, he was nearby when the play wasn't downfield. It took Ray Lewis 17 seasons to pass Gradishar's tackles... in 10 seasons. Some say he wasn't a hard hitter, but Dorsett and Payton said he gave them the hardest hits ever. Regardless, he was the best ever at bringing the opponent down.

He was an amazing player, but unfortunately, the Broncos inflated Gradishar's statistics, and there's no way to calculate how many tackles he actually had. The Broncos once tallied that he had 350 tackles in a season. He deserves the Hall of Fame, but I can see why the committee hasn't voted him in already.

I feel he is underrated because of the teams he played for.

One of the best all-around running backs of all time.

If you have any doubts, watch the two Super Bowl-winning teams that he played on. He was more than the "stickum guy." He could flat out cover, and when he was partnered with Mike Haynes, teams had to rely on screens and the TE to move the ball against the Raiders.

A true shutdown corner. The only reason he's not inducted is because he used Stickum.

Man, I'm mad. I thought he was already in.

How many people remember Stanley Morgan? For years, the best downfield threat in the National Football League. His numbers were better than Swann, Stallworth, or Bob Hayes, but because he played for a team that didn't win Super Bowls, he has been largely forgotten. He should at least get a seniors nominee. He averaged 20 yards per catch for his career!

Better stats than most that are in the HOF. Someone dropped the ball on this guy.

Simply the best player ever at his position! He took special teams play to a different level. Just ask the guys that played against him.

Was dominant for a short time. The tackle version of Sterling Sharpe and Terrell Davis.

I understand his career was cut short by injury. Anyone who saw him just toy with and completely shut down HOF DEs like Bruce Smith and future HOFers like Jason Taylor knows that if he had stayed healthy, he probably would have gone down as the BEST OT in the history of football.

He was one of the keys to the 49ers' dominance during the eighties and still played well with the Raiders and Vikings in spot duty at the end of his career. He is a Hall of Famer in my book. He was the Marshall Faulk of the eighties.

Craig was a true pioneer of the game and was the first running back who was a threat in the passing and rushing game. Without Craig, there's no Faulk, Tomlinson, McCaffrey, or Matt Forte.

Revolutionized the position. His stats would have been greater had he been on a team without so many incredible offensive weapons.

Yes! Neil Smith deserves to go in the Hall of Fame! Hands down!

Without a doubt, probably being discriminated against because of his concussion statements.

Gastineau would have been just an above-average DE if Klecko wasn't on the same line. Joe Klecko dominated offensive linemen. Ask the men who went up against him.

He had to share the spotlight with Gastineau but was by far the superior player. He could do everything that Suh does today. Klecko was versatile and dominant.

Joe Klecko may have been good, but he is going to have a long wait. I predict he will get in in 2034. That is a long wait.

Harvey Martin retired with the eighth-most sacks (unofficial) in NFL history when he retired. He has over 25 more sacks than L.C. Greenwood. NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1977 and the Super Bowl MVP in Super Bowl XII. He had 23 sacks in a fourteen-game season in 1977, which would be a league record had quarterback sacks been a statistic in that era. The Dallas Cowboys made the playoffs every year he played except for one. Harvey Martin deserves to be in Canton NOW!

Until DeMarcus Ware broke the Cowboys' sack record, Harvey Martin held the mark. He was a dominating DE during the Cowboys' run in the seventies and early eighties. He had the goods to be considered for the Hall of Fame.

I wonder if the Bills had won even one of the four Super Bowls they were in if they would have had better representation. One of the players that I feel have suffered is Bennett. He was a dominating linebacker for an extended period of time. Hall-worthy in my opinion.

Ken Riley is one of the best players not in. I believe Ken Riley should get into the Hall before Ken Anderson. He is the fourth-best senior candidate right now behind Randy Gradishar, Jerry Kramer, and Tommy Nobis.

If he and Lamar Parrish played for the Lions, Steelers, or Packers, they would both be in the Hall of Fame.

One team, 15 years, all at corner. Number four all-time at the time of his retirement.

If it were not for so many Steelers, he would have already been elected. He and Donnie Shell get the shaft as a result.

It's been long enough. He deserves a spot in Canton.

Greenwood and Lyle Alzado were the best at their positions when they played. How is he not yet in?

Cliff Branch was the big-play receiver for two Super Bowl champion Raider teams. It is long past due for Branch to join the elite fraternity that is the HOF.

The best deep threat in the 1970s. At the time of his retirement, he was the postseason yardage leader.

Number 37? Should be in the top three. More anti-Raider bias.

This guy defined the weak-side linebacker! Six-time Pro Bowler, five-time First-Team All-Pro! Not a good linebacker, a great one!

The greatest Cowboys linebacker ever. He was on the Doomsday Defense with Darren Woodson, who also should get inducted soon.

Maybe the biggest Hall of Fame snub in the four major professional sports (Rogie Vachon and Maurice Cheeks could lay stake to the claim as well). Hall of Fame linebackers are the greatest who's who in the Hall of Fame, and it seems incomplete without Howley.

Jerry Smith helped put Sonny Jurgensen in Canton. He ran routes like a wide receiver and was the Travis Kelce of the 1960s and early 1970s. He belongs in Canton.

Jerry Smith definitely belongs in the Hall of Fame. I was never a Skins fan, but this guy's record on the field cannot be dismissed, and that's supposed to count for something.

Worthy candidate who belongs in the Hall.

Not as consistent as Isaac Bruce but had a higher peak than Bruce. Holt will get in soon and probably before guys like Hines Ward and Andre Johnson because he's been waiting longer.

He was a part of the G.S.O.T. (Greatest Show on Turf).