Thomas Davis had a historic season

[TN05]

Thomas Davis finished this season with 5.5 sacks, 4 interceptions, and 4 forced fumbles. That seemed to me to be a pretty hard number to get to. Turns out, only two other players (Wilber Marshall in 86 and 91 and Rod Woodson in 92) have had a season with that stat line. If you reduce the 'sack' total to four, the number only increases to five (Sam Mills in 95, Darryl Talley in 91, Adrian Wilson in 2006).

[Ivan The Awesome]

It's going to look good on his Hall of fame resume next to "Super Bowl L Champion".

[t96]

He should be in the NFL Hall of Fame without a doubt. I see very very little chance he gets in though to be honest.

[Donald LaFell]

He's made a lot of plays for sure. HoF is kind of crazy talk but he can always be remembered as an all time great here :D

[CarolinaNCSU]

Woah now.  Statue at BoA?  Without question.  Hall of Fame?  Not a chance. I love TD...but that's damn crazy talk unless he has 5 more years of Pro Bowl level play. 

[RelaxImaPro]

He was definitely a HOF caliber talent but he doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell at making the HOF due to unfortunate circumstances outside of his control.  It's sad, but that's the reality of the NFL sometimes.   There's tons of snubbed/unlucky players throughout history along with tons of overhyped/overrated players throughout history who always take up someone more deserving's spot every year.  Then you add in the massive amount of his prime he missed due to all the torn ACLs and time spent rehabbing... yeah.

Steve Smith was pretty close to being a similar case.  As good as his career numbers and accolades are, they could - and should - be so much better.  Dude should be a HOF lock and one of the consensus GOAT WRs... because he definitely had the talent, drive, passion, etc., but poo just didn't work out that way.  Instead he missed time in his prime to battling perception, battling injuries and suspensions during his prime, battling most of his prime with barely mediocre to downright worst in the league QB play, battling consistent double and triple teams and receiving little to no help in terms of drawing coverage off of him.

[Moorgan]

I don't know about numbers but this just popped in my head. Is Urlacher a HoFer? Sure he's a Bears great. And yes TD is a Panthers great. And yes they play slightly different positions but are either HoF candidates?

[PanthersATL]

How much extra HoF credit does the Bart Starr or Walter Payton awards add to the possibility?

[Donald LaFell]

15 minutes ago, Moorgan said:

I don't know about numbers but this just popped in my head. Is Urlacher a HoFer? Sure he's a Bears great. And yes TD is a Panthers great. And yes they play slightly different positions but are either HoF candidates?

I think he's gotta be in, he has around 9 or 10 prob owls right? 

[ashehudson]

10 hours ago, thomas96 said:

He should be in the NFL Hall of Fame without a doubt. I see very very little chance he gets in though to be honest.

Maybe he needs to play for the Ravens his last 2 seasons. Outside of homer Panther fans, I never heard people say Smith should be a HoFer. This last season, before he got hurt, every week they talked like he was a sure thing HoFer.

[ashehudson]

9 hours ago, Moorgan said:

I don't know about numbers but this just popped in my head. Is Urlacher a HoFer? Sure he's a Bears great. And yes TD is a Panthers great. And yes they play slightly different positions but are either HoF candidates?

Is Urlacher eligible yet? I thought he would be a HoFer once he's been out 5-6 years.

[London Loves Luke]

Urlacher is a Hall of Fame lock for services to the hair restoration industry.

Bad puns aside, HOF voting generally follows this simple formula:

Superbowl Wins > MVPs/POTY > Pro Bowl/All Pro app > Lifetime statistical awards > All other awards.  

Urlacher grades out pretty well with a defensive POTY and 8 pro bowls, Luke will most probably make it too if he continues the way he's started. TD unfortunately isn't likely.

Either way Statue outside BOA > HOF anyday.

[rainwater]

1 hour ago, ashehudson said:

Maybe he needs to play for the Ravens his last 2 seasons. Outside of homer Panther fans, I never heard people say Smith should be a HoFer. This last season, before he got hurt, every week they talked like he was a sure thing HoFer.

Seriously?  Lots of people outside the Carolinas have said Smith will get consideration for the Hall of Fame. He is near the top in receptions of all-time.  Will he get in?  I think it's iffy but he has a chance.  Davis on the other hand has no chance. 

[d-dave]

We all have a great love of TD here.  The issues is that he played in relative obscurity for most of his career here.  He was drafted to run down Vick, played beside Dan Morgan, Jon Beason and Luke Keuchly, who were/are all pros during their tenure here.  As a 4-3 OLB, he was thought of as the clean up guy.  The past few seasons, he and Luke have become just an incredible duo of offensive destruction in the NFL.  Folks are happy about that.  He's finally got a probowl nod, and he's one of the best dudes in the NFL.

He will be remembered as one of the all time greats to ever wear a Panthers uniform.  He will get a statue here for sure, and probably have his number retired here.  Sadly, he will be one of those guys who was overlooked for most of his career.  The three years of ACL surgeries are also things that really hurt him as well.