re: Is Patrick Willis a HOF'er?

The voters look at impact and respect around the league and probably only look at All-Pro since they are the ones who vote on it. Pro Bowls don't really matter.

Junior Seau - 8X 1st team All-Pro (19 years)
Ray Lewis - 7X 1st team All-Pro (16 years)
Patrick Willis - 5X 1st team All-Pro (7 years)
Zach Thomas - 5X 1st team All-Pro (14 years)
Brian Urlacher - 4X 1st team All-Pro (12 years)

I think he gets in...he did almost as much as other HOFers or future HOFers in half the time.

He needs to get in. 8 years and playing till he is 30 is enough. Who played at a higher level during those 8 seasons? It isn't like he played 3 years.

How many MLBs are great after age 30? What is wrong with retiring at your peak if you are probably going to start declining after 30 at that position? Are we electing people to the Hall of Fame just because they hung around and put up mediocre seasons after age 30?

Would what they do after 30 be Hall of Fame worthy if they had not been at a really high level from age 22-30? I would say that the accumulation of stats for MLBs who hang around till age 35 and decline each year does not make them more worthy of the Hall of Fame than Patrick Willis.

He needs to get in. We need to elect guys who decide to go out at the peak of their career instead of hanging around another 5 years to rack up stats and abuse their bodies. This isn't baseball.

Question: What MLB gets in the Hall of Fame based off of what they do from ages 30-35 and not based on what they do from ages 22-30? If it is just about accumulation of stats, then it is irrelevant. If is about who is best, then Wills should get in.

He absolutely should be in imo. His career may not be long but it was long enough. He was consistantly a top 3 lb in the game. That should count for something.

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If he gets in, then Terrell Davis needs to.

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has a much longer string of success as TD.

and a lot of people think TD is a HOF. That says a lot

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Patrick Willis doesn't deserve to be in the HOF and everyone who is not an old miss fan will back me up on this.

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You sir, are a maroon. He is a 5x 1st team all pro

That dark visor with the arm cast

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I think so. There is precedent for players to make it into the hall because of the impact they made on the game despite a short career (sayers).

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Not a good comparison. Gale Sayers was an unbelievable talent that did things nobody had seen before and he set NFL records ( most TDs in a game) in his short career. He also had no choice but to retire due to injury.

Incorrect stats for Willis.

you only posted solo tackles not combined:

8 Interceptions
55 Pass Deflections
16 Forced Fumbles
5 Fumbles Recovered
20.5 Sacks
950 Tackles
2 Defensive Touchdowns

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you only posted solo tackles not combined:

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I posted solo tackles for every linebacker in my post...

Willis' numbers just aren't up to par.

You put more weight on stat accumulation than how great a player was during his playing career. You're essentially saying that no player with less than 10 seasons (on the low end) is HOF worthy.

I put more weight on how a player stacks up against his peers year in and year out, not stat accumulation. HOF candidacy based on stat accumulation is rewarding a player for a long career, not necessarily a great career.

FWIW, Willis has more tackles per season than all of those players listed except for Ray Lewis, and was elected First Team All-Pro at a much higher rate than all of the others - 63%. The next highest is Ray Lewis at 41%.