Andre Reed HOFer?

[N51_rob]

One more for HOF weekend. Lets get into it!

[55]

Nope.

His career stats are most comparable to Irving Fryar (who nobody ever makes a HoF argument for) and he was never considered one of the very best at his position at any point in his entire career, evidenced by ZERO All-Pro selections. A good player that played for a long time, yes. But an all-time great, hell no.

[SPTO]

Quote: Originally Posted by 55

Nope. His career stats are most comparable to Irving Fryar (who nobody ever makes a HoF argument for) and he was never considered one of the very best at his position at any point in his entire career, evidenced by ZERO All-Pro selections. A good player that played for a long time, yes. But an all-time great, hell no.

Where the hell have you been? The guy was considered one of the best WRs in the league from about '89-'94. It isn't his fault that he didn't get an All-Pro selection. You need to put it in context as the WR was pretty deep throughout his career with guys like Andre Rison and Haywood Jeffires putting up monster seasons because of the system they played in. Are you going to tell me those two were better than Reed?

Reed was also a guy who was respected for going up the middle and putting his body on the line more often than not. He was a tough, physical player who got the ball in critical times for the Bills. Thurman Thomas may have been the straw that stirred the drink but Reed was the guy that got the tough receptions up the middle which opened up the deep pattern for the other receivers especially James Lofton when he was there.

At various points in Reed's career Jerry Rice was on record saying that he thought Reed was a better route runner than he was! I also have a buttload of games that Reed played in and in every single one the commentators were very complimentary towards him and late in his career people were referring to him as "future Hall of Famer"

His numbers may look a bit pedestrian to some today but that's because the WR position has become such a hard one to judge unless you've seen the player in his prime as the numbers can be very deceiving. Now i'll admit there's a bit of bias in my thinking but Andre Reed as well as Cris Carter should be in the HOF.

[55]

So you're saying Irving Fryar is a Hall of Fame WR? His career numbers are the closest to Reed's. Ellard's too.

Until Cris Carter is enshrined any argument for Reed is laughable.

[SPTO]

Quote: Originally Posted by 55

So you're saying Irving Fryar is a Hall of Fame WR? His career numbers are the closest to Reed's. Ellard's too. Until Cris Carter is enshrined any argument for Reed is laughable.

Like I said you have to look at the player and what he did for the team as well as the individual numbers. Cris Carter definitely belongs in the Hall and when you talk about WRs who are snubbed Andre Reed's name is right there with his so they're kind of a tandem right now.

As for Fryar, he's not a HOFer in my book and same goes for Ellard. One thing that needs to be considered is that there have been a few HOFers who got in with lesser numbers because of the teams they played on. Fryar played on a SB in his 2nd year and that team got crushed. Ellard never played in a SB. Reed had the benefit on playing in 4 straight SBs and was an integral part of all 4 squads. I think that the lack of a SB ring has hindered things for him but he was still one of the greats at his position. The problem was that his best years came when the WR position was in a transition and crazy numbers were being generated.

Again I admit my bias but I think he, Carter and Brown should be in.

[55]

Carter and Brown should be for sure, but Reed is a notch below them IMO.

I just don't ever see him getting in, especially once guys like Moss, Owens, Harrison, etc. are all eligible since they all have him absolutely crushed stat wise.

[muggins]

He is definitely a HOFer. It isn't always about the stats - Reed was the most important receiver on a team that went to four Super Bowls. He put his body on the line to go over the middle and make the tough catches.

Moss, Owens, Harrison, etc. played in a different era. Who knows if Moss or Owens will ever even make it in with the personal troubles they've had.

edit: hell, Harrison even shot and killed a homeless dude didn't he?

[bkrich83]

Quote: Originally Posted by 55

he was never considered one of the very best at his position at any point in his entire career

That's actually not true at all.