Pro Football Hall of Fame: What Took So Long to Enshrine Kevin Greene?
Kevin Greene was one of the most prolific sack artists in the history of the NFL, and with Lawrence Taylor, paved the way for the pass-rushing linebackers of today. So what took so long to get him into the Hall of Fame?
The 2016 Pro Football Hall of Fame class contains some of the biggest names in the recent history of the NFL. Brett Favre, arguably the best quarterback in the history of the game, goes in as a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Marvin Harrison goes in on his third year of eligibility as one of the best, and most underrated, wide receivers of all time. Eddie Debartolo, Jr. goes in as a contributor, being the mastermind behind the great 49ers teams of the 1980’s and 90’s.
However, one name stands out above the rest to me and that is Kevin Greene. During his career in the NFL, Greene racked up 160 sacks, a number which is good for third-most all-time (since the league made individual sacks an official statistic in 1982).
Of the top 10 Hall of Fame eligible sack artists of all time, only Leslie O’Neal has yet to be enshrined.
Greene was able to achieve double-digit sacks in 10 of his 15 seasons in the NFL and fell one sack short in 1995 of making it 11. What’s more impressive, however, is that with that one sack Greene would have had eight straight seasons of double-digit sacks after turning 30.
What Greene was able to achieve in the NFL after turning 30, the age that many consider the start of the back-end of your career, is nothing short of historic. Greene is the oldest player in NFL history to lead the league in sacks, with 14.5 at the age of 34. His four seasons of double-digit sacks after turning 34 is also an NFL record. Remarkably, the man just got better with age.
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Greene’s accomplishments on the field earned him many accolades off it, which should have made him a shoe-in for enshrinement much earlier in the process.
He was a five-time Pro Bowl participant and is the only player to be named to All-Pro team three times with three different teams (1989 with the Los Angeles Rams, 1994 with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and 1996 with the Carolina Panthers).
Greene was also named a member of the first team All-90’s team as voted on by the very people who vote for the Hall of Fame. Of the non-special teams players to receive that honor, only tackle Tony Boselli, safety Steve Atwater (who in my opinion should also be in the Hall, but that is a discussion for another time), and LeRoy Butler have been left out of Canton.
In spite of the historic numbers Greene put up as a pass-rushing linebacker, it would be unfair to ignore his contributions in the other facets of the game. Greene was far from a “one-trick pony” during his 15-year career in the NFL. Greene is also tied for second in career safeties (3), and third all-time in fumble recoveries with 26. He also added five interceptionsr, returning one of them for a touchdown. Greene was a linebacker and he had all the responsibilities of the position.
One of the knocks on Greene may be that he never won a Super Bowl while he was an active NFL player. In 1995, Greene was the driving force behind a great Steelers defense who made Super Bowl XXX against the Dallas Cowboys, but the Cowboys would ultimately prevail. However, it should be noted that Greene did go on to win a Super Bowl as an assistant coach with the Green Bay Packers in 2010. Ironically, the Packers beat Greene’s old team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, that year.
But the case for Greene’s enshrinement goes beyond just the numbers he put up on the field, it is about the profound impact he has had on the game going forward. He, along with fellow Hall of Fame LB Lawrence Taylor, paved the way for the elite pass-rushing linebackers you see in the NFL today. Were it not for the contributions of Greene and company, you likely wouldn’t have sack artists like Von Miller and Khalil Mack leaving their mark on today’s game.
More nfl spin zone: Sunday Debate
There are 64 players in the Hall of Fame that played either the defensive line or linebacker positions, and Greene has more sacks than all but two of those players, yet it took to Greene’s 13th–year of eligibility to finally achieve enshrinement. If a player of his caliber has to wait more than a decade to get in, is there a flaw in the voting process? I think the answer is very clearly yes.