2020 NFL Off-season

Agreed, though it is possible his resume isn't quite long enough for the Hall of Fame.

I think we are going to see more examples like this one, with great players retiring during their prime years. I'm not even very surprised by this.

 

Nor am I. With all the available evidence the 15-year career is stupidity to me, not something to be celebrated.

 

This. And Willis was not even selected as a finalist this year.

 

The Bandits were more popular in Tampa than the Bucs. Then their owner got sick, and you know started fucking around with the league.

 

Guido Merkens with a dash of Hoby Brenner.

 

After paralysis and Theismann's broken leg, Kuechly's crying concussion was the scariest thing I'd seen on a football field.

 

Still a little surprised. But concussion in three consecutive seasons, causing him to miss 10 games total. The way in which he left the field in Jacksonville.

Still processing it a bit ... after overhauling one section and helping with another overhaul. Good thing a lot of other things were in good shape ... cannot handle that kind of bombshell the way we used to.

My second-favorite linebacker with this team. And he and you-know-who were the best at sniffing out plays in the short history of this team. Both big-time film sorts ... and if he really misses the game that much and can stand being near it after having been a major component of it, he would make an excellent coach.

(3OF is correct. Gotta wonder if some players - particularly the ones earning serious money and know how to invest and save - will figure out that millions more is not worth it if your health and general long-term well being will be put in even more danger.)

 

No Russell Erxleben?

 

The cynic in me wonders if they're going to make it. Like, football is fucking brutal - I'm fine if guys with shorter careers, but incredible peaks, are in the Hall. Terrell Davis seems like the benchmark - clear best player at this position, got in, even though he only had four seasons with more than 10 games.

 

Yeah. If only the NFL had allowed him to bring in the Generals, perhaps we'd all be better off now.

 

He'll get in -- but it will be interesting to see his path since it follows in Willis' wake. They are essentially the same candidate -- the only difference is Willis doesn't have a Defensive Player of the Year on his resume -- but if Willis falls short of being a finalist in his first try, I can't imagine Kuechly getting there unless the holdovers are weak and it is an extremely weak class. Because Gates didn't play this year he will be eligible a year earlier, so I guess it depends on if Witten steps away for good or anyone else decides to retire in the next couple months.

 

Currently residing in the federal correctional system.