Does Shaun Alexander deserve to be in the HOF?

[JustTheTip]

The reasons SA was great are already in the HOF.

If they open up spots for going down easily when your team needs a first down then he will be a shoe in.

 

[PNW]

Remember that 2006 Monday Night game against Green Bay in the snow at Quest Field? Shaun had 40 carries for 201 yards on a broken foot. Beast mode.

 

[seabowl]

Ricky Watters more than Shaun.

 

[PNW]

Ricky Watters more than Shaun.

Lol!!!!!!

 

[pittpnthrs]

I think he deserves a spot. Guy was a monster RB. The most least respected Seahawk ever and its strange that people seem to forget how good he was.

I personally find it strange that plenty of fans can't acknowledge he was a soft runner except near the goal line. Not giving it your all every single down is not in the spirit of the Hall of Fame.

Oh, so I guess every RB has to be in the Earl Campbell, Pete Johnson, Lynch mold to satisfy your expectations. Sheesh, Plenty of RBs in the HoF that didnt take big hits.

 

[pittpnthrs]

I don't care about the HOF because it is way too political and subjective.

But .... if you want to ask who the greatest RB is in Seahawk's history --- the answer is Shaun Freaking Alexander and there is no rational argument otherwise.

This

 

[TypeSly]

Seriously? As Seahawks fans, we all remember how great he was clearly as day, but for non-Seahawks fans, they would just remember him in the few years where he shone, and shone brightly. But not HOF, brightly. There;s many RB's that shone for a couple years, and then disappeared into NFL lore just like Alexander.

Just off the top of my head: Icke Woods, Christian Okoye, Larry Johnson, Mike Alstott...

 

[Jerhawk]

Seriously? As Seahawks fans, we all remember how great he was clearly as day, but for non-Seahawks fans, they would just remember him in the few years where he shone, and shone brightly. But not HOF, brightly. There;s many RB's that shone for a couple years, and then disappeared into NFL lore just like Alexander.

Just off the top of my head: Icke Woods, Christian Okoye, Larry Johnson, Mike Alstott...

He was very consistent from 2001-2005.
He put up record numbers.
None of those others won league MVP
Bo Jackson shone brightly for a short time too.

Just my opinion. I grew up idolizong Shaun lol I'll always defend him.

 

[godawg]

I can only imagine what Marshawn would have been able to accomplish running behind Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson.

 

[AKNFidel]

Looking at the RBs in the HOF, I’d say no. Surprisingly (at least to me) how many were not in the HOF.


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[chris98251]

No, he did not block on passing downs, was not a receiving back in a WCO, ran soft a lot between the 20's. While he was hurt the last year maybe 2 he never showed to be much of a punishing runner for his size, he was not a guy you could really count on to get a short yardage first down, but could for a touchdown, that should tell you about his level of intensity.

Give me Lynch, Watters, Warner, Doornink, as guys you could count on for maximum effort every down and more complete backs.

 

[JGreen79]

No, he did not block on passing downs, was not a receiving back in a WCO, ran soft a lot between the 20's. While he was hurt the last year maybe 2 he never showed to be much of a punishing runner for his size, he was not a guy you could really count on to get a short yardage first down, but could for a touchdown, that should tell you about his level of intensity.

Give me Lynch, Watters, Warner, Doornink, as guys you could count on for maximum effort every down and more complete backs.

One of these players is Shaun and the other is Marshawn.

Player A converted 232 out of 422 career short yardage attempts. 55% conversion rate (1-3yds)
Player B converted 228 out of 362 career short yardage attempts. 63% conversion rate

Player A averaged 4.57 yards between the 20's
Player B averaged 4.53 yards between the 20's

 

[FPD]

I don't know. Is it the Hall of Fame? Or the Hall of Stats?

 

[AROS]

Shaun just may be the most divisive player between 12's in franchise history. On one side, you have the stats. The MVP. The vision, the nose for the endzone like few others. On the other side, you have the perceived notion of him being "soft", running out of bounds instead of trying to pound forward for extra yards. Trying to self preserve over toughness.

It's that dichotomy I believe that stretches beyond the fanbase that will ultimately keep him from Canton.

 

[chris98251]

No, he did not block on passing downs, was not a receiving back in a WCO, ran soft a lot between the 20's. While he was hurt the last year maybe 2 he never showed to be much of a punishing runner for his size, he was not a guy you could really count on to get a short yardage first down, but could for a touchdown, that should tell you about his level of intensity.

Give me Lynch, Watters, Warner, Doornink, as guys you could count on for maximum effort every down and more complete backs.

One of these players is Shaun and the other is Marshawn.

Player A converted 232 out of 422 career short yardage attempts. 55% conversion rate (1-3yds)
Player B converted 228 out of 362 career short yardage attempts. 63% conversion rate

Player A averaged 4.57 yards between the 20's
Player B averaged 4.53 yards between the 20's

One had a Hall of Fame O line and the other one of the worst in the league yet still made that impact on short yardage, if you had a Mack String and a Hall of fame O line I would think you should be in the 75 to 80 percentile, again makes the Argument of not intense between the 20's.

 

[8081]

He broke the single season TD record and won an MVP. It's not like it was a one year wonder either, he had many good and great seasons.

He deserves a spot in my opinion.

Eighty,
Go Hawks

 

[Welshers]

He broke the single season TD record and won an MVP. It's not like it was a one year wonder either, he had many good and great seasons.

He deserves a spot in my opinion.

Eighty,
Go Hawks

I agree with this. Winning mvp as a running back is very rare. Since 2001, Alexander, LT and AP are the only RBs to win mvp. The other two will be in the hall undoubtedly. Alexander is also 8th all time rushing TDs. Everyone else who has gotten over 100 has or will get in. He is clearly a polarizing guy for seahawk fans, but he deserves a spot in my opinion. They've let inferior players in

 

[Jerhawk]

He broke the single season TD record and won an MVP. It's not like it was a one year wonder either, he had many good and great seasons.

He deserves a spot in my opinion.

Eighty,
Go Hawks

I agree with this. Winning mvp as a running back is very rare. Since 2001, Alexander, LT and AP are the only RBs to win mvp. The other two will be in the hall undoubtedly. Alexander is also 8th all time rushing TDs. Everyone else who has gotten over 100 has or will get in. He is clearly a polarizing guy for seahawk fans, but he deserves a spot in my opinion. They've let inferior players in

To add to this, if they let in either of the following backs into the HOF, then Shaun Alexander deserves to be along side them. In fact, we should be rooting for these guys to get it because that would mean Shaun has a shot:

Priest Holmes
Edgerrin James (this one is key)

Ladainian Tomlinson got in 2017. He broke Shauns single season TD record the following season, which overshadowed how great Shauns 2005 year was. I doubt LTs single season TD record will ever be broken or touched, even with a 17 game schedule. This may sound petty, but if it wasn't for his 2006 season, Shaun would've been that single season record holder for the rest of time.

I just don't understand why so many Hawks fans stick their nose up at Shaun Alexander. Is it because of how his career came to a screeching halt due to injuries afrer he finally got the big contract extension? Is it because of his "stabbed in the back" comments after the Falcons game at the end of 2004? Is it because he got the luxary of playing behind Hutch and Walt for most his career? The first two I get and those rubbed me the wrong way too, even as a youngster who idolized Shaun. The last one, like I mentioned earlier, we shouldn't be holding that against him. But it's the argument most commonly used against him. Some people regard Emitt Smith at the best RB of all time and he had an amazing O line as well, and a plethora of weapons around him. Shaun didn't have an amazing offense around him. The best receiver we had on the team during that time was Bobby Engram, Darrell Jackson or Koren Robinson, whoever felt like showing up to catch passes from Hasslebeck or Trent Dilfer.

Having a great O line and Big Walt/Hutch clearing the way obviously helped. There's no debating that. I would argue that not just Shauns career, but Holmgrens success ended after the Hutchinson poison pill incident with Minnesota. That one mistake sunk this franchise for the next 6 years. But give the man some respect. He found the opening, and he used his elite vision to hit the hole. And he had breakaway speed too. Look at TD #13 around the 2:00 mark against AZ.

*tears* stop picking on Shaun! Leave Shaun alone! He was the best player we had between Largent and Wilson. I love you Shaun!! I still have Madden 07!

[youtube]BXttr6qph80[/youtube]

 

[PNW]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hWwq4kBcGOU

 

[oldhawkfan]

Does Shaun Alexander deserve to be in the HOF? Based on his stats and the fact that for about 5 years he was one of if not the best RB in the league. I don’t even want to hear about any argument that he was soft and would run out of bounds to avoid a hit. There is another Seahawks RB who also had a penchant for running out of bounds to avoid any unnecessary hits. He also finished his career with a whimper on a different team. This RB is in the HOF. I’ll get back to him later.

I’m not sure why a Seahawks fan wouldn’t want to see a Seahawks player inducted into the HOF. If Paul John’s got inducted, I’d applaud based on the simple fact that he’s a Seahawk.

Comparing Shauns o-line with MarShawns o-line is fun but MarShawns o-line was not bad. I’d take them in a heartbeat over what the last 2-3 years showed. Okung, Unger, Sweezy, and friends.

How many more yards could 37 have accumulated over the course of his career if he had fought for a few extra instead of avoiding the hit? 100 yards? 200 yards? Over the course of his career it would have been negligible. It could have given him maybe 5 extra yards in any given game or it could have ended his career prematurely. We will never know. What we do know is that he was a top RB that was a big part of leading his team to a Super Bowl. This was a top RB in the league not in Pete’s run first philosophy but in Mile Holmgrens pass WCO philosophy.

Does Shaun belong in the HOF? Yes. BTW, that other RB with a similar reputation...Franco Harris.