re: Zach Thomas - HOF

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Is it really fair to compare a dude who made one first team all-pro team with a dude who made 5? Look at guys who have made the HOF recently and let me know how many were all pro five or more times.

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Ken Anderson won league MVP, set the league completion pct record, led the Bengals to their first Super Bowl appearance, and changed pro football history by being the first quarterback to thrive in Bill Walsh's West Coast Offense and basically validating it. Not to mention he did all this on inferior football teams compared to the NFL's elite at the time, his play rendered the expansion Bengals a credible football team not only in the AFC but NFL writ large.

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Where did I say that he didn't have talent around him?

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I didn't say you did but both have been argued in the last 5 posts in this thread.

Fair points on Ken Anderson. I do think he's harmed by having some horrendous years (e.g., '77 and '78) mixed in during the prime of his career. Also, the league has become so pass-heavy, I think it's hard for voters to put in a guy with his career stats (barely more career TDs than Ints) at this point when every joe blow qb is currently throwing for 4k yards with 25+ TDs, context of the era be damned.

Regardless, on the list of HOF snubs, I put Thomas well ahead of Anderson.

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Why isn't Zach Thomas in the HOF? His accolades include:

5× First-team All-Pro (1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2006)
2× Second-team All-Pro (2001, 2005)
7× Pro Bowl (1999–2003, 2005, 2006)
AFC Defensive Rookie of the Year (1996)
2× NFL Alumni Linebacker of the Year (1998, 2006)
NFL 2000s All-Decade Team

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Pretty great 13-year career.

He should have to wait behind this 8-year career of cover-to-cover excellence though.

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5× First-team All-Pro (2007, 2009–2012)
Second-team All-Pro (2008)
7× Pro Bowl (2007–2013)
NFL 2010s All-Decade Team
NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year (2007)
2× NFL Tackles Solo & Combined leader (2007, 2009)
Butkus Award (pro) (2009)
Butkus Award (college) (2006)
SEC Defensive Player of the Year (2006)
2× First-team All-American (2005, 2006)
2× First-team All-SEC (2005, 2006)

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Thomas has the reputation of a pile-jumper, I know that's what I thought of him.

13 years
17 career INT
16 career FF
20.5 career sacks
74 career TFL

Ray Lewis
17 years
31 career INT
19 career FF
41.5 career sacks
99 career TFL

Bryan Urlacher
13 years
22 career INT
15 career FF
41.5 career sacks
138 TFL

Just for fun, purely random MLB from the time with no accolades

Will Witherspoon
13 years
14 career int
11 career FF
26 sacks
64 TFL

Who is Zach Thomas most similar to?

You’re ignoring the fact that TFLs weren’t recorded for the first 3 seasons of Zach Thomas’s career.

You’re also ignoring the fact that Ray Lewis played 4 more seasons than Thomas so the counting stats are misleading.

Thomas currently has the 7th highest score on the HoF Monitor list for ILB. 5 of the 6 ahead of him are already in the Hall and the other is Luke Kuechly. Zach belongs in the Hall and should be in eventually.