Do free agent moves hinder HOF entry?
While tracking the NFL’s Free Agent Frenzy this week, it dawned on me that moving from team to team may hurt a worthy player’s chance of making the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
We did not conduct a scientific or analytics-based study, but it seems that unless your name is Deion Sanders or Jerry Rice, there is plenty of evidence to back up that theory.
In 14 NFL seasons, Sanders played for five teams: Atlanta, Dallas, Baltimore, Washington and San Francisco. In 20 seasons, Rice played for three teams: San Francisco, Oakland and Seattle.
They were no-brainer, first-ballot Hall of Famers.
We are not saying others of their caliber were denied entrance to the Hall because, well, who else is of their caliber? But we have seen enough to wonder whether some recent hot free-agent movers should beware of how they divide their careers.
Tuesday’s Free Agent Frenzy news featured some excellent examples.
Wide receiver Davante Adams is heading to his fourth team, the Los Angeles Rams. He already played for Green Bay, Las Vegas and the New York Jets, compiling 957 catches for 11,844 yards and 103 touchdowns.
Wide Receiver DeAndre Hopkins will make the Baltimore Ravens his fifth team, after playing for Houston, Arizona, Tennessee and Kansas City. His production dwindled with those last two teams, but his career totals are 984 catches for 12,965 yards and 83 receiving touchdowns.
Quarterback Russell Wilson may or may not remain in Pittsburgh, his third team in four years. He appeared to be a sure-fire Gold Jacket candidate after taking Seattle to two Super Bowls, winning XLVIII and losing XLIX. But his career has stalled after two so-so years in Denver and one in Pittsburgh.
Ironically, Wilson’s fate in 2025 — and perhaps his chance to re-establish a HOF image — may depend on another vagabond quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. After a HOF career with Green Bay, Rodgers’ body and image have gone through hell during two seasons with the New York Jets. Now Rodgers and the Steelers seem to be eyeing each other as Russell stands by.
Plenty of former players seem to have HOF-worthy credentials, but they have been less than a hot topic of discussion among the various selection committees.
This year, two former second-team All-Decade players fell into the Seniors Abyss after 20 years of Modern-Era eligibility, without ever becoming finalists and never being officially discussed — linebacker Cornelius Bennett and defensive end Neil Smith.
Bennett spent 14 years with three teams — Buffalo, Atlanta, and Indianapolis — and made All-Pro (first and second team) five times and was on the 1990s All-Decade team.
Smith played 13 years for three teams — Kansas City, Denver, and San Diego — and collected 132.5 sacks, forced 21 fumbles, and recovered 16 fumbles. But he was never discussed as a HOF finalist. Note that Smith played for and against three teams in the AFC West. Did that encumber his ability to rally support?
Smith is the first of two players we discuss here who spent an entire career playing for and against three heated rivals in the same division. We don’t believe in coincidence, so there may be a strong possibility that a player in this situation would find it challenging to find vociferous advocacy. More to come.
Watters: conspicuously invisible
Two players who gathered extraordinary statistical credentials with multiple teams are cruising silently through their Modern-Era window of opportunity — running back Ricky Watters and running back/returner Brian Mitchell.
To me, Watters seems conspicuously invisible, an oxymoron worthy of consideration. He rushed for 10,643 yards in 10 seasons, collecting over 1,000 rushing yards in seven different seasons and at least once such season for each of the three franchises for which he played — the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, and Seattle Seahawks. Watters also caught 467 passes for 4,248 yards (13 TDs), giving him 14,891 yards from scrimmage and 91 touchdowns in his career. Those numbers are better than the stats of many running backs in the Hall of Fame.
Watters came up big in big games. In a January 1994 NFC Divisional Round playoff game, Watters set an NFL postseason record with five rushing touchdowns as the 49ers trounced the New York Giants, 44–3. His 30 points scored in one game set a postseason record that still stands. In Super Bowl XXIX the following season, Watters scored three touchdowns in San Francisco's 49–26 victory over the San Diego Chargers.
That’s a hell of a lot of production for a guy whose name was never officially discussed after 18 years of Modern-Era eligibility, leaving him just two years away from banishment to the Seniors category.
Mitchell played for three NFC East rivals: Washington, Philadelphia, and the New York Giants. He has the second-most career all-purpose yards with 23,330, behind only Jerry Rice.
He is also No. 1 in combined yardage gained by a non-wide receiver. His 13 special teams touchdowns are second in NFL history behind HOFamer Devin Hester, and Mitchell’s nine punt-return touchdowns are third behind Eric Metcalf (10) and Hester (14).
Is Mitchell a victim of backlash from playing for and against the same three NFC East teams?
Other standout players who may have spread their careers too thin to secure solid backing for a Hall of Fame run include Rodney Harrison, Hardy Nickerson, La’Roy Glover, and Matt Millen. They may have gathered more substantial support if their careers were spent with one team.
Current players toying with the HOF dilution factor include Khalil Mack, Von Miller, Jalen Ramsey, as well as Adams, Hopkins, and Russell.
Is there a connection between playing for several teams and having difficulty finding support to get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
What’s your call?