A Playoff Argument for Terrell Davis being a Hall of Famer
Checking the Numbers: PatsColts Game Week 9Denver Broncos runningback Terrell Davis(30) slips the tackle attempt by Cincinnati Bengals safety Greg Meyers as he breaks into the secondary to pickup a first down during the second quarter of their game at Denver Mile High Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 21, 1997. (AP Photo/Joe Mahoney)
Over the past couple of years, I have analyzed some of the top running backs in NFL history, both on Checking the Numbers (here)and at Behind the Steel Curtain(here and here). In each of these analyses, I Authentic Joe Thomas Jersey have shown that, on a per game basis, Terrell Davis was one of the top RBs in NFL history. In some analyses he showed up as a top 3 player, but in all he was at least top 10. The knock on him has been that he did not play long enough for serious www.nikeclevelandbrownsstore.com/Authentic-Joe-Thomas-Jersey consideration, although for a 4 year stretch, he was every bit as good at Emmitt Smith and very close to Barry Sanders. So, as I did recently for Hines Ward, I am going to look at how Terrell Davis playoff numbers compare with other greats in NFL history.
Unlike Hines, Davis does not have the total numbers or the longevity to solidify his Hall of Fame argument. And, up until recently, I could not find anywhere that showed player rankings in terms of playoff yardage, TDs, etc. There are only six such players, including Terrell Davis. The list is shown below.
Looking over these lists, it clear to me that Terrell Davis deserves to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Every other player on this list is a HOFer, and he is first in every category on a per game basis. While it true that he never made the playoffs after John Elway retirement, that seems to be a specious argument since he was injured early the following season. It seems that if Davis injury had occurred one year later and he had similar production after Elway retirement, he likely would be in the Hall already. But, because he had only 4 productive years, his candidacy is damaged. And, it quite likely that the main reason for his injury was due to his workload late in Elway finalseason (see a good Joe Thomas Youth Jersey article on PFR Blog about why certain types of rushing attemps are more damaging than others).
Certainly, one www.nikeclevelandbrownsstore.com could argue that his career was too short, and he didn ever do anything after Elway left, but IMO, the level of playoff dominance by Davis for those 23 years should be enough to get him in. If another running back had two seasons like Davis two SB seasons, with 5 years of 1100 yards or so rushing each year sandwiched in between those two SBs, and had the playoff numbers that Davis has, that running back would certainly be a HOFer.
December 3, 2009 at 10:35 pm Reply
An excellent analysis. I agree with Slappy. What is not widely remembered is that during TD magical 2000 yard rushing season in he was pulled out of games early because of the huge leads built up by the Broncosnearly 8 quarters (2 games). Had he played for entire games during that season he quite possibly would have broken Eric Dickerson rushing record. That he had to rush for 170 yards in the last game of the season to pass the 2000 yard barrier (he had 178 yds) seems to be forgotten, too.
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