Hall of Fame LB, Patrick Willis

Originally posted by DaBeegDeek:

Originally posted by RickyRoma:
Look.....Patrick Willis is a HOF player. He was a dominant player at his position when he played, and that in general, should be the main reason why you make the HOF.
The reasons he's not going in are these, in no particular order:

1.) He played defense. Offensive players still make up the majority of HOF'ers, which is ridiculous on its own.
2.) There are no discernable numbers. This ties in with the offense, because voters can say 'he led the league in catches 3 times' or 'he led in passing yards 4 times' and such and such. There are no realistic numbers for an off the ball LB....his game wasn't built around getting a ton of sacks or ints.
3.) His career was short. It's not a good argument, because anybody who watched Willis during his prime knows how good he was. It still hurts him.
4.) He was a soft spoken guy who didn't yell and scream and promote himself like Ray Lewis. He didn't seek out attention, and it hurts him - again....another idiotic reasoning, but it does hurt him.
5.) He played LB for the 49ers - the franchise known for Walsh and Montana and the WCO. If he was a defender on those halcyon, dynasty years, he'd have a much better chance. Had he played LB for say....the Chicago Bears - a team known for defense and the linebacker tradition, he'd have a better chance to go into the Hall. He played on a team that never won a Super Bowl. Again...that's a knock.

Each one of those reasons isn't the be all/end all, but combine them and it's a much tougher road for him to get to the HOF.

I agree with you, but I will say that Patrick Willis was a very popular football player. A lot of casual fans know the same, unlike a say, Lance Briggs or Thomas Davis, two other recent hall of fame worthy linebackers who will never get considered.

Patrick had commercials with Duracell and K-Swiss, so he had some marketability. I think it'll be a while, but he will eventually get in.

I think Patrick gets in but I'm not sure how long it will take. His short career is his main hurdle IMO.

lol so many embarrassing takes in this thread.

Calvin Johnson just got in. These voters actually get into a room and openly debate until they settle on a class. This isn't baseball where passive aggressive beta male writers use their secret vote like a weapon. People in the room will say "We just put Calvin Johnson in, so we cant use career length against Willis." It will be hard to justify keeping him out this year with such a weak class. He was the best MLB in the game during his career.

Willis should be an easy in for the HOF. Not just for what he's done on the field, but just as the kind of person he is off the field. He is a prototype of what coaches would love to see in every player.

#52 forever will be my favorite all time player.

Originally posted by DaBeegDeek:
I agree with you, but I will say that Patrick Willis was a very popular football player. A lot of casual fans know the same, unlike a say, Lance Briggs or Thomas Davis, two other recent hall of fame worthy linebackers who will never get considered.

Patrick had commercials with Duracell and K-Swiss, so he had some marketability. I think it'll be a while, but he will eventually get in.

Lance Briggs and Thomas Davis were 1 time All-Pro's. Not Hall of Famers. Certainly not on the same level as Willis.

Originally posted by Niners99:

Originally posted by DaBeegDeek:
I agree with you, but I will say that Patrick Willis was a very popular football player. A lot of casual fans know the same, unlike a say, Lance Briggs or Thomas Davis, two other recent hall of fame worthy linebackers who will never get considered.

Patrick had commercials with Duracell and K-Swiss, so he had some marketability. I think it'll be a while, but he will eventually get in.

Lance Briggs and Thomas Davis were 1 time All-Pro's. Not Hall of Famers. Certainly not on the same level as Willis.

You're arguing my point?

Originally posted by DaBeegDeek:

Originally posted by Niners99:

Originally posted by DaBeegDeek:
I agree with you, but I will say that Patrick Willis was a very popular football player. A lot of casual fans know the same, unlike a say, Lance Briggs or Thomas Davis, two other recent hall of fame worthy linebackers who will never get considered.

Patrick had commercials with Duracell and K-Swiss, so he had some marketability. I think it'll be a while, but he will eventually get in.

Lance Briggs and Thomas Davis were 1 time All-Pro's. Not Hall of Famers. Certainly not on the same level as Willis.

You're arguing my point?

You called Briggs and Davis HOF worthy. They are not.

Originally posted by Niners99:

Originally posted by DaBeegDeek:

Originally posted by Niners99:

Originally posted by DaBeegDeek:
I agree with you, but I will say that Patrick Willis was a very popular football player. A lot of casual fans know the same, unlike a say, Lance Briggs or Thomas Davis, two other recent hall of fame worthy linebackers who will never get considered.

Patrick had commercials with Duracell and K-Swiss, so he had some marketability. I think it'll be a while, but he will eventually get in.

Lance Briggs and Thomas Davis were 1 time All-Pro's. Not Hall of Famers. Certainly not on the same level as Willis.

You're arguing my point?

You called Briggs and Davis HOF worthy. They are not.

You're hall of fame worthy. :)

Originally posted by Niners99:
lol so many embarrassing takes in this thread.

Calvin Johnson just got in. These voters actually get into a room and openly debate until they settle on a class. This isn't baseball where passive aggressive beta male writers use their secret vote like a weapon. People in the room will say "We just put Calvin Johnson in, so we cant use career length against Willis." It will be hard to justify keeping him out this year with such a weak class. He was the best MLB in the game during his career.

I think part of the voting is based on if you were building a dream team who would you want on it. Calvin Johnson was unstoppable at his height and he was both tall and fast with great hands. He is an obvious pick on a fantasy NFL dream team.

Willis is HoF worthy. He had several years where he was the best linebacker. I think it hurts him a little that Ray Lewis was at the end of his career when he was playing and that Bowman was playing at an all pro level also for a couple years.

I actually think Bowmans best two years were better than Willis's best two years but Willis did it for longer at a high level than Bowman.

I think the level of play at his position during his era was much higher than the best lbers today. If he were playing today he would unquestionably be leagues above the other linebackers but next to Bowman and ray lewis its not in a league of its own.

Originally posted by KittleMeThis:
Willis should be an easy in for the HOF. Not just for what he's done on the field, but just as the kind of person he is off the field. He is a prototype of what coaches would love to see in every player.

#52 forever will be my favorite all time player.

Well, kittle me this. Your favorite player of all time is #52, but you name yourself after #85. This is a riddle.

Originally posted by CO9er4life:

Originally posted by KittleMeThis:

Willis should be an easy in for the HOF. Not just for what he's done on the field, but just as the kind of person he is off the field. He is a prototype of what coaches would love to see in every player.

#52 forever will be my favorite all time player.

Well, kittle me this. Your favorite player of all time is #52, but you name yourself after #85. This is a riddle.

Guessing. Joined 3 years after Willis retired. Wanted a current player?

Originally posted by BoldRedandGold:
I think part of the voting is based on if you were building a dream team who would you want on it. Calvin Johnson was unstoppable at his height and he was both tall and fast with great hands. He is an obvious pick on a fantasy NFL dream team.

Willis is HoF worthy. He had several years where he was the best linebacker. I think it hurts him a little that Ray Lewis was at the end of his career when he was playing and that Bowman was playing at an all pro level also for a couple years.

I actually think Bowmans best two years were better than Willis's best two years but Willis did it for longer at a high level than Bowman.

I think the level of play at his position during his era was much higher than the best lbers today. If he were playing today he would unquestionably be leagues above the other linebackers but next to Bowman and ray lewis its not in a league of its own.

Disagree about Bowman. He was more limited, so Willis took the role of covering TE while Bowman cleaned up running around free and making plays. Willis gave up that primary role because thats all Bowman could do.

Willis was one of the best tacklers I ever saw play for the NIners. He was up there with Dave Wilcox and Ronnie Lott. Willis and Bowman each played at around 240 so they were a little bigger than the Niners current group who are all 230 and under.

Originally posted by CatchMaster80:
Willis was one of the best tacklers I ever saw play for the NIners. He was up there with Dave Wilcox and Ronnie Lott. Willis and Bowman each played at around 240 so they were a little bigger than the Niners current group who are all 230 and under.

The league is getting progressively smaller and faster. Now that hitting in any fashion is practically illegal, size is becoming less relevant for certain positions. LB need to be able to beat fast RB's and WR's to the outside.

So this guy is still not enshrined into the pro football hall of fame…
it makes you wonder again and again who are the a§§H0les of gigantic proportion who vote in this thing…