Rod Smith's Career may be over (1 Viewer)

[gianmarco]

What a class act. Always liked watching him play and his story of going from an undrafted player to a pretty stellar career should serve as a lesson to others.

While he's been so good and consistent, he's never been dominant. Would he be HOF material?

ETA-- 11th all time in receptions and 17th all time in receiving yards.

 

[OCC]

No.

Hall of very good, yes.

 

[Blick]

Art Monk is 6th all-time receiving yards, he's not in.

 

[KING]

yes. not a 1st ballot, but he gets in there. for every punk like irvin that gets in, you need a smith to offset. besides, his numbers are just as good as irvins, and he has some rings also.

 

[KING]

Art Monk is 6th all-time receiving yards, he's not in.

he's 6th in receptions, not yards, but still should be in hall.

 

[Reality Football]

Absolutely not. Hall of very good, yes. But he was never someone who was unarguably one of the top 5 receivers in the league for the majority of his career...

 

[KING]

Absolutely not. Hall of very good, yes. But he was never someone who was unarguably one of the top 5 receivers in the league for the majority of his career...

top 5 majority of your career? irvin was top 5 a whopping 3 times in 12 years. i'm sure there are alot of HoF WR's that don't meet that criteria.swann 2 for 9stalworth 2 for 14chris carter 4 for 16

 

[Blick]

Art Monk is 6th all-time receiving yards, he's not in.

he's 6th in receptions, not yards, but still should be in hall.

My bad. He is still way more deserving than Smith.

 

[joffer]

as much as I like the guy....no

 

[Banger]

nope. Good player, never great. Very good career.

 

[gman8343]

Just like Jimmy Smith... nope.

 

[twitch]

that list of possible HOF WRs is getting pretty long....get in line, Rod.

 

[jeter23]

Very solid player for many years, but not HOF material.

 

[OCC]

Absolutely not. Hall of very good, yes. But he was never someone who was unarguably one of the top 5 receivers in the league for the majority of his career...

top 5 majority of your career? irvin was top 5 a whopping 3 times in 12 years. i'm sure there are alot of HoF WR's that don't meet that criteria.swann 2 for 9stalworth 2 for 14chris carter 4 for 16

Stats really don't mean much to me.You should be able to answer the question in 2 seconds, if you hesitate he's not a HOFer. And in general, the answer should be "hell yes".Did he dominate?As his peak was he unstoppable?Give defensive coordinators fits?Carry a team?Biggest games on the biggest stage?Can you remember big plays in his career? Highlights?Championships?MVP consideration?Revolutionize the position?Is Rod Smith really the best of the best? Can you tell the story of the NFL without Rod Smith? Without question. Very solid WR. Great guy. He's just not the best of the best. If you talked about the best WRs in the last 10 years, he's not a guy you start with, or make a point to mention. Sure if you dig through stats, it's fairly impressive. But a stat complier is poor qualification for the HOF.HOF in my mind is a beast, a guy you didn't want to face, and in the biggest moments you knew he'd come up big. That's why I love the NFL, the Hall of Fame if full of elite players, best of the best. You can't catch 70 balls, 6 tds, for 15 years and get in the HOF. Sorry, that's not fame. That's steady, that’s solid, that’s very good. But it's not fame.

 

[Futz]

He was never an elite receiver during his era of football and that should be the criteria for the hall IMO. Stats can be inflated and deceiving.

 

[SSOG]

I love Rod, and I think he has a ton of intangibles going for him that his peers don't have, but at the same time, I don't think he gets in (or deserves to). I think Smith is going to be the best WR outside of the Hall for several years to come.

 

[Reality Football]

Absolutely not. Hall of very good, yes. But he was never someone who was unarguably one of the top 5 receivers in the league for the majority of his career...

top 5 majority of your career? irvin was top 5 a whopping 3 times in 12 years. i'm sure there are alot of HoF WR's that don't meet that criteria.swann 2 for 9stalworth 2 for 14chris carter 4 for 16

I'm talking about dominance, not just year-to-year or accumulated stats. Another way to phrase the question...is Keyshawn Johnson destined to be a hall of famer? Of course not. Yet...Smith's career: 849 catches 11389 yds 13.4 avg. 68 TD, 3 Pro Bowls, 2 ringsJohnson's career: 814 catches 10571 yds 13.0 avg. 64 TD, 3 Pro Bowls, 1 ringAnd yeah, there's a huge logjam of candidates coming up, so Smith will have a lot of trouble making it.Among the future/current eligibles with even or better production:Rice: 1549 rec 22895 yds 14.8 avg 197 TD, 13 Pro BowlsT. Brown: 1094 rec 14934 yds 13.7 avg 100 TD, 9 Pro BowlsCarter 1101 rec 13899 yds 12.6 avg 130 TD, 8 Pro BowlsEllard 814 rec 13777 yds 16.9 avg. 65 TD, 3 Pro BowlsA. Reed 951 rec 13198 yds 13.9 avg. 87 TD, 7 Pro BowlsMonk 940 rec 12721 yds 13.5 avg. 68 TD, 3 Pro BowlsJ. Smith 862 rec 12287 yds 14.3 avg. 67 TD, 5 Pro BowlsHarrison, Bruce, Moss and Owens all have better resumes than R. Smith already. Holt will probably soon surpass R. Smith in terms of qualifications. So there you have 12 guys who will have a case over Smith. He's not getting in, I don't think.Rice, Brown, and Carter should all get in. You don't hear much of a case for Ellard, but I don't think he put up an eye-popping season or played for enough good teams to really get in the discussion. Still, I'm surprised he doesn't have vocal supporters. Reed and Monk were fine receivers and I feel that they are going to be in the mix/borderline for several years. Like Rod Smith, I don't think Jimmy will make it either. These guys have benefited from the era's higher passing numbers, and you really have to vote for the elite of the period.Why don't we campaign for someone from the Broncos SB revival that really should be in, like Gary Zimmerman?

 

[Tau837]

No chance. The search function will help you find several threads on this subject from the past two years, if you want to read some good discussion on the topic.

 

[SSOG]

Why don't we campaign for someone from the Broncos SB revival that really should be in, like Gary Zimmerman?

I can agree with that, too. I'm a huge Broncos fan, and while I agree that Rod's not a HoFer (and neither is Atwater), I'm surprised Zimmerman hasn't made it yet. I mean, the all-decade teams are VOTED ON BY THE HOF COMMITTEE. In other words, this committee has twice looked at Zimmerman and said he was one of the most dominant tackles of the past decade (one of 4 players on two all-decade teams, iirc)... yet they don't seem to think he's Hall of Fame worthy? He made EIGHT FREAKING ALL-PRO GAMES!!! That's absurd. How has he not been voted into the hall yet?Of the two Denver SB champion teams, the only players who deserve a pass into Canton, IMO, are Elway, Sharpe, Zimmerman, and Nalen (with Terrell Davis being the closest of the rest). Even more glaring an omission than Zimmerman, though, is Randy Gradishar, who is one of the greatest LBs in NFL history. He's a multiple All-Pro and a former DPoY, and he holds the NFL record for tackles per game. Gradishar averaged more tackles per game over his entire career than Zach Thomas or Ray Lewis have produced in their career best season. If you pro-rate his per-game numbers over a 16-game season, he would have had something like 225-250 tackles EVERY YEAR. I mean, this is simply ludicrous. He also had 20 INTs, 13 forced fumbles, and 4 TDs- numbers that compare very favorably to all of the other greats (and his tackle numbers blow theirs out of the water). I ran the numbers once, and if I recall correctly, he averaged more tackles, sacks, INTs, forced fumbles, fumble recoveries, and TDs per game than Ray Lewis, and yet Ray Lewis is considered a first-ballot HoFer and Gradisher is sitting on the outside looking in.

 

[Bizkiteer]

No! He's not HOF material.

I do think it an amazing story of how he was an undrafted player and became their best WR for a great period of time. Quite a story when you think about it.

 

[moleculo]

Rod smith is most definitely Ring of Fame material. I think that's as far as it goes.

 

[-OZ-]

What a class act. Always liked watching him play and his story of going from an undrafted player to a pretty stellar career should serve as a lesson to others.

While he's been so good and consistent, he's never been dominant. Would he be HOF material?

ETA-- 11th all time in receptions and 17th all time in receiving yards.

Says it all right there in the initial post.

I love Rod

(sorry, juvenile humor makes me laugh)

 

[zed2283]

Stats really don't mean much to me.You should be able to answer the question in 2 seconds, if you hesitate he's not a HOFer. And in general, the answer should be "hell yes".HOF in my mind is a beast, a guy you didn't want to face, and in the biggest moments you knew he'd come up big. That's why I love the NFL, the Hall of Fame if full of elite players, best of the best. You can't catch 70 balls, 6 tds, for 15 years and get in the HOF. Sorry, that's not fame. That's steady, that’s solid, that’s very good. But it's not fame.

I agree with this general sentiment, and so I would have to say "no" for Rod... just like I give a big fat "NO" to Irvin.

 

[cobalt_27]

HOVG

 

[GiantsRule]

Isn't this Footballguys where Jerry Rice isn't a lock because he was simply the product of a system in San Fran?

If that's the case, Rod Smith won't even be able to buy a ticket to the HOF.

 

[KnowledgeReignsSupreme]

Hall of UDFA to make a really good contribution to the league or HoUDFAtMaRGCttL for short.

 

[gianmarco]

Hall of UDFA to make a really good contribution to the league or HoUDFAtMaRGCttL for short.

So that's where TJ got his name from.

 

[SSOG]

Hall of UDFA to make a really good contribution to the league or HoUDFAtMaRGCttL for short.

So that's where TJ got his name from.

Bravo. Well done.

 

[GRIDIRON ASSASSIN]

I love Rod Smith - he's the very essence of an NFL survivor. That being said, he's no Hall of Famer. I think all QBs and WRs yardage numbers are overinflated as of the past 15 years. Hell, Art Monk still isn't in the hall, nor Andre Reed, and I think they're both more deserving.

His career went downhill immediately after FFIndex rated him Number 4 overall a few years ago.

 

[bro1ncos]

Why don't we campaign for someone from the Broncos SB revival that really should be in, like Gary Zimmerman?

I can agree with that, too. I'm a huge Broncos fan, and while I agree that Rod's not a HoFer (and neither is Atwater), I'm surprised Zimmerman hasn't made it yet. I mean, the all-decade teams are VOTED ON BY THE HOF COMMITTEE. In other words, this committee has twice looked at Zimmerman and said he was one of the most dominant tackles of the past decade (one of 4 players on two all-decade teams, iirc)... yet they don't seem to think he's Hall of Fame worthy? He made EIGHT FREAKING ALL-PRO GAMES!!! That's absurd. How has he not been voted into the hall yet?Of the two Denver SB champion teams, the only players who deserve a pass into Canton, IMO, are Elway, Sharpe, Zimmerman, and Nalen (with Terrell Davis being the closest of the rest). Even more glaring an omission than Zimmerman, though, is Randy Gradishar, who is one of the greatest LBs in NFL history. He's a multiple All-Pro and a former DPoY, and he holds the NFL record for tackles per game. Gradishar averaged more tackles per game over his entire career than Zach Thomas or Ray Lewis have produced in their career best season. If you pro-rate his per-game numbers over a 16-game season, he would have had something like 225-250 tackles EVERY YEAR. I mean, this is simply ludicrous. He also had 20 INTs, 13 forced fumbles, and 4 TDs- numbers that compare very favorably to all of the other greats (and his tackle numbers blow theirs out of the water). I ran the numbers once, and if I recall correctly, he averaged more tackles, sacks, INTs, forced fumbles, fumble recoveries, and TDs per game than Ray Lewis, and yet Ray Lewis is considered a first-ballot HoFer and Gradisher is sitting on the outside looking in.

As a life long Bronco fan from the late 70's I couldn't agree with this post more.