Roger Craig Snubbed

Players in HoF who got at least 2 championships with these legacy teams:

50s/60s Packers - 13
70s Steelers - 10

70s/80s Raiders - 4
80s/90s 49ers - 5

If anything there's simply too many Packers and Steelers from these teams in. There weren't 10+ HoFs that won 2+ championships with those 49ers teams, but there certainly weren't 8 less than those Packers teams. We're just asking for Roger Craig, man. The RB that redefined the position for the league in regards to being an "all purpose" RB. Just Roger Craig!

This is the one player that deserves to be in the HOF over so many other players. A current player right now that Craig bests is one that, if asked, anyone would say is a future HOFer.

Take a look at Alvin Kamara's stats. They aren't very impressive but we all know the impact he has in a game. Craig was just as impactful and put up better numbers than Kamara.

of course he did, NFL and media hates the 49ers and probably every other west coast team that doesn't play in LA

I do think Roger is a victim of playing on a team that was loaded with talent. Easy to get passed over for another player. Then there's the fact that he played with Montana in Walsh's system. If you look at his 8 years with the Niners, he only had 3 1000+ yard seasons. 1050, 1054 and 1540. He only averaged 58 yards per game. His impact in the Niner system was big but when voters look at the numbers they aren't eye popping.

From the Official Website of Roger Craig

" Roger Craig was the 49th overall selection in the 1983 NFL Draft, taken in the second round from Nebraska, where he once held the record for longest run from scrimmage (94 yards, set during a 1981 game against Florida State University).

In his rookie year in 1983, he scored a combined 12 touchdowns rushing and receiving, as the 49ers reached the NFC Championship game. Craig became well known in his rookie year for his distinctive high-knee running technique.

In Super Bowl XIX in January 1985, Craig rushed for 58 yards, caught seven passes for 77 yards, and became the first player ever to score three touchdowns in a Super Bowl during the 49ers' 38–16 victory over the Miami Dolphins.

The following season, Craig became the first in NFL history to run and receive for at least 1,000 yards in the same season. He ran for 1,050 yards on 214 carries and led the NFL with 92 catches for 1,016 yards, and scored a team high 15 touchdowns. With fullback Tom Rathman, also from Nebraska, the two formed the 49ers' "Cornfield Backfield."

In 1988, Craig was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press. He ran for a career high 1,502 yards and caught an additional 76 passes for 534 yards. A memorable game occurred in week 7 against the Los Angeles Rams. He scored three rushing touchdowns and ran a career high 191 yards. He went on to assist the 49ers to Super Bowl XXIII by amassing 262 combined rushing and receiving yards and two touchdowns in their two playoff games. In the 49ers' 20-16 win over Cincinnati in that Super Bowl, he rushed for 71 yards and caught eight passes for 101 yards.

In the 1989 season, the 49ers advanced to the Super Bowl for the second year in a row, aided by Craig's 1,527 combined rushing/receiving yards and seven touchdowns in the season, along with his 240 combined rushing/receiving yards and two touchdowns in their two playoff games. In San Francisco's 55-10 win over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXIV, Craig rushed for 69 yards, caught five passes for 34 yards, and scored a touchdown.

The 49ers were 14–2 in the following regular season on their quest to become the first team to win three consecutive Super Bowls. In the NFC Championship Game (his last as a 49er), Craig fumbled late in the fourth quarter while his team was trying to hold on to a 13–12 lead over the New York Giants. The Giants recovered the ball and scored on a last-second field goal to win 15–13, and went on to win Super Bowl XXV.

Craig played a season with the Los Angeles Raiders in 1991 and his final two with the Minnesota Vikings, retiring after the 1993 season. He appeared in the NFL Playoffs every year of his career, and made the Pro Bowl four times (1985, 1987–1989).

Honors

He was the first running back to gain more than 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving in the same season (1987). Since then, only one other running back has achieved the same feat (Marshall Faulk in 1999). Craig also caught a then-record 92 passes in the 1985 campaign. In 1988, Craig set a then-franchise record 1,502 yards rushing. The 1988 season was the second time Craig broke the 2,000 combined yardage mark in his career.

Craig finished his eleven NFL seasons with 8,189 rushing yards, 566 receptions for 4,911 receiving yards, and three kickoff returns for 43 yards. Overall, he amassed 13,143 total yards and scored 73 touchdowns (56 rushing and 17 receiving).

As of today, Lydell Mitchell, Roger Craig and Chuck Foreman are the only running backs to lead the NFL in receptions for a single season, and Craig is the only back to ever record over 100 receiving yards in a Super Bowl. His prowess as a receiver out of the backfield is a contrast to his college career, where he caught only 16 passes during his three seasons at Nebraska.

In 1993, Peter King (in Inside the Helmet) reported that Craig was the only running back to be elected to the Pro Bowl at both fullback and halfback. On April 21, 2008 Craig was inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame."

Originally posted by CatchMaster80:

I do think Roger is a victim of playing on a team that was loaded with talent. Easy to get passed over for another player. Then there's the fact that he played with Montana in Walsh's system. If you look at his 8 years with the Niners, he only had 3 1000+ yard seasons. 1050, 1054 and 1540. He only averaged 58 yards per game. His impact in the Niner system was big but when voters look at the numbers they aren't eye popping.

That was the excuse for him not being a first ballot member or failing to make it any other time for the past 2 decades. This extended senior class was the perfect way to finally put him in without having to cop to making a mistake. Having the first 1000/1000 season on a team like that alone should have put him in.

Roger cost the niners a shot at a 3-peat. A memorable player for sure, but not a hall of famer. To compare him to Marshall Faulk is laughable. To me Ricky Watters was superior to Roger.

Originally posted by bsyde82:
Roger cost the niners a shot at a 3-peat. A memorable player for sure, but not a hall of famer. To compare him to Marshall Faulk is laughable. To me Ricky Watters was superior to Roger.

Why is it laughable to compare him to Faulk? Before Faulk, for a long time, was the ONLY guy to rush for 1k and receive 1k in a year.
1k yards receiving for a RB is insane, that's running the ball like Mostert and catching passes like Deebo.
When the Rams brought Faulk to the Rams it was only because they were going to make him their Roger Craig. They weren't going to make him Ricky Watters or anyone else. I mean, shoot, the short post concept that Martz put in was just a variation on the texas concept BW designed for Craig.

Originally posted by bsyde82:
Roger cost the niners a shot at a 3-peat. A memorable player for sure, but not a hall of famer. To compare him to Marshall Faulk is laughable. To me Ricky Watters was superior to Roger.

I don't hold that fumble against Roger. He did way too much for the team to point to that one incident. Their defense was just a responsible as Roger. The fact is they held the Niners to 13 points which was quite a feat given how good the Niners were. If the offense had been a little better that fumble wouldn't have mattered.

Originally posted by CatchMaster80:

Originally posted by bsyde82:
Roger cost the niners a shot at a 3-peat. A memorable player for sure, but not a hall of famer. To compare him to Marshall Faulk is laughable. To me Ricky Watters was superior to Roger.

I don't hold that fumble against Roger. He did way too much for the team to point to that one incident. Their defense was just a responsible as Roger. The fact is they held the Niners to 13 points which was quite a feat given how good the Niners were. If the offense had been a little better that fumble wouldn't have mattered.

RICKY WATTERS - was the BEST all around RB I saw NEXT to Walter... THE guy can play WR and he'd be good at it.. Aside losing Deion, it was the loss of Watters that doomed us for years...

I feel bad for Roger Craig, but being the 1st player to post a 1000 - 1000 just isn't enough to get him to the HOF sooner..

That's one of the problems with Craig. Like Watters he could run and catch but neither of them was truly outstanding at either. Voters look at stats and see that neither one led the league in rushing and move on. It doesn't really give them credit for how good they were and how valuable they were.

The Fumble is still costing him.

Originally posted by jonnydel:
Why is it laughable to compare him to Faulk? Before Faulk, for a long time, was the ONLY guy to rush for 1k and receive 1k in a year.
1k yards receiving for a RB is insane, that's running the ball like Mostert and catching passes like Deebo.
When the Rams brought Faulk to the Rams it was only because they were going to make him their Roger Craig. They weren't going to make him Ricky Watters or anyone else. I mean, shoot, the short post concept that Martz put in was just a variation on the texas concept BW designed for Craig.

Roger might have been the pre-cursor to Faulk, but it doesn't mean they're remotely on the same level. Just looking at their peaks, it's not really close in terms of stats, and I feel like both had teams that were relatively equally stacked. Morever, Faulk I felt like was the lynchpin of the greatest show on turf. While Roger, while important, was just another piece on a stacked team. I admit I'm mostly just going off my fuzzy sports memories.

Originally posted by 9moon:
RICKY WATTERS - was the BEST all around RB I saw NEXT to Walter... THE guy can play WR and he'd be good at it.. Aside losing Deion, it was the loss of Watters that doomed us for years...

I feel bad for Roger Craig, but being the 1st player to post a 1000 - 1000 just isn't enough to get him to the HOF sooner..

it really doomed us. Derek Loville anyone?

Doing 1000/1000 15 yrs before faulk did it should get him in alone. Let alone 3 titles, pro bowls etc